Muzaffarabad (مُظفَّرآباد;Pahari, Potwari: مُظفٌر
آباد)
is the capital of Azad Jammu and
Kashmir, Pakistan.
It is located in Muzaffarabad
District on the banks of the Jhelum andNeelum rivers. The district
is bounded by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in the west, by the Kupwara and Baramulla districts of Disputed
territory of Jammu & Kashmir in the east, and the Neelum District ofAzad Kashmir in the north.
History
Early
history
The original name of
Muzaffarabad was Udabhanda.
Hieun tsang, the
celebrated Buddhist pilgrim who is said to have visited the valley in 633 A.D
mentions Pan-nu-tso, i.e., modern day Punch, Ho-lo-she-pu-to i.e. modern day
Rajauri. He entered India from Udabhanda, Urasa (present Muzafrabad and Uskara)
entered the valley via Baramula gorge.[4]
Udabhanda was the
capital of the Shahidynasty.
The Shahi (Devanagari ), also called Shahiya, dynasties
ruled portions of the Kabul
Valley (in eastern Afghanistan) and the old province of Gandhara (northern
Pakistan and Kashmir) from the decline of the Kushan Empire in third century to the early ninth
century.[6] The kingdom was known
as Kabul-shahan or Ratbel-shahan from (565 – 670 CE) when they had their capitals in Kapisa and
Kabul, and laterUdabhandapura (also
known as Hund) for its new capital.
The term Shahi is the title of the rulers, likely
related to the Kushan form Shao[ orPersian form Shah and refers to a series of 60 rulers
probably descended from the Kushans or Turks (Turshkas).
Modern history
The capital of the
Azad Jammu & Kashmir, is situated at the confluence of the Jhelum &
Neelum rivers. It is 138 km from Rawalpindi and about 76 km from
Abbottabad. The present name of Muzaffarabad has been given to it after the
name of Sultan Muzaffar Khan, a chief of Bomba Dynasty (1652). There are two
forts, namely, Red & Black Fort, situated on the opposite sides of river
Neelum. The Neelum river streams through the town, joins river Jhelum at Domel
and plays a dominant role in the micro climate of Muzaffarabad.
On October 8, 2005,
the city was struck by an earthquake measuring a magnitude of 7.6
2005
Kashmir earthquake
Main article: 2005 Kashmir
earthquake
The city was the site
of the epicenter of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, which occurred on October 8,
2005 and had a magnitude of 7.6. The disaster destroyed 50% of
the buildings in the city (including most of the official buildings) and is
estimated to have killed up to 80,000 people in the Pakistani-controlled areas
of Kashmir.
As of 8 November 2005
the Pakistani government's official death toll was 87,350. Some estimates put
the death toll over 100,000
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