Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan

Sardar Ibrahim Khan (22 April 1915 – 31 July 2003) was a revolutionary leader and politician from the western region of Jammu and Kashmir (present-day Azad Kashmir), who led the 1947 Poonch Rebellion against the Maharaja in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and played a key role in the First Kashmir War, supporting Pakistan. He served as the President of Azad Kashmir for 13 years across four non-consecutive terms and still remains the longest-serving president of the state, since its establishment.

He is revered as Ghazi-e-Millat (Warrior of the Nation) in Azad Kashmir. Due to his services to Kashmir freedom struggle, he is known among the people of Kashmir as: Bani-e-Kashmir ("Founding president of Azad Kashmir").

Early life and education Sardar Ibrahim Khan was born on 22 April 1915 in Kot Mattay Khan, a village in the Poonch District of Kashmir to an elite Sudhan family. He received his primary education in his village. He attended college and received a Bachelors of Arts degree in 1937 at Islamia College (Lahore) and sought higher education abroad in 1938. He went to the UK in 1939 and obtained his LLB degree from the University of London in 1941. Khan then obtained a law degree from Lincoln's Inn, and later started practicing law at Srinagar, Kashmir.

Career 1947 Poonch rebellion

Ibrahim Khan played a pivotal role in the initiative of the 1947 Poonch rebellion and the First Kashmir War. In British India of 1946, he won the Jammu and Kashmir State Assembly election as a member of the Muslim Conference party and became a member of the Praja Sabha under Maharajah Hari Singh, Jammu and Kashmir ruler. This ruler signed a 'stand-still agreement' with the newly created state of Pakistan as a result of the Indian Independence Act 1947 which resulted in the Partition of India into India and Pakistan following the end of British rule in the Indian subcontinent. In 1947, Ibrahim Khan instigated and organised the Poonch rebellion, and with support from the Muslim League, planned and helped in the invasion and liberation of Jammu and Kashmir. He organised the rebellion through the use of former British Indian Army soldiers of the Muslim population who had kept their weapons after the war and were heavily armed. Muslim Kashmiri leaders saw it as a liberation of Muslim-majority Kashmir from the Hindu ruler.

Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan also wrote a book named The Kashmir Saga on government and politics of Azad Kashmir and included the history and philosophy of freedom struggle in the book.

1955 Poonch uprising

Khan's dismissal is widely regarded as the trigger to the 1955 uprising in Poonch Division.

Professional and political career Under the Maharajah's rule in 1943, Khan was appointed as a public prosecutor in Mirpur.

Published works His primary published works include:

The Kashmir Saga (1965): His most prominent work, written in English, outlining the history of the region and the Poonch rebellion against Dogra rule. Mataa-e-Zindagi ("Achievement of Life", 1970s): An autobiography in Urdu reflecting on his early life, political career, and the freedom movement.