Kotli ( ur}) is a city in Kotli District of

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 Ka ...

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 ...

. It lies on the

Poonch River The Poonch River (also known as Punch River, Punch Tohi, Tohi of Punch) is a tributary of the Jhelum River that flows through Jammu and Kashmir in India, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir in Pakistan. Name According to Georg Bühler, the ancient fo ...

, and the river contains several notable waterfalls including the Lala Waterfall near the town of Kotli and the Gulpur Waterfalls at the village of Gulpur to the southwest. As per

2017 Census of Pakistan The 2017 Census of Pakistan was a detailed enumeration of the Pakistani population which began on 15 March 2017 and ended on 25 May 2017. It was the first census taken in the country in the 21st century, nineteen years after 1998 Census of Pakist ...

, Kotli had a population of 46,907.

History

Origin

The city of Kotli can be dated back to fifteenth century, when it was settled by a branch of the Royal Mangral family of Hindu Rajputs,

Raja Mangar Pal ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested fr ...

. Back then it was known by the name of Kohtali meaning under mountain','' through the year the name morphed into Kotli. Kotli remained independent until subdued by

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 ...

in 1819. There is famous village Saidabad, Dhanna, and famous as mini Paris . Famous Things About Kotli Kotli city is very popular because of mosques. There are mosques on all entrances and exits of the city. According to an estimate, there are more than three hundred mosques in the city, due to which Kotli is also called the city of mosques .

Indo-Pak War of 1947-1948

After

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 statu ...

of Pakistan and India from the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

, the army of newly created state of India reached Kotli in November 1947. They evacuated the garrison at the town. The Pakistani Army counter-attacked with the aid of the native tribesman. It has been under Pakistani control ever since.

Education

Kotil is home to the University of Kotli (کوٹلی یونیورسٹی) (UoK), formerly a constituent college of the

University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir The University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir ( Koshur:''ژاٹھَلِ آزاد جۄٚم تہٕ کشیٖر'') is located in Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan.

. It became a University as a result of Presidential Ordinance VIII passed in 2014.

References

{{Pakistani cities Populated places in Kotli District Tehsils of Kotli District