Ladakh became part of India in 1947 after Maharaja Hari Singh, ruler of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, signed the Instrument of Accession amid a Pakistani-backed tribal invasion. Originally an independent Himalayan Buddhist kingdom, Ladakh was annexed by Jammu's Dogra dynasty in 1834. It became a separate Union Territory on October 31, 2019, after Article 370 was abrogated.