Muzaffarabad Explained

Muzaffarabad
Native Name Lang:ur
Settlement Type:City administered by Pakistan
Image Map1:Kashmir region. LOC 2003626427 - showing sub-regions administered by different countries.jpg
Map Caption1:A map showing Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir shaded in sage in the disputed Kashmir region
Coordinates:34.3583°N 73.4722°W
Subdivision Type:Administering country
Subdivision Name:Pakistan
Subdivision Type2:Territory
Subdivision Name2:Azad Kashmir
Subdivision Type3:District
Subdivision Name3:Muzaffarabad
Population Total:149,913
Total Type:City
Population Rank:60th, Pakistan
Population As Of:2017
Population Footnotes:[1]
Demographics Type1:Languages
Demographics1 Title1:Official
Demographics1 Info1:Urdu[2] [3]
Demographics1 Title2:Spoken
Elevation M:737
Leader Name1:Khalid Awan (PPP)
Area Code:05822
Area Code Type:Calling code
Timezone1:PST
Utc Offset1:+05:00
Website:Muzaffarabad Government Portal
Established Date:1646
Founder:Sultan Muzaffar Khan
Leader Party:PML(N)
Leader Name:Sikandar Gilani
Leader Title:Mayor
Leader Title1:Deputy Mayor
Leader Title2:Deputy Commissioner
Leader Name2:Tahir Mumtaz BPS-18(PAS)
Leader Title3:District Police Officer
Leader Name3:Mirza Zahid Hussain BPS-18(PSP)

Muzaffarabad (;[4] Urdu: {{Nastaliq|مُظَفَّر آباد, IPA: [mʊzəffərɑːbɑːd]) is a city in Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.[5] It is the largest city and the capital of Azad Kashmir, which is a Pakistani-administered administrative territory.

The city is located in Muzaffarabad District, near the confluence of the Jhelum and Neelum rivers. The district is bounded by the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the west, the Kupwara and Baramulla districts of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the east, and the Neelum District in the north.

History

Muzaffarabad was founded in 1646 by Sultan Muzaffar Khan, chief of the Bomba tribe[6] who ruled Kashmir.[7] Khan also constructed the Red Fort that same year for the purpose of warding off incursions from the Mughal Empire.

Indo-Pakistani war of 1947

See main article: Battle of Muzaffarabad. The Battle of Muzaffarabad occurred on 22 October 1947 between Pakistani-backed Pashtun tribesmen, pro-Pakistani Kashmiri rebels, and the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces in the town of Muzaffarabad. The battle resulted in a rapid defeat of the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces, leading to the capture of Muzaffarabad by the tribesmen.

2005 earthquake

See main article: 2005 Kashmir earthquake.

The city was near the epicenter of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, which had a magnitude of 7.6 Mw. The earthquake destroyed about 50 percent of the buildings in the city (including most government buildings) and is estimated to have killed up to 80,000 people in the Pakistani-controlled areas., the Pakistani government's official death toll was 87,350, while other estimates have put the death toll at over 100,000.[8]

Administrative subdivisions

The district of Muzaffarabad is administratively divided into 2 tehsils, which are subdivided into 25 union councils.[9]

Transport

Muzaffarabad's public transportation system primarily relies on buses, rickshaws, and small pickup trucks for intracity travel. Following the devastating 2005 earthquake that severely damaged infrastructure, including roads, the city government, with international aid, rebuilt roads, bridges, and other essential infrastructure. However, public transportation remains underdeveloped. Notably, Muzaffarabad lacks a railway system and a functional airport. The nearest railway station is located in the Rawalpindi District of Pakistani Punjab.[10]

Notable people

See also

Sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Statistical Year Book 2019 . 20 April 2020 . Statistics Azad Jammu and Kashmir. dmy .
  2. Web site: Kashmir.

  3. On p. 29, the census report states that Urdu is the official language of the government of Azad Kashmir, with Kashmiri, Pahari, Gojri, Punjabi, Kohistani, Pushto, and Sheena 'frequently spoken in Azad Kashmir'. Yet, when surveyed about their 'mother tongue', Azad Kashmiris' choices were limited to selecting from Pakistan's major languages: Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Pushto, Balochi, Saraiki, and 'others'; not surprisingly, 2.18 million of Azad Kashmir's 2.97 million people chose 'others'.

  4. Muzaffarabad . https://web.archive.org/web/20210518051617/https://www.lexico.com/definition/Muzaffarabad . dead . 18 May 2021 . Lexico UK English Dictionary . Oxford University Press.
  5. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary sources (a) through (e), reflecting due weight in the coverage. Although "controlled" and "held" are also applied neutrally to the names of the disputants or to the regions administered by them, as evidenced in sources (h) through (i) below, "held" is also considered politicized usage, as is the term "occupied," (see (j) below).
    (a) (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcontinent ... has been the subject of dispute between India and Pakistan since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. The northern and western portions are administered by Pakistan and comprise three areas: Azad Kashmir, Gilgit, and Baltistan, the last two being part of a territory called the Northern Areas. Administered by India are the southern and southeastern portions, which constitute the state of Jammu and Kashmir but are slated to be split into two union territories.";
    (b) (subscription required) Quote: "Aksai Chin, Chinese (Pinyin) Aksayqin, portion of the Kashmir region, at the northernmost extent of the Indian subcontinent in south-central Asia. It constitutes nearly all the territory of the Chinese-administered sector of Kashmir that is claimed by India to be part of the Ladakh area of Jammu and Kashmir state.";
    (c) C. E Bosworth, the University of Manchester Quote: "KASHMIR, kash'mer, the northernmost region of the Indian subcontinent, administered partlv by India, partly by Pakistan, and partly by China. The region has been the subject of a bitter dispute between India and Pakistan since they became independent in 1947";
    (d) Quote: "Jammu and Kashmir: Territory in northwestern India, subject to a dispute between India and Pakistan. It has borders with Pakistan and China."
    (e) Quote: "We move from a disputed international border to a dotted line on the map that represents a military border not recognized in international law. The line of control separates the Indian and Pakistani administered areas of the former Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir.";
    (f)
    (g)
    (h) Quote: "J&K: Jammu and Kashmir. The former princely state that is the subject of the Kashmir dispute. Besides IJK (Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir. The larger and more populous part of the former princely state. It has a population of slightly over 10 million, and comprises three regions: Kashmir Valley, Jammu, and Ladakh.) and AJK ('Azad" (Free) Jammu and Kashmir. The more populous part of Pakistani-controlled J&K, with a population of approximately 2.5 million.), it includes the sparsely populated "Northern Areas" of Gilgit and Baltistan, remote mountainous regions which are directly administered, unlike AJK, by the Pakistani central authorities, and some high-altitude uninhabitable tracts under Chinese control."
    (i) Quote: "Kashmir’s identity remains hotly disputed with a UN-supervised “Line of Control” still separating Pakistani-held Azad (“Free”) Kashmir from Indian-held Kashmir.";
    (j) Quote:"Some politicised terms also used to describe parts of J&K. These terms include the words 'occupied' and 'held'."
  6. Mir-át-i Mas'údi Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Book: Ahmad, Pirzada Irshad. A Hand Book on Azad Jammu & Kashmir. 2003. Nawab Sons Publication. 978-969-530-050-3. en.
  8. Stuart, Julia. (1 January 2006) IoS Appeal: Last chance to donate to quake victims . News.independent.co.uk. Retrieved on 3 July 2012.
  9. http://www.ajkpolice.gov.pk/sps.asp Information about SPs District Muzaffarabad
  10. http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&sll=34.341389,73.505836&sspn=0.071946,0.07994&ie=UTF8&ll=34.377446,73.649597&spn=0.329827,0.727158&z=11 Google Maps

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