evidence: 2. Azad or Free Kashmir (or Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, as it is known in India), located in Pakistan’s northeast, with an area of 5,134 square miles and a majority Muslim, mostly Pahari, and Punjabi speaking population of about 3.2 million; its capital is Muzaffarabad. [...] Pakistan and India were born on August 14 and 15, 1947, respectively, amidst violence, confusion, and chaos. The ruler of Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh, continued to remain undecided on accession, entertained ideas of independence, and even, for a short time, courted Pakistan, which, unlike India, was promising a continuation of his royal privileges. In the meantime, a revolt against the ruler’s authority had broken out in Poonch, a district in the western part of the state, and by October 1947, with the help of Pakistan, the rebels had declared the formation of "Azad Kashmir." To make matters worse for the ruler, on October 21, 1947, several thousand Pashtun tribesmen from the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan infiltrated the north and northwest region of the princely state, ostensibly to assist their ethnic brethren in Gilgit, who were also engaged in a popular rebellion against Maharaja Hari Singh. Although the Pakistani government claimed that this incursion was not supported by the Pakistani army, there is evidence to suggest that Pakistani regular forces accompanied and equipped the rebels.