Kashmiris  Kashmiris () are an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley, in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, who speak Kashmiri, an Indo-Aryan Dardic language. The bulk of Kashmiri people predominantly live in the Kashmir Valley–which is the 'actual' Kashmir and does not include the other territories of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir (i.e. Jammu, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir and Ladakh). Other ethnic groups living in the former Jammu and Kashmir state include Gujjars, Dogras, Paharis, Baltis and Ladakhis. While Kashmiris are native to the Kashmir Valley, smaller populations of Kashmiris also live in the remaining districts of Jammu and Kashmir. Ethnic Kashmiris can be found in the Chenab region's Doda, Ramban, Reasi and Kishtwar districts and in the Neelam Valley and Leepa Valley of Northern Azad Kashmir. Since 1947, many ethnic Kashmiris are also found in Pakistan. Many ethnic Kashmiris from the Kashmir Valley migrated to the Punjab region during the Dogra, Sikh and Afghan rule of Kashmir. Most Kashmiris today are Sunni Muslim but a sizeable Hindu community also exists. Most ethnic Kashmiri Muslims are descended from Kashmiri Hindu Pandits and Buddhists, some also use the prefix 'Sheikh'. Common surnames among these people include Bhat/Butt, Dar, Lone, Malik, etc. Although all residents of Azad Kashmir call themselves 'Kashmiri', most residents of Azad Kashmir are not ethnic Kashmiris. The Hindu caste system of the Kashmir region was influenced by the influx of Buddhism from the time of Asoka, around the third century BCE, and a consequence of this was that the traditional lines of varna were blurred, with the exception of that for the Brahmins, who remained aloof from the changes. Another notable feature of early Kashmiri society was the relative high regard in which women were held when compared to their position in other communities of the period. A historically contested region, Northern India was subject to attack from Turkic and Arab regimes from the eighth century onwards, but they generally ignored the mountain-circled Kashmir Valley in favour of easier pickings elsewhere. It was not until the fourteenth century that Muslim rule was finally established in the Valley and when this happened it did not occur primarily as a consequence of invasion so much as because of internal problems resulting from the weak rule and corruption endemic in the Hindu Lohara dynasty.