The Poonch District ( ur, ) is one of the 10 districts of Pakistan'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 ...

. The Poonch District is bounded on the north by the

Bagh District Bagh District ( ur, ) is one of the ten districts of Pakistan's territory of Azad Kashmir. Previously part of Poonch District, it was established as a separate district in 1988. The Bagh District is bounded on the north by the Muzaffarabad Di ...

, on the north-east by the

Haveli District The Haveli District ( ur, ) is one of the 10 districts of Pakistan's dependent territory of Azad Kashmir. It was previously a tehsil of the Bagh District but was elevated to district status on 1 July 2009. According to the 2017 census, the dist ...

, on the south-east by the Poonch District of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, on the south by the

Sudhanoti District The Sudhanoti District (also spelled Sudhanuti District) ( ur, ), meaning the "heartland of Sudhans" or "Sudhan heartland"), is one of the 10 districts of Pakistan's dependent territory of Azad Kashmir. The Sudhanoti District is bounded on the ...

and the Kotli District, and on the west by the

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 ...

of Pakistan's Punjab Province. The Poonch District is part of the greater Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan. The district headquarters is the city of

Rawalakot Rawalakot ( ur, ) is the capital of Poonch district in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. It is located in the Pir Panjal Range. History Along with Pallandri, Rawalakot was the focal point of the 1955 Poonch uprising. It was led by the local Sudhans ...

. It is the 3rd most populus district of Azad Kashmir. The main language is Pahari ("Punchi"), native to an estimated 95% of the population, but there are also speakers of

Gujari 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, ...

, while

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

raja ''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 f ...

s of Loran in

Haveli Tehsil The Haveli Tehsil is a tehsil of the Poonch district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is headquartered at the Poonch Town. History The History of Poonch District of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir had fou ...

. It then fell into the hands of Raja Faiztalab of the Punjab government. Poonch was included in the transfer of the hilly country to

Maharaja Gulab Singh Gulab Singh Jamwal (1792–1857) was the founder of Dogra dynasty and the first Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, the largest princely state under the British Raj, which was created after the defeat of the Sikh Empire in th ...

of Jammu and Kashmir in 1848. Before this transfer, Poonch was a jagir granted to Raja

Dhian Singh Raja Dhian Singh (22 August 1796 – 15 September 1843) was the longest serving wazir of the Sikh Empire, during the reign of Maharajah Ranjit Singh, and four of his successors. He held the office for twenty five years, from 1818 up till his death ...

. Maharaja Gulab Singh reinstated Poonch and adjoining areas to Dhian Singh's sons, Jawahar Singh and Moiti Singh. The raja of Poonch had to present to the Maharaja one horse with gold trappings. The raja of Poonch was not permitted to effect any administrative changes in the territory of Poonch without prior consultation with the Maharaja of

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

Separation of Poonch

Pakistan - Azad Kashmir - Poonch (division)

After independence in 1947, there was a

rebellion Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

in the western part of the Poonch District. The rebels led by

Sardar Ibrahim Khan Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan (22 April 1915 – 31 July 2003) was the key instigator of the 1947 Poonch Rebellion in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in British India and the later establishment of Azad Kashmir under Pakistani admin ...

, sought support from the

Dominion of Pakistan Between 14 August 1947 and 23 March 1956, Pakistan was an independent federal dominion in the Commonwealth of Nations, created by the passing of the Indian Independence Act 1947 by the British parliament, which also created the Dominion of I ...

, which provided arms and then launched an

invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

of its own, using Pashtun tribals. In response, the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir joined India, and the conflict turned into an Indo-Pakistani war. When a ceasefire was effected, the Poonch District was divided into two separate districts. The former headquarters, the city of

Poonch Poonch, sometimes also spelt Punchh, may refer to: * Historical Poonch District, a district in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in British India, split in 1947 between: ** Poonch district, India ** Poonch Division, in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, ...

, came under Indian administration, and a new headquarters in the western district was eventually established at

1949 to Present

Of the four tehsils of the original Poonch District, viz., Bagh, Sudhnoti, Haveli, and Mendhar, the Azad Kashmiri

Poonch Division The Poonch Division ( ur, ) is a first-order administrative division of the Pakistani dependent territory of Azad Kashmir. It comprises the portion of the former Poonch District of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir that came under Pakista ...

included the first two and a portion of the third. Those three tehsils were eventually made separate districts, and a new Poonch District was created in the center of the Poonch Division by incorporating portions of the

Bagh Bagh ( fa, باغ, link=no, meaning "garden") may refer to: Places India * Bagh Caves in Madhya Pradesh, India * Bagh, Dhar, a town in Madhya Pradesh, India Iran * Bagh, Ardabil, a village in Ardabil Province * Bagh, Larestan, a village ...

and Sudhnoti tehsils. Poonch district was the main area of violent anti government revolt (led by the

Sudhan Sudhans (also known as Sudhozai Pathans) is one of the major tribes from the districts of Poonch, Sudhanoti, Bagh and Kotli in Azad Kashmir, allegedly originating from Pashtun areas. History and particulars The tribe claims an Afghan ancestry. ...

tribe) during the

1955 Poonch uprising __NOTOC__ The 1955 Poonch revolt, also known as the 1955 Poonch uprising, was a Civil revolt in Azad Jammu and Kashmir against the State of Pakistan. The uprising broke out in February 1955 and was provoked largely by the dismissal of Sardar I ...

, which lasted from early 1955 to late 1956.

Administrative divisions

The district is administratively subdivided into four tehsils: *

Abbaspur Tehsil Abbaspur is a Tehsil located near line of control which divides Pakistan administered Kashmir and as like Indian administered Kashmir. It used to be called Gopalpur before its name was changed. It is the sub-divisional headquarters of district, ...

Hajira Tehsil Hajira may refer to: * Hajira, Azad Kashmir, a town in Pakistan * Hazira Hazira is a suburb and a transshipment port in the Surat City in the Gujarat state of India. It is the west most end of Surat. Hazira is one of the major ports of Indi ...

* Rawalakot Tehsil *

Thorar Tehsil Thorar is a town in Poonch District in Azad Kashmir. It is located about 20 miles from Rawalakot city, the capital of Poonch district. Location Thorar is a Tehsil of District Poonch (Rawalakot), Azad Kashmir, and is connected to Rawalakot a ...

Education

According to the Pakistan District Education Ranking 2017, a report released by

Alif Ailaan Alif Ailaan ( ur, ) was a nonprofit organization working in the field of education in Pakistan from 2013 to 2018. Launched by a team of media and communications specialists, the program aimed to highlight education on priority basis in Pakistan ...

, the Poonch District is ranked at number 8 nationally, with an education score of 73.52. Over the past five years, the Poonch District has shown the most improvement in the establishment of middle schools. The learning score for the Poonch District is 84.15. The school infrastructure score for the Poonch District is 14.88, ranking the district at number 151, which places it in the bottom five districts relating to infrastructure in Pakistan and its two dependent territories. Schools in the Poonch District also have severe problems with regard to electricity, drinking water, and boundary walls, as reflected in their scores of 2.67, 12.1, and 6.23, respectively. The state of some school buildings also presents a major safety risk for students.

Transport

The

bus, which crosses the LOC, has helped to re-establish ties across the border.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Official website of the Government of Azad Kashmir
* {{Administrative units of Azad Kashmir Districts of Azad Kashmir