Islamgarh, known previously as Akalgarh ( ur, ) is a Municipal Committee of Mirpur District near

Mangla Dam The Mangla Dam ( ur, ) is a multipurpose dam situated on the Jhelum River in the Mirpur District of Azad Kashmir. It is the sixth-largest dam in the world. The village of Mangla, which sits at the mouth of the dam, serves as its namesake. I ...

Azad Jammu and 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 ...

. It is located on the southern part of the

Pir Panjal Range The Pir Panjal Range ( Kashmiri: ) is a group of mountains in the Lesser Himalayan region, running from east-southeast (ESE) to west-northwest (WNW) across the Indian territories of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir and then Pakistan's ...

, about 28 Kilometer in North-East of Mirpur. It had a population of 25,651 in 2017.

History

In 997 CE, Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi, took over the

Ghaznavid dynasty The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, Khorasan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest ...

empire established by his father, Sultan Sebuktegin, In 1005 he conquered the Shahis in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

in 1005, and followed it by the conquests of

Punjab region 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 a ...

. The Delhi Sultanate and later

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

ruled the region. The Punjab region became predominantly Muslim due to

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

Sufi saints whose

dargah A dargah ( fa, درگاه ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargah'' दरगाह درگاہ, bn, দরগাহ ''dorgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often ...

s dot the landscape of Kashmir. After the decline of the

, the

Dogra The Dogras or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group in India and Pakistan consisting of the Dogri language speakers. They live predominantly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, and in adjoining areas of Punjab, Himacha ...

invaded and occupied Mirpur District. The Muslims faced severe restrictions during the Dogra rule. During the period of

British rule 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 hims ...

, Mirpur District increased in population and importance. The predominantly Muslim population supported

Muslim League Muslim League may refer to: Political parties Subcontinent ; British India *All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinah, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan. **Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organ ...

and

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the per ...

. After 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 statu ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

in 1947, the minority

Hindu 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 ...

s and Sikhs migrated to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

while the Muslims refugees from

settled down in the Mirpur District. Many residents of Islamgarh have emigrated to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

during the 1950-60s. Rapid progress and fast growing population gave Islamgarh the status of town committee in 1979 and after attaching the union council Andrah Klan and village Kalyal Bainsi to Islamgarh, its status was raised to Municipal Committee in 1998. Total population of Municipal Committee, according to the 1998 census, was 15493. If the annual population growth rate is considered 3.1%, it means the population of Municipal committee must be 33000 in 2017. Total area of the municipal committee is 14,728 acres or 57 square kilometers. It means the density of population is 333 people per square kilometer. The population of area will increase if proposed bridge is constructed between Rathoa Muhammad Ali and Chak Haryam. In that case distance would be reduce to 5–7 Kilometers and it would become part of Mirpur.

Geography

On the Northern side of this town are mountain stretches of Pirgali and on Northern-Western side lie patches of fertile land connected to Mangla dam. After Mangla Dam start the boundaries of New Mirpur city. Before the construction of Mangla Dam, Islamgarh was 5 kilometer away from the old Mirpur. The people of Islamgarh could easily approach that city on foot. But after the construction of Mangla Dam, the 5 kilometer distance became 30 kilometer. The road connecting Mirpur with

Dadyal Dadyal ( ur, ڈڈیال) is a tehsil in Mirpur district, located in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. It is home to roughly 84 villages. Administration The Dadyal tehsil is divided into many villages. Some of them include * Arra Jattan * Ankar ...

and Kotli passes through this town. On both sides of this road are fertile lands. Major crops of this region are wheat, maize and millet. After the construction of Mangla dam, a large portion of fertile land submerged. Now due to Mangla Dam raising project, the people of adjoining villages ( Chak Haryam, Andrah Klan, Bajar, Bandor, Lakhora, part of Kalyal Bainsi and Jammuie villages have sacrifice their homes and land.

Islamgarh Welfare Trust

The trust is a registered Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in Pakistan and serves the health needs of the local population. The trust aims are to: Provide healthcare services, including emergency and maternity services at subsidised rates. Free of charge to those that are registered recipients of Zakah and residing within the Trust’s catchment area. Provide 24-hour service and other facilities such as maternity centre, eye centre, ultrasound machinery, medical store, ambulance services, laboratory and x-ray. Serve registered families. Amongst the features of the Trust: Continually served the needs of the local population. Administrated by the committed individual volunteers and all 100% of public donations are spent on the patients. All trust assets are registered. Centrally located and easily accessible for the members of the public. Construction of a new hospital building built on public donated land. British Friends of Islamgarh Welfare Trust is a British registered charity with charity number 1117121. It is specifically established to support the objectives of the Islamgarh Welfare Trust and to raise funds to meet the aspirations of the trust.

References

{{Reflist Populated places in Mirpur District