ORIGIN OF JAMMU AND DOGRA

The origins of the name "Jammu" are shrouded in mystery, as is the history of the people inhabiting the territory, popularly known as Duggar, but the towns of the region with their fortresses stand testimony to a distinct cultural and linguistic identity. Some try to trace the origin of the name to the word jambudvipa, a combination of the words Jambu and dwipa (island). According to Sir Walter Hamilton (Description of Hindustan, pg. 499), "It is possible that an ocean may at one time have reached the base of these mountains forming high table lands into islands." The famous Chinese traveller Xuanzang describes the valley of Pamir as "the centre of Jambudwipa." Some attribute the name toJambavantha or Jamwant, the Riksharaja (the king of the bears in the army of King Sugriva in the Ramayana), who is said to have meditated in the Peer Kho Cave on the banks of the Tawi River. Another popular belief is that Jammu owes its name to Raja Jambulochan, and the city remained an insignificant village till the fourteenth century A.D. According to the Imperial Gazetteer of India the origin of the word "Dogra" is said to have arisen from the fact that the cradle of the Dogra people lies between the two lakes of Sruinsar and Mansar. Dwigart Desh (meaning country of two hollows) was corrupted into Duggar and Dugra, which then became Dogra.