The signature came on October 26, 1947, weeks after Britain left India and split the subcontinent into two states. Kashmir was one of the princely states left to choose, and Hari Singh, a Hindu maharaja over a Muslim-majority land, had hoped to stay independent. The choice was taken from his hands.
Armed tribesmen from the North-West Frontier swept into the valley that October, and the ruler feared he would lose everything. He asked India for help, and New Delhi said troops would come only if he joined the union. He signed the instrument of accession, and Indian soldiers flew into Srinagar within days. The war began.
The fighting spread. India took the case to the United Nations and promised a vote to let Kashmiris decide, a promise never kept in full, while Pakistani forces and local fighters held the west and north of the state and the line they reached in 1949 became the ceasefire line later called the Line of Control. The map froze.
The dispute has never closed. The two countries fought again over Kashmir in 1965 and 1999, and both now hold the state under arms. The accession of October 1947 is the root of a conflict that has shaped South Asia for three quarters of a century. Peace has stayed out of reach.