The Mirpur District ( ur, ) is one of the 10

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

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 ...

's dependent territory 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 ...

.- Government Website
/ref> The Mirpur District is bounded on the north by the Kotli District, on the east by the Bhimber District, on the south by the Gujrat District of

's Punjab Province, on the south-west by the Jhelum District of

's Punjab Province, and on the west by

Rawalpindi District Rawalpindi District ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a district located in the northernmost part of the Punjab province of Pakistan. Parts of the district form part of the Islamabad Rawalpindi metropolitan area. Rawalpindi city is the district capi ...

's Punjab Province. The district is named after its main city, Mirpur. The Mirpur District has a population of 456,200 and covers an area of . The district is mainly mountainous with some plains. The Mirpur District has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

which closely resembles that of the Gujrat District and the Jhelum District, the adjoining districts of

's Punjab Province.

History

Pakistan - Azad Kashmir - Mirpur (division)

During 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 Mirpur District was one of the five districts of the Jammu Province in the

princely state of Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir, officially known as the Princely State of Kashmir and Jammu, was a princely state during the Company rule in India from 1757 to 1858 as well as the British Raj in India from 1846 to 1952. The princely state was created afte ...

. According to the 1941 census, the it had a population of 386,655, roughly 80% of whom were Muslim and 16% of whom were Hindu. It consisted of three tehsils: the Bhimber Tehsil, the

Kotli Tehsil Kotli ( ur}) is a city in Kotli District of Azad Kashmir in Pakistan. It lies on the Poonch River, and the river contains several notable waterfalls including the Lala Waterfall near the town of Kotli and the Gulpur Waterfalls at the village of ...

, and the

Mirpur Tehsil Mirpur Tehsil is an administrative subdivision (tehsil) of Mirpur District, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. History During British Rule of the Indian Subcontinent, Mirpur was part of the Princely state of Kashmir and Jammu. At this time Mirpur was a te ...

. The Bhimber Tehsil and the

were subsequently elevated to district status. The three districts presently constitute the

Mirpur Division The Mirpur Division ( ur, ) is a first-order administrative division of the Pakistani dependent territory of Azad Kashmir. Mirpur is the largest division by population in Azad Kashmir. It comprises the portion of the former Mirpur District of t ...

. Small portions of the former Mirpur District were included in the

Rajouri District Rajouri (or Rajauri) is a district of Jammu region in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The Line of Control lies to its west, Poonch to its north, the Reasi district to the east and the Jammu district to its south. Rajouri is ...

of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. The original Mirpur District, along with the Poonch District and the

, had close geographic, ethnic, and cultural ties with the

West Punjab West Punjab ( pnb, ; ur, ) was a province in the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955. The province covered an area of 159,344 km2 (61523 sq mi), including much of the current Punjab province and the Islamabad Capital Territory, but exclu ...

area, more so than with the city of

Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi Ri ...

and the rest of the Jammu Province. Due to those reasons, scholar

Christopher Snedden Christopher Snedden is an Australian political scientist and author. He has studied and published on the long-running Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan. In his book, ''The Untold Story of the People of Azad Kashmir'' (2012), he proposed ...

stated that the people of Mirpur area had a strong desire to join Pakistan during the

partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

. In November 1947, the Mirpur District was the site of the

Mirpur Massacre After the Partition of India, during October–November 1947 in the Jammu region of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, many Muslims were massacred and others driven away to West Punjab. The killings were carried out by extremist Hindu ...

, where many

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ...

, and refugees from the

, were killed by armed Pakistani tribesmen and soldiers.

Language and ethnicity

The main language, native to an estimated 85% of the district's population, is known under a number of sometimes ambiguous names. Its speakers call it variously ''Pahari'', ''Mirpur Pahari'', ''Mirpuri'', and ''Pothwari'', while some label it as Punjabi. Sociolinguists have regarded it as one of the three major dialects of the

Pahari-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 wh ...

language complex, which is intermediate between Lahnda and Punjabi. Mirpur Pahari is mutually intelligible with the other two major dialects – Pothwari of the

Potohar Plateau 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 ...

in the Punjab Province and the Pahari spoken to the north in Azad Kashmir and around

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 about ...

– and shares with them between 77% and 84% of its basic vocabulary, although the difference with the northernmost varieties (in

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 Pak ...

) is sufficient to impede understanding. Mirpuri speakers have a strong sense of Kashmiri identity that takes precedence over linguistic identification with closely related groups outside of Azad Kashmir. The

Gujari language Gojri (, ), also known as Gujari, Gujri, Gojari, or Gojri, is a variety of Rajasthani spoken by the Gurjars and other tribes of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. In India, the language is mainly spoken in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, ...

is spoken by an estimated 10% of the population. The local dialect is closely related to the Gujari varieties spoken in the rest of Azad Kashmir and in the Hazara region. Other languages spoken include Urdu and English.

Government

The district is administratively subdivided into two

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

s: * Dadyal Tehsil *

Villages

Notable villages in the district include:
Dadyal Tehsil * Amb *

Balathi Balathi is a village in Dadyal tehsil, Mirpur District, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. It is situated on the bank of the river Jhelum, approximately west of Dadyal Dadyal ( ur, ڈڈیال) is a tehsil in Mirpur district, located in Azad Jammu and K ...

Chattroh Chhatroh, also spelt Chattroh, is a small village in the Dadyal tehsil in Azad Kashmir, Mirpur District, Pakistan. Like much of Mirpur, Chattroh has deep connections with the UK. Many people originally from Chhatroh have settled in urban centre ...

Haveli Baghal Haveli Baghal is a village in the Dadyal tehsil of Mirpur District of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. Demography According to the 1998 census, its population was 761. History Like many villages in the Mirpur region, many of its residents have emigrated to ...

* Kathar Dilawar Khan * Thara *

Mandi Mandi may refer to: Places * Mandı, Azerbaijan India * Mandi, Jammu and Kashmir, a town on the Mandi River in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir * Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, a city in Himachal Pradesh ** Mandi State, former princely sta ...

Mohra Malkan Mohra Malkan is a village in the Dadyal Tehsil of Mirpur District of Azad Kashmir. Mohra Malkan is about 42 mi (68 km) southeast of Islamabad. Mohra Malkan is part of the Union Council of Amb. It is located approximately 2 km from ...

Mohra Sher Shah Mohra Sher Shah is a village in District Mirpur (Tehsil Dadyal) of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. Demography According to 1998 census of Pakistan, its population was 333. History Like many villages in the Muzaffarabad region, many villagers have emi ...

Rajoa Rajoa is a village in Tehsil Dudyal, District Mirpur of Pakistan administered Jammu Kashmir. Neighboured by Thara, Smor, Bloh, Chalayar, Dagar and Behari. According to the 1998 census of Pakistan, its population was 504; its inhabitants are main ...

* Ratta *

Sahalia Sahalia is a village in the Dadyal tehsil of Mirpur District, Azad Kashmir 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 ...

* Sarthala * Siakh Pahaith * Thalarajwali Khan *

Thub Jagir Thub or Thub Jagir is a village in Dadyal Tehsil of Mirpur District, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. The village lies on the banks of Poonch Riverbr> After the formation of Pakistan people living in the village were very poor. Their prime source of in ...

Mirpur Tehsil * Abdulahpur * Abdupur * Arah Jagir * Banni * Chabrian Dattan * Chak Haryam *

Chakswari Chakswari (Urdu: ), also known as Chaksawari, is a Tehsil in the Mirpur District of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. It comprises 15 Union Councils of Pakistan, Union councils including the Islamgarh Municipal Committee. Amongst the primary affectees of ...

* Chandral * Chatan * Chechian * Chitterpari * Dalyala * Dheri Thothal * Ghaseetpur Awan * Ghaseetpur Sohalian * Islamgarh * Jangian Kotla * Jatlan * Kakra * Kalyal Bhainsi * Kas Kalyal *

Khari Sharif Khari Sharif () is an agricultural area between Mirpur and Jhelum of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. Broadly speaking, Alaqa-e-Khari (translation in English: Area of Khari) refers to the fertile plains of Khari which exist between the mountains of Mirpu ...

Khokhar Khokhar are a Punjabi community native to Pothohar Plateau of Pakistan, and the adjoining areas of India. Khokhars now predominantly follow Islam, though a minority continue to follow Hinduism. Many Khokhars converted to Islam from Hinduism af ...

* Mehmunpur *

Nagial Nagial is a village in the Mirpur Tehsil of Mirpur District of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. Nagial cast is prominent in district Jhelum. Poverty has been an issue of the village Demography According to the 1998 census of Pakistan, its population was ...

* Pakhral * Potha Bainsi * Sahang

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{Administrative units of Azad Kashmir Districts of Azad Kashmir