Where from the land Kashmir got its name?

 

Various explanations have been provided by many as to etymology of Kashmir.

1. A popular local etymology of Kashmir is that it is land desiccated from water .

2. Kashmir might have been derived from either kashyapa-mir (Kashyapa's Lake) or kashyapa-meru (Kashyapa's Mountain), after the Vedic sage Kashyapa who is believed to have settled people in this land

3. The Ancient Greeks called the region Kasperia, which has been identified with Kaspapyros of Hecataeus of Miletus (apud Stephanus of Byzantium) and Kaspatyros of Herodotus (3.102, 4.44).

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Kashmir was mentioned even in the Sabha Parva of Mahabharata. It was mentioned that Arjuna conquered the Kashmir area, before Pandavas conducting the Rājasūya (राजसूय).

ततः काश्मीरकान् वीरान् क्षत्रियान् क्षत्रियर्षभः

व्यजयल् लॊहितं चैव मण्डलैर् दशभिः सह

tataḥ kāśmīrakān vīrān kṣatriyān kṣatriyarṣabhaḥ

vyajayal lohitaṃ caiva maṇḍalair daśabhiḥ saha

That bull of the Kshatriya race then defeated the brave Kshatriyas of Kāśmīra and also king Lohita along with ten minor chiefs.

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According to my understanding, the name Kashmir might have been derived from the extensive Saffron cultivation in that area.

 

In Sanskrit Kāśmīra काश्मीर means Saffron .

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Interestingly, in श्री सुब्रह्मण्य भुजङ्ग - Śrī Subrahmaṇya Bhujaṅga, a stotra composed by Shri Shankaracharya and dedicated to Shri Subrahmanya or Skanda or Kartikeya, there is a mention about Kāśmīra, indicating red coloured Saffron.

पुलिन्देशकन्याघनाभोगतुङ्ग-

स्तनालिङ्गनासक्तकाश्मीररागम् |

नमस्याम्यहं तारकारे तवोरः

स्वभक्तावने सर्वदा सानुरागम् ‖ 11 ‖

Oh, enemy of Taraka, I prostrate to your chest which is red in colour. You are keen on protecting your devotees always with love because of the kāśmīra rāgam (the red-coloured paste) that got well stuck on your chest when you embraced Valli, the daughter of the hunter head Nambirajan, who has round large and raised bosom.