Kohala ( ur, ) is a town in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

on the River Jhelum, north of

Murree Murree (Punjabi, Urdu: مری) is a mountain resort city, located in the Galyat region of the Pir Panjal Range, within the Muree District of Punjab, Pakistan. It forms the outskirts of the Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area, and is abou ...

, south of

Muzaffarabad Muzaffarabad (; ur, ) is the capital and largest city of Azad Kashmir, and the 60th largest in Pakistan. The city is located in Muzaffarabad District, near the confluence of the Jhelum and Neelum rivers. The district is bounded by the P ...

, and east of Bagh. The town was at the

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the s ...

in 1947 a border town between newly created Pakistan and the princely state of

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

, but is today only the border between the rest of Pakistan and

Azad Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (; ), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir, is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger K ...

Location

Kohala is the site of the well-known Kohala Bridge across the Jhelum. Kohala is a gateway to the

and Bagh districts of

. It lies where the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

, Kashmir and

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

boundaries meet.Lonely Planet Pakistan and the Karakoram Highway - 1741045428 Lindsay Brown, Paul Clammer, Rodney Cocks - 2008 Page 183 "Entry to Muzaffarabad district is from Mansehra (crossing at Gahri Habibullah) or Murree (crossing at Kohala)."

Etymology

There are two theories regarding the etymology of Kohala. One is that it originates from the name of a Hindu goddess

Kohala Devi Kohala may refer to: *Kohala (mountain) an extinct volcano of Hawaii *Kohala, Hawaii, two districts on the island of Hawaii *Kohala, Pakistan, a town in Pakistan **Kohala Bridge, a bridge between Azad Kashmir and Pakistan **Kohala Hydropower Projec ...

because Kohala was a place where Hindu deities were worshipped on the banks of the Watesta (Jhelum) River before the arrival of Islam. A temple called Dawal was there. Another theory is that Kohala is derived from the Dhondi/Kareali language ''kohal'', meaning "cattle room" or house that was divided in living room in ancient time or separate or beneath of living house in modern era, or ''gotrerhi'', a place where livestock stay and sit. Kohala is a place where caravans from Kashmir stayed after crossing Jhelum River and their horses and donkeys were tied there in antiquity. There are two Kohalas in the region; one is on both banks of river Jhelum and a Kohala Bala at Lora, a union council of

Abbottabad District Abbottabad District () is a district of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is part of Hazara Division and covers an area of 1,969 km2, with the city of Abbottabad being the principal town. Neighbouring districts are Mansehra ...

History

Ancient era

In ancient times Kohala was a centre of Hindu pilgrimage who worshipped Kohala Dewi. By the middle of 500 BCE Kohala had become a centre of the Buddhist community and a temple was constructed between Kohala and Knair Pull. It was a route of Buddhist monks for travelling from

Taxila Taxila or Takshashila (; sa, तक्षशिला; pi, ; , ; , ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. Located in the Taxila Tehsil of Rawalpindi District, it lies approximately northwest of the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area ...

to Sharda Buddhist university in Sharda, Kashmir.

18th century

Kohala was possessed by the Karlal tribe in the mid eighteenth century and in 1200