Northwest India

Northwest India is a loosely defined region of India. In modern-day, it consists of north-western states of the Republic of India. In historical contexts, it refers to the northwestern Indian subcontinent.

In contemporary definition, it generally includes the states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan Uttarakhand, and often Uttar Pradesh, along with the union territories of Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, and the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Gujarat is occasionally included as well. The mountainous upper portion of Northwest India consists of the Western Himalayas, while the flat lower portion consists of the middle portion of the Indo-Gangetic plains and the Thar Desert.

Northwest India borders Pakistan to the west, and the Tibet Autonomous Region and Xinjiang of China to the northeast. Before the Partition of India, the term "Northwest India" included the entirety of Punjab, Sindh and North West Frontier Province, in addition to the territory of modern-day India west of the 77th meridian east and north of the 24th parallel north.

Since the ancient period, the region has been subject to foreign invasions. In the ancient era, it was part of the Indo-Greek Kingdom, followed by the Kushan Empire. The region was invaded and conquered by the Ghorid Empire in the twelfth century. In the eighteenth century, the region was invaded and ransacked by Afghanistan and Iran. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the Punjab region was ruled by Sikh Misls. The Rajputs ruled the Thar region and occasionally the upper plains from the mediaeval era till the formation of the Indian Union (1947). The Kingdom of Kashmir existed from the ancient era until its conquest in 1586 by Akbar the Great, Emperor of Hindustan. It was re-instated in 1849 and existed till its accession to the Indian Union in 1947.

The Kashmir region is disputed between China, India, and Pakistan. India claims the entirety of Kashmir, including the Trans-Karakoram Tract (a.k.a. the Shaksgam Valley), but the regions of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan are controlled by Pakistan while Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract are controlled by China.