Azad Kashmir       On 04 Oct 1947 Azad ("Free") Kashmir established; officially: State of Jammu and Kashmir, which is a separate territory of Pakistan. Area: 13,297 km² (5,134 mi²). Langauges: Urdu (official), Hindko, Mirpuri, Pahari, Gojri, Pashto. Urdu is the national language of Azad Kashmir but is only spoken by a minority. The dominant language spoken in AJK is Pahari. It is very similar to Pothwari and Hindko.   Both India and Pakistan claim all of Kashmir, but the territory has been partitioned between them since 1947. India controls the southern half of Kashmir, which it has organized as the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Before India's defeat in the 1962 Sino-Indian War, the state of Jammu and Kashmir also included the north-eastern section of the territory, which India still claims as part of Jammu and Kashmir State, but which has since been occupied by China. Pakistan controls the northern and western portion of Kashmir which is known as Azad Jammu and Kashmir State comprises about 1,680 sq km (650 sq mi). The administrative centre of Azad Kashmir is Muzaffarabad. Kashmir is an ancient country, much fought over because of its strategic location. According to tradition, its name derives from the Khasi, a people who lived in the northern mountains several centuries before the Christian era. The country was originally a stronghold of Hinduism; Buddhism was introduced about 245 BC. Beginning in the mid-14th century AD, Muslim sultans controlled the area for two centuries. Akbar, the Mughal emperor of Hindustan, conquered Kashmir between 1586 and 1592, and it became a part of the Mughal empire. Between 1756 and 1819 it was under Afghan rule; in the latter year, Kashmir was conquered by Ranjit Singh, the Sikh maharaja of the Punjab. In 1846 Kashmir was annexed to the (Hindu) Dogra kingdom of Jammu; the Dogra dynasty continued to rule the region until August 1947, when British India was partitioned into a predominantly Muslim Pakistan and a predominantly Hindu India. Following partition, a section of the Muslim population of Kashmir demanded accession to Pakistan. The reigning maharaja, Sir Hari Singh, a Hindu, resisted the pro-Pakistani movement. Pakistan invaded the area, after which the maharaja signed the Instrument of Accession to the Indian Union. India thereupon dispatched troops to Kashmir, and in the ensuing conflict forced the Pakistanis to yield ground. Through mediation organized by the United Nations, a ceasefire agreement between the two nations was concluded in January 1949. Subsequent UN efforts to secure troop withdrawals and develop a plebiscitary plan satisfactory to both sides were unsuccessful. Heavy border fighting broke out in 1965, 1971 and again in Kargil 1999, and led to the "line of control" which has since formed the boundary between the Indian- and Pakistani-controlled sections of Kashmir. China began conducting military manoeuvres in the border areas of eastern Kashmir in the 1950s. Since India's defeat in the Sino-Indian war of October 1962, the north-eastern part of Ladakh, in Jammu and Kashmir state, has been occupied by China. The Chinese authorities have since built a strategic road throughout the disputed territory, connecting Sinkiang with Tibet.   Division District: Mirpur [Bhimber (Cap: Bhimber), Kotli (Cap: Kotli), Mirpur (Cap: Mirpur), Muzaffarabad Bagh (Cap: Bagh)] Muzaffarabad [Muzaffarabad (Cap: Muzaffarabad), Neelum (Cap: Athmuqam), Poonch (Cap: Rawalakot) and Sudhnati (cap: Pallandari)] For earlier rulers of Jammu and Kashmir with their coinage, refer to Jammu and Kashmir.   Presidents Anwar (Provisional)..............................04 Oct 1947 - 24 Oct 1947 Sardar Mohammad Ibrahim Khan (1st time)..........24 Oct 1947 - 30 May 1950 Provisional to 15 Mar 1949. Sayyed Ali Ahmad Shah............................30 May 1950 - 02 Dec 1951 Ghulam Abbas Chaudhary...........................08 Jan 1951 - 1951 Supreme Head of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Mirwaiz Maulana Mohammad Yousif Shah (1st time)..02 Dec 1951 - 18 May 1952 As administrator (acting). Raja Mohammad Haydar Khan........................18 May 1952 - 21 Jun 1952 Col. Sher Ahmad Khan.............................21 Jun 1952 - 30 May 1956 Mirwaiz Maulana Mohammad Yousif Shah (2nd time)..30 May 1956 - 08 Sep 1956 As administrator (acting). Sardar Mohammad Abdul-Qayyum Khan (1st time).....08 Sep 1956 - 13 Apr 1957 Sardar Mohammad Ibrahim Khan (2nd time)..........13 Apr 1957 - 27 Apr 1959 Khurshid Hasan Khurshid..........................01 May 1959 - 07 Aug 1964 Mohammad Abdul Hamid Khan........................07 Aug 1964 - 07 Oct 1969 Brigadier Abdul Rahman Khan (interim - 1st time).07 Oct 1969 - 30 Oct 1970 Sardar Mohammad Abdul-Qayyum Khan (2nd time).....30 Oct 1970 - 16 Apr 1975 Sheikh Mansur Masood (interim)...................16 Apr 1975 - 05 Jun 1975 Sarder Mohammad Ibrahim Khan (3rd time)..........05 Jun 1975 - 30 Oct 1978 Brigadier Mohammad Hayyat Khan...................30 Oct 1978 - 01 Feb 1983 Maj. Gen. Abdul Rahman Khan (2nd time)...........01 Feb 1983 - 01 Oct 1985 Sardar Mohammad Abdul-Qayyum Khan (3rd time).....01 Oct 1985 - 20 Jul 1991 Sahibzada Ishaq Zafar............................20 Jul 1991 - 29 Jul 1991 Abdul Rashid Abbasi (1st time)...................29 Jul 1991 - 12 Aug 1991 Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan.......................12 Aug 1991 - 12 May 1996 Abdul Rashid Abbasi (2nd time)...................12 Aug 1996 - 25 Aug 1996   Sardar Mohammad Ibrahim Khan (4th time)..........25 Aug 1996 - 25 Aug 2001 Sardar Mohammad Anwar Khan.......................25 Aug 2001 - 25 Aug 2006 Raja Zulqarnain Khan.............................25 Aug 2006 - 29 Jul 2011 Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob Khan......................29 Jul 2011 - 25 Aug 2016 Served as Prime Minister in 2009. Mohammad Masood Khan.............................25 Aug 2016 - date Muhammad Masood Khan is elected president of Azad Kashmir, taking 42 votes against 6 for Chaudhry Latif Akbar.   Prime Ministers Abdul Hamid Khan....................................Jun 1977 - Aug 1977 Abdul Rahman Khan (acting)..........................Aug 1977 - Oct 1978 Martial Law.........................................Oct 1978 - 17 Jun 1985 Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan (1st time)............17 Jun 1985 - 29 Jun 1990 Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan born into an eminent political family of Kashmir, he is the son of Sardar Fateh Muhammad Khan Karelvi, a name synonymous with one of the first major uprisings against the repressive Dogra regime in 1931. It was Sardar Fateh Muhammad Khan Karelvi, who led the popular agitation against an arbitrary tax on salt imposed by the Maharaja's regime. Three years later in 1934, running as a candidate for the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference, he was elected to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislature, the Praja Sabha, from his home constituency of Mendhar-Poonch, an office he successfully held through the elections of 1938 and 1944. In 1948 when he was President of All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference Mendhar, he organised the supply of arms to protect the Poonch and Rajauri area and later, he also served as a member of the State Council during 1969-70. He is remembered today by the Muslims of Azad Jammu and Kashmir as one of the pioneers of the struggle of the people of Jammu and Kashmir for their rights under the tyrannical and alien rule of the Dogras. Raja Mumtaz Hussain Rathore......................29 Jun 1990 - 05 Jul 1991 Sardar Muhammad Ashraf (acting)..................05 Jul 1991 - 29 Jul 1991 Sardar Mohammad Abdul Qayyum Khan................29 Jul 1991 - 31 Jul 1996 He actively participated in the kashmiri freedom struggle. In 1951, he joined Azad Jammum and Kasmir Muslim Conference. He was elected as President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) State in 1956, 1971 and 1985. He also remained Prime Minister of AJK from 1991-1996. In 2002, he was made chairman of the National Kashmir Committee. His son Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan also became Prime Minister of AJK in 2006 and in 2010. Barrister Sultan Mahmood Thathaal Chaudhary......31 Jul 1996 - 25 Jul 2001 He made history in 1996 by becoming the first Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir hailing from the Mirpur region. He is the son of of Prominent Kashmiri Leader Chaudhry Noor Hussain Thathaal. Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan (2nd time)............25 Jul 2001 - 24 Jul 2006 Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan Abbassi (1st time).....24 Jul 2006 - 06 Jan 2009 Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob Khan......................06 Jan 2009 - 14 Oct 2009 He took oath after a successful no-confidence motion against the former premier Sardar Attique Ahmad Khan. Later Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob Khan resigned to avoid a no-confidence motion planned against him by the opposition. Sardar Qamaruz Zaman (acting)....................14 Oct 2009 - 22 Oct 2009 Raja Farooq Haider Khan (1st time)...............22 Oct 2009 - 29 Jul 2010 Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan Abbassi (2nd time).....29 Jul 2010 - 26 Jul 2011 Chaudhry Abdul Majeed............................26 Jul 2011 - 31 Jul 2016 Raja Farooq Haider Khan (2nd time)...............31 Jul 2016 - date     Pakistan Countries / Territories   Chiefa Coins