Although Kashmir has long been characterized by religious diversity, it is only the last generation that has seen this diversity become a source of sectarian violence. Kashmir is historically home to Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists. Local leaders coined a term, kashmiriyat ( " Kashmir am-ity "), to describe the relative harmony across religious and cultural lines. Religious groups often blended practices across faith lines, and a shared Kashmiri identity trumped sectarian divisions. The end of British rule and the subsequent establishment of the states of Pakistan (with its primarily Muslim population) and India (with its Hindu majority and a Muslim population nearly as large as Pakistan's) unsettled the status quo, making appeals to narrow sectarian interests from outside the region commonplace.