The Pothohar Sultanate (

Pothwari The Indo-Aryan language spoken on the Pothohar Plateau in the far north of Pakistani Punjab, as well as in most of Pakistan's Azad Kashmir and in western areas of India's Jammu and Kashmir, is known by a variety of names, the most common of whi ...

: پوٹھوار سلطنت ''Pothavār Saltanat'', Persian: سلطنت پوتوهر ''Saltanat-i-Potohar'') was an early modern sultanate based in the

Pothohar region The Pothohar Plateau ( ur, ) is a plateau in north-eastern Pakistan, located between Indus River and the Jhelum River, forming the northern part of Punjab. Geography Potohar Plateau is bounded on the east by the Jhelum River, on the west by the ...

between the 15th and 19th centuries. It was the dominant power of the Indus Sagar and Chaj Doab, with

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

and

Jhelum Jhelum ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a city on the east bank of the Jhelum River, which is located in the district of Jhelum in the north of Punjab province, Pakistan. It is the 44th largest city of Pakistan by population. Jhelum is known for p ...

as its main municipalities. The Pothohar Sultanate, for the majority of its time, served as a vassal state for Mughals and

Afghans Afghans ( ps, افغانان, translit=afghanan; Persian/ prs, افغان ها, translit=afghānhā; Persian: افغانستانی, romanized: ''Afghanistani'') or Afghan people are nationals or citizens of Afghanistan, or people with ancestry f ...

History

Gakhars grew powerful under their Sultan, Muqarrab Khan (r.1738–1769), who participated in the battle of Karnal (1739) alongside Nader Shah against Mughals and received the title of Nawab. They controlled major regions of Potohar between

and

Indus The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

, including

Pharwala Pharwala Fort ( ur, ) is a 15th-century fort located about 40 km from Rawalpindi in Punjab, Pakistan. The fort is naturally defended by one side by a small Himalayan range and the other by the Swaan River. History The fort was originally ...

, Gujar Khan, Kahuta, Fatehjang and

Rohtas Rohtas can refer to: *Rohtas, Pakistan, a city located in Rohtas Fort, Pakistan *Rohtas Fort, a historical garrison fort near the city of Jhelum in Punjab, Pakistan *Rohtasgarh or Rohtas Fort, located in Rohtas, Bihar, India * Rohtas District, a d ...

. He later also conquered cities of Gujrat and

in 1740 and issued his own coins, in which he declared himself to be ruler of tract between Attock and Chenab. He defeated the

Yusafzai The Yusufzai or Yousafzai ( ps, یوسفزی, ), also referred to as the Esapzai (, ) are one of the largest tribes of ethnic Pashtuns. They are natively based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, to which they migrated to from Suliman mountains du ...

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

and Jang Kuli Khan of Khattak and overran as far north as BhimberHowever, the Bhangi Misl under Sardar Milka Singh forced him to give up control of Gujarat in 1765 and he returned to Jehlum. In 1769 he was treacherously captured and put to death by a rival chief, Himmat Khan of Bugial clan. Ultimately Sikhs conquered Rawalpindi too in 1767 and Gakhars were left with only Phurwala and Jhelum under their control. Muqarrab's son succeeded to his dominions, until Jhelum (1810) and Pharwala (1818) fell to the

Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He s ...

's invasions, and their rule ended.

References

{{Reflist Former sultanates Empires and kingdoms of India