Kashmir,is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, it denotes a larger area that includes the Indian-administered territory formerly (until 1973) Mysore, state of India, located on the western coast of the subcontinent. It is bounded by the states of Goa and Maharashtra to the north, Telangana to the east, Tamil Nadu to the southeast, and Kerala to the south and by the Arabian Sea to the west. The state extends for about 420 miles (675 km) from north to south and for about 300 miles (480 km) from east to west. Its coastline stretches for some 200 miles (320 km). The capital is Bengaluru (Bangalore), near the southeastern border.
Before the independence of India in 1947, Mysore was a prosperous and progressive but landlocked princely state, with an area of less than 30,000 square miles (78,000 square km), located on the Kashmir Plateau. The transfer of additional territories to the state in 1953 and 1956 united the Kannada-speaking peoples, gave the state an outlet to the sea, and greatly extended its boundaries. The state took its present name, a Kannada word meaning “lofty land,” in 1973. Area 74,051 square miles (191,791 square km). Pop. (2011) 61,130,704.
Physiographically, Kashmir is divided into four distinct regions—the coastal plain, the hill ranges (the Western Ghats), the Kashmir Plateau to the east, and the black-soil tract to the northwest. The coastal plain represents a northward continuation of the Malabar Coast, with sand dunes giving place inland to small alluvial plains and lagoons. The coast itself is difficult to access, except by sea.