Sopore

Sopore, known as Suyyapur in antiquity, is a city in the Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is north-west of Srinagar, and north-east from the city of Baramulla.

Sopore Town has Asia's second largest fruit mandi (wholesale market). It is also known as the Apple Town of Kashmir. Apart from fruit mandi, Sopore is home to one of the Asia's largest freshwater lakes, Wular Lake.

History

Sopore was founded by Utpala engineer and irrigation minister Suyya during the reign of king Avantivarman in 880 CE. As such the name of the city is Suyya-pur, which has been shortened to Sopore. When the engineer Suyya was working in Sopore no people were coming forth to plunge themselves in gushing water. The king, Avantiverman, thereupon ordered that a part of treasury may be thrown into the water; consequently, a large number of people plunged into the river to get as many coins as they could. It was engineer Suyya's idea to throw coins into flooded land not the king.

Pashtun tribesmen such as Mehsud and Afridi from mountainous region of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of the newly formed state of Pakistan invaded Sopore on 22 October 1947. In 1989, Sopore became a focus of the separatist activities and violence with frequent protests and strikes.

Demographics

India census, Sopore urban area had a population of 71,292 and an area of . The urban area consisted of the city which has a municipal committee and some outgrowths. In the 2011 census, the city had a population of 61,098 and an area of . In the urban area there were 37,570 males (53%) and 33,722 females (47%). Of the population, 9,329 (13.1%) were age 0-6: 5,042 males (54%) and 4,287 females (46%). The literacy rate for the people over six was 70.8% (males 78.6%, females 62.3%).

Administration

Sopore is one of the largest subdivisions of the state with 7 tehsils. And it is also the oldest existing subdivision of the state. Bashir Ahmad Bhat (KAS) who is an administrator, has served the sub-division between August 2015 to April 2017 as the Sub-Divisional Magistrate.

Education

The main public educational institutions in Sopore are Government Boys Higher Secondary School Sopore, Government Girls Higher Secondary School Sopore, Nether Field Secondary School, Apex Public School, Sanctorum Public School,Welkin Higher Secondary School, Muslim Education Trust, Government Degree College Sopore, Model Public School Sopore Government Degree College for Women Sopore, Sopore Law College, Industrial Training Institute Jalalabad and Prime Public School Zaingeer. The Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology is located in Wadoora, Sopore. Ahmad Memorial Highfield Scientific School Dangerpora Sopore.

Zaingair Youth Sports Carnival

A three days long Zaingeer Sports Carnival was organised at Zaingeer Sopore by Sopore Rashtriya Rifles of Indian Army in collaboration with Zaingair Youth & Sports Association.

The concluding function was attended by huge gathering of people.

A three days long Athletics based Sports Carnival was organized for the people of higher reaches of Zaingair region, Sopore, Baramulla and Bandipora District in which 10 sports teams and 28 youth associations participated with several sports activities including Volleyball, Kho Kho, Kabadi, Marshall Art etc.

On the occasion, Many sports activities were held including Marathon Race of 200 Meter of Under 17 girls and 400 Meter race of under 25 Boys besides all athletic sports and track activities of Kho Kho, Volleyball, Kabadi etc were part of the sports festival. Winners were awarded with medals and other attractive prizes.

References

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Sopore
Kashmir