The Indo-Pakistani war of 1947–1948, also known as the first Kashmir war, was a war 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 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.
Baltistan also known as Baltiyul or Little Tibet, is a mountainous region in the Pakistani-administered territory of Gilgit-Baltistan and constitutes an northern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947. It is located near the Karakoram and borders Gilgit to the west, China's Xinjiang to the north, Indian-administered Ladakh to the southeast, and the Indian-administered Kashmir Valley to the southwest. The average altitude of the region is over 3,350 metres (10,990 ft). Baltistan is largely administered under the Baltistan Division.
Skardu is a city located in Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region. Skardu serves as the capital of Skardu District and the Baltistan Division. It is situated at an average elevation of nearly 2,500 metres above sea level in the Skardu Valley, at the confluence of the Indus and Shigar rivers. The city is an important gateway to the eight-thousanders of the nearby Karakoram mountain range. The Indus River running through the region separates the Karakoram from the Ladakh Range.
The Northern Light Infantry Regiment (NLI) is a light infantry regiment in the Pakistan Army, based and currently headquartered in Gilgit, Pakistan. Along with other forces of the Pakistani military, the NLI has the primary responsibility of conducting ground operations in the interest of defending the strategically-important territory of Gilgit−Baltistan, a Pakistani-controlled region that constitutes part of Kashmir, which has been disputed between Pakistan and India since 1947. The NLI draws a majority of its recruits from native tribes present in the nearby mountainous areas who are reportedly less prone to altitude sickness and the cold temperatures that characterize high-altitude mountain warfare, allowing the regiment to conduct its duties optimally.
The Gilgit Agency was an agency within the British Indian Empire. It encompassed the subsidiary states of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir situated along the northern border. The primary objective of establishing the Gilgit Agency was to bolster and fortify these regions, particularly in the context of concerns about Russian encroachment in the area. The subsidiary states encompassed Hunza, Nagar and other states in the present day districts of Gupis-Yasin, Ghizer, Darel, Tangir and Diamer. The agency headquarters was based in the town of Gilgit, within the Gilgit tehsil of Jammu and Kashmir.
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.
Skardu Fort or Kharpocho, meaning The king of Forts, is a fort in Skardu in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. Australian mountaineer and film maker Greg Child writes that the fort is "perched above the junction of the rivers" and overlooks the Rock of Skardu.
Gilgit-Baltistan, formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory and consists of the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and between India and China since 1959. It borders Azad Kashmir to the south, the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan to the north, the Xinjiang region of China to the east and northeast, and the Indian-administered union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to the southeast.
The Gilgit Scouts were a paramilitary force within the Gilgit-Baltistan region in northern Pakistan. They were raised by the British Raj in 1913, on behalf of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, to police the Gilgit Agency, which formed the northern frontier of British India. The force was composed of local men recruited by British commanders.
Brigadier Sher Jung Thapa MVC was a military officer of the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces and later the Indian Army. Revered as the Hero of Skardu, he was a recipient of the Indian Army's second highest gallantry award, the Maha Vir Chakra (MVC).
Military operations took place in Ladakh in 1948 during the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir between the Indian Army and Pakistani raiders infiltrated to capture the kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir. The eviction of this invading force of tribal raiders, who enjoyed numerical superiority, better lines of communication, commanding high ground and superior logistics, was a major military achievement for the small force of Indian soldiers.
Operation Eraze is the codename of the assault and capture of Gurais in northern Kashmir by the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947.
Gilgit-Baltistan is an administrative territory of Pakistan that borders the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, Azad Kashmir to the southwest, Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan to the northwest, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China to the north, and the Indian-administered region of Jammu and Kashmir to the south and south-east.
Chorbat Valley is a section of the Shyok river valley divided between Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan and Indian-administered Ladakh. The Pakistan-administered portion is in the Khaplu tehsil of Ghanche District in Gilgit–Baltistan, and the Indian-administered portion is in the Nubra tehsil, Leh district of Ladakh. Chorbat stretches from the edge of Khaplu to the Chalunka village of Nubra.
The Chitral Scouts (CS), also known as Chitral Levies, originally raised in 1903 as the militia of the princely state of Chitral, is now part of the Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North) of Pakistan. They are recruited mostly from the Chitral and Kalash Valleys areas along the western borders and are led by officers from the Pakistan Army. The Frontier Corps of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North) falls under the control of the Ministry of the Interior. Its headquarters is at Chitral town, and it is commanded by a Colonel of the Pakistan Army.
Mirza Hassan Khan , of Majini Mohallah Gilgit, was a captain of the 6th Infantry of the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces. Placed at Bunji in the Gilgit wazarat, Khan rebelled against the Maharaja's regime after his accession to India and participated in the overthrow of the governor of Gilgit in November 1947. He later fought in the First Kashmir War as part of Gilgit rebel forces under the command of Colonel Aslam Khan and rose to become a colonel in the Pakistan Army. After leaving the army, he founded the Gilgit League to protest against the Pakistan's ad-hoc administration of Gilgit-Baltistan.
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.
William Alexander BrownMBESitara-i-Imtiaz was a British military officer based in British-ruled India. He is best known for his actions during the Partition of India, when he assisted the locals of the Gilgit Agency and led a coup d'état against Hari Singh, the Maharaja of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. The successful coup ultimately resulted in the Gilgit Agency becoming a part of Pakistani-administered Kashmir following the First Indo−Pakistani War.
Bunji (Urdu:بنجی) is a town in Astore District of Gilgit-Baltistan region in Pakistan. It was historically important, being on the edge of the ancient Yagistan. It was economically a hub for barter trade between Yagistan and Dogras. The distance from Bunji to Gilgit is about 50 kilometres (31 mi) on the Karakoram Highway. Bunji, located at the junction of Three Great Mountain Ranges, has its historical importance. The village has its prominent traces in the socio-political and economical situations of the region in History. Literacy rate of bunji is almost 100 percent except outsider coming from other places for jobs. River Indus covers the village from North to west while from eastern side it is connected with river Astore. Baltistan region joins its territory from the North-East.
In November 1947, the paramilitary force of Gilgit Scouts stationed at Gilgit rebelled against the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, soon after it acceded to the Indian Union. Under the command of a British officer Major William Brown, they executed a coup d'etat, overthrew the governor Ghansara Singh, and imprisoned him. The Muslim troops of Jammu and Kashmir State Forces stationed at Bunji joined in the rebellion, under the command of Captain Mirza Hassan Khan, imprisoned their own commander Colonel Abdul Majid and eliminated the non-Muslim troops. A provisional government was declared under a local chief Shah Rais Khan, which lasted for about two weeks. On 16 November, a Pakistani political agent Khan Mohammad Alam Khan arrived and took over the administration.
Jammu and Kashmir State Forces 
Indian Air Force [4] 
Gilgit Scouts 
Chitral State Bodyguards 
