About 1553, Bhagan Namgyal founded a dynasty in Ladakh with Leh as its capital. Among the dynasty's most outstanding rulers was Sengge Namgyal (reigned 1616-1642), who enlarged the kingdom to its greatest extent and repaired many of the monasteries which had by that time fallen into decay. He also built new monasteries and the great palace that can still be seen at Leh.

In Kashmir, the Mughal emperor Akbar established his rule by 1588 and built a fort in Srinagar. His son and successor Jahangir, who ruled from 1605 to 1627, increased the beauty of the Vale of Kashmir by planting chenar trees and constructing pleasure gardens.

In the 1600's, Ladakh repulsed invading Baltis from the south and west but was overrun by Tibetan Mongols. The Mughal governor of Kashmir helped the king of Leh regain his throne. But in return the king had to send regular tribute (payment) to the Mughal emperor and also had to build a mosque. Mughal power in Kashmir was, however, beginning to decline. The region went through a period of unstable government in the 1700's.

After 1780, the small state of Jammu, controlled by a Rajput clan (a clan whose members belonged to the warrior caste of ancient India, became an ally of the Sikhs and paid them tribute. Gulab Singh, a member of the princely house of Jammu, won favour with the Sikhs.
In Kashmir, meanwhile, Afghan chiefs controlled the state and oppressed its people. In 1819, the Sikh leader Maharajah Ranjit Singh annexed Kashmir to his kingdom and put an end to the oppression. In 1820, Gulab Singh was made maharajah of Jammu. The dynasty that Gulab Singh founded was called the Dogra Dynasty.

In 1834, Dogra forces invaded Ladakh and placed it under various governors appointed by Gulab Singh. In 1845-1846, the British defeated the Sikhs in the First Anglo-Sikh War. Gulab Singh, who had kept out of the war, acted as a mediator between the two sides.
The British, who now had control of Kashmir, ceded it to Gulab Singh. Gulab Singh and his successors, a Hindu dynasty, ruled the new state of Jammu and Kashmir, subject to British supervision, until 1947. The state included Kashmir, Baltistan, and Gilgit, which were largely Muslim, and Ladakh, which had many Buddhists.

In the period before independence, the Muslim League Party in Kashmir favoured joining the proposed new Muslim nation of Pakistan. But the Congress Party wished the area to remain within the country of India. Meanwhile, Gilgit and Baltistan rebelled. In southwest Kashmir, Muslim rebels allied themselves with the Pakistani states.

Following independence and the partition of India in 1947, Kashmir suffered a brief invasion from Pakistan, and its ruler Hari Singh chose to enter union with India. Indian troops opposed the Pakistani invading forces, and hostilities between India and Pakistan continued until December 30, 1948. On that date, both sides agreed a ceasefire.

The ceasefire line became the frontier separating the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir from the Pakistani-held Azad Kashmir. Neither country recognizes the jurisdiction of the other. Pakistan has always tried to create a political instability in the state by sponsoring terrorism across the border. The Kashmir Assembly declared the state to be part of India in 1957.