For a better understanding of the common kinship of Muslim and Hindu Kashmiris a brief introduction to the history of the region is important. According to Mahabharata, the Kambojas ruled over Kashmir during epic times and it was a Republican government under the Kamboj. The capital city of Kashmir during these times was Rajapura, also known as Karna-Rajapuram-gatva-Kambojah-nirjitastava. Rajapura has been identified with modern Rajauri.
The Mauryan emperor Ashoka is credited with having founded the city of Srinagar. Kashmir was once a Buddhist seat of learning, with the Sarvāstivādan school dominating. East and Central Asian Buddhist monks are recorded as having visited the kingdom. In the late 4th century AD, the famous Kuchanese monk Kumārajīva, born to an Indian noble family, studied Dīrghāgama and Madhyāgama in Kashmir under Bandhudatta. He become a prolific translator who helped take Buddhism to China. His mother, Jīva, retired to Kashmir. Vimalākṣa, a Sarvāstivādan Buddhist monk, travelled from Kashmir to Kucha and there instructed Kumārajīva in the Vinayapiṭaka.