The Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948 or the First Kashmir War was an armed conflict that was fought between India and Pakistan over the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir from 1947 to 1948. It was the first of four Indo-Pakistani wars that was fought between the two newly-independent nations. Pakistan precipitated the war a few weeks after its independence by launching tribal lashkar (militias) from Waziristan, in an effort to capture Kashmir and to preempt the possibility of its ruler joining India. The inconclusive result of the war still affects the geopolitics of both countries.
Mirpur, officially known as New Mirpur City, is the capital of Mirpur district located in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. It is the 2nd largest city of Azad Kashmir and 74th largest city in Pakistan.
The Jammu and Kashmir Rifles is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. Its origins lay in the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. After the accession of the state to the Indian Union in October 1947, the State Forces came under the command of the Indian Army. They remained in the original form until 1956 when Jammu and Kashmir Constituent Assembly effectively ratified the state's accession to India. Then the State Forces became the Jammu and Kashmir Regiment of the Indian Army. In 1963, the designation was changed to Jammu and Kashmir Rifles. After the conversion, the Ladakh Scouts came under the aegis of the Regiment, where it remained until raised as a separate Regiment in 2002.
The Mirpur District is one of the 10 districts of Pakistan's dependent territory of Azad Kashmir. The Mirpur District is bounded on the north by the Kotli District, on the east by the Bhimber District, on the south by the Gujrat District of Pakistan's Punjab Province, on the south-west by the Jhelum District of Pakistan's Punjab Province, and on the west by Rawalpindi District of Pakistan's Punjab Province. The district is named after its main city, Mirpur. The Mirpur District has a population of 456,200 and covers an area of 1,010 km2 (390 sq mi). The district is mainly mountainous with some plains. The Mirpur District has a humid subtropical climate which closely resembles that of the Gujrat District and the Jhelum District, the adjoining districts of Pakistan's Punjab Province.
The following is a timeline of the Kashmir conflict, a territorial conflict between India, Pakistan and, to a lesser degree, China. India and Pakistan have been involved in four wars and several border skirmishes over the issue.
Rajouri is a district of Jammu region in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The Line of Control lies to its west, Poonch to its north, the Reasi district to the east and the Jammu district to its south. Rajouri is famous for its "Kalari". Representing an ancient principality, Rajouri was a joint district, along with Reasi, at the time of princely state's accession to India in 1947. The two tehsils were separated and Rajouri was merged with the Poonch district. Rajouri again became a separate district in 1968.
Brigadier Mohammad Usman MVC was the highest ranking officer of the Indian Army killed in action during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. As a Muslim, Usman became a symbol of India's inclusive secularism. At the time of the partition of India he with many other Muslim officers declined to move to the Pakistan Army and continued to serve with the Indian Army. He was killed in July 1948 while fighting Pakistani soldiers and militia in Jammu and Kashmir. He was later awarded the second highest military decoration for gallantry in the face of enemy, the Maha Vir Chakra
Rajouri or Rajauri is a town in Rajouri district in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is located about 155 kilometres (96 mi) from Srinagar and 150 km (93 mi) from Jammu city on the Poonch Highway. The town is the location of Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University and the birthplace of Sikh General Banda Singh Bahadur.
Bhimber is the capital of Bhimber District, in the Azad Kashmir. The town is on the border between the disputed Jammu region and Punjab in Pakistan proper, about 47 km (29 mi) by road southeast of Mirpur.
The Hunza–Nagar Campaign was fought in 1891 by troops of the British Raj against the princely states of Hunza and Nagar in the Gilgit Agency. It is also known in Pakistan as the "Anglo-Brusho War".
Holar is a city in the Sehnsa tehsil of Kotli District, of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. It has a crossing on the Jhelum river, which used to be called Owen Pattan in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, but now called Holar bridge. The Kahuta–Kotli road passes over the bridge.
Brigadier Janak Singh CIE, OBI, was an officer of the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. After retirement, he briefly served as the prime minister of the state during a crucial period in 1947, which was evidently a temporary appointment while the Maharaja looked for a more permanent candidate.
Raja Sakhi Daler Khan was born in the village of Sarsawa, Kotli in the year 1928. He led Pakistani troops and irregulars in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. Due to his major role in the liberation of the Poonch valley regions of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the village of Sarsawa was subsequently renamed Sakhi Delair Abad in his honour.
Military operations took place in Poonch district, then part of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, in 1948 during the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir between the Indian Army and Pakistani and Azad Kashmir rebel forces. Poonch withstood a siege by these forces from November 1947 until relieved by an Indian offensive, Operation Easy on 20 November 1948. The besieged garrison, commanded by Brig. Pritam Singh, was maintained by air supply. Military operations ended with Poonch town and the eastern part of Poonch district in Indian hands and western part of the Poonch district in Pakistani hands.
Azad Pattan, previously Lachman Pattan, is a village near Palandri in the Sudhanoti District of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. It is located on border of Punjab and Azad Kashmir on bank of Guoien stream.
Chirala (چڑالہ)[ pronunciation (help·info)] is a village and Union Council of Dhirkot Tehsil in the Bagh District of Azad Kashmir.
After the Partition of India, during October–November 1947 in the Jammu region of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, many Muslims were massacred and others driven away to West Punjab. The killings were carried out by extremist Hindus and Sikhs, aided and abetted by the forces of Maharaja Hari Singh. The activists of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) played a key role in planning and executing the riots. An estimated 20,000–100,000 Muslims were massacred. Subsequently, many non-Muslims, estimated as over 20,000, were massacred by Pakistani tribesmen and soldiers, in the Mirpur region of today's Pakistani administered Kashmir. Many Hindus and Sikhs were also massacred in the Rajouri area of Jammu division.
In Spring 1947, an uprising against the Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir broke out in the Poonch jagir, an area bordering the Rawalpindi district of West Punjab and the Hazara district of the North-West Frontier Province in the future Pakistan. The leader of the rebellion, Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, escaped to Lahore by the end of August 1947 and persuaded the Pakistani authorities to back the rebellion. In addition to the backing, Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan authorised an invasion of the state, by the ex-Indian National Army personnel in the south and a force led by Major Khurshid Anwar in the north. These invasions eventually led to the First Kashmir War fought between India and Pakistan, and the formation of Pakistan administered Kashmir. The Poonch jagir has since been divided across Kashmir, administered by Pakistan and the state of Jammu and Kashmir, administered by India.
Brigadier Muhammad Aslam Khan (1918–1994) was a Pakistani military officer, who led the Gilgit Scouts and Azad rebels in the First Kashmir War. Using the nom de guerre of 'Colonel Pasha', he organised a force of 1200 rebels and local recruits in Gilgit, and led an attack on the Indian Army and the State Forces from the north, conquering Skardu and Kargil and advancing within 30 miles of Leh. Even though the Indian Army eventually repulsed the attack beyond Kargil, Skardu remained part of the rebel territory, coming under Pakistani control at the end of the war.
The 1947–1948 Rajouri Massacres were the killing of thousands of residents and refugees in the Rajouri tehsil in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, by the Azad Kashmir Forces and Pashtun tribal militia during the First Kashmir War. The "siege" of the town of Rajouri began on 7 November 1947 and ended on the 12 April 1948 when the Indian Army recaptured it. The massacre is commemorated annually in Rajouri and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
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