Poonch District, Pakistan

Coordinates: 33°51′12″N 73°45′5″E / 33.85333°N 73.75139°E / 33.85333; 73.75139
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Poonch district, Pakistan
)
For Poonch district administered by India, see Poonch district, India.

Poonch District
ضلع پونچھ
Gojri
Number of Tehsils4

Poonch District (

Urdu: ضلع پونچھ ) is a district of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.[1] It is one of the 10 districts of this Pakistan-administered territory. It is bounded on the north by Bagh District, on the north-east by Haveli District, on the south-east by the Poonch District of Indian-administered Kashmir, on the south by Azad Kashmir's Sudhanoti and Kotli districts, and on the west by Rawalpindi District 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. It is the third most populous district of Azad Kashmir.[4][5]

The main language is Pahari ("Punchi"), native to an estimated 95% of the population, but there are also speakers of Gujari,[6] while Urdu has official status.

Map of Azad Kashmir with the Poonch District highlighted in red

History

17th Century to 1946

Main article: History of Poonch District

From the end of seventeenth century up to 1837 CE, Poonch was ruled by the Muslim

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

Separation of Poonch

Main articles:
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
Map of Azad Kashmir with the Poonch Division highlighted in red
(The Poonch Divion was created from the Azad Kashmiri-administered portion of the pre-1947 Poonch District.)

After independence in 1947, there was a

Indo-Pakistani war. When a ceasefire was effected, the Poonch District was divided into two separate districts. The former headquarters, the city of Poonch, came under Indian administration, and a new headquarters in the western district was eventually established at Rawalakot
.

1949 to Present

The Pakistan-administered portion of the Poonch district was reorganised as the

Sudhnoti
tehsils.

Poonch district was the main area of violent anti government revolt (led by the Sudhan tribe) during the 1955 Poonch uprising, which lasted from early 1955 to late 1956.[7]

Administrative divisions

The district is administratively subdivided into four tehsils:[8]

Education

According to the Pakistan District Education Ranking 2017, a report released by Alif Ailaan, 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.[9] 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.[9] The state of some school buildings also presents a major safety risk for students.

Transport

The Poonch-Rawalakot Bus, which crosses the LOC, has helped to re-establish ties across the border.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^
    due weight
    in the coverage. Although "controlled" and "held" are also applied neutrally to the names of the disputants or to the regions administered by them, as evidenced in sources (h) through (i) below, "held" is also considered politicised usage, as is the term "occupied," (see (j) below).
    (a) Kashmir, region Indian subcontinent, Encyclopaedia Britannica, retrieved 15 August 2019 (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcontinent ... has been the subject of dispute between India and Pakistan since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. The northern and western portions are administered by Pakistan and comprise three areas: Azad Kashmir, Gilgit, and Baltistan, the last two being part of a territory called the Northern Areas. Administered by India are the southern and southeastern portions, which constitute the state of Jammu and Kashmir but are slated to be split into two union territories.";
    (b) Pletcher, Kenneth, Aksai Chin, Plateau Region, Asia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, retrieved 16 August 2019 (subscription required) Quote: "Aksai Chin, Chinese (Pinyin) Aksayqin, portion of the Kashmir region, at the northernmost extent of the Indian subcontinent in south-central Asia. It constitutes nearly all the territory of the Chinese-administered sector of Kashmir that is claimed by India to be part of the Ladakh area of Jammu and Kashmir state.";
    (c) "Kashmir", Encyclopedia Americana, Scholastic Library Publishing, 2006, p. 328,
    ISBN 978-1-84904-621-3
     Quote:"Some politicised terms also are used to describe parts of J&K. These terms include the words 'occupied' and 'held'."
  2. ^ "Statistical Year Book 2019" (PDF). Statistics Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  3. ISBN 978-0-19-577692-8
    .
  4. ^ "AJK at glance -2020" (PDF). Planning and Development Department of AJK.
  5. ^ "University of Poonch VC Prof. Dr. Zakaria directed to complete construction of campuses on war footing". Azadi Times. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  6. ^ Statistical Year Book 2020 (PDF). Muzaffarabad: AJ&K Bureau Of Statistics. p. 140. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  7. ISBN 978-9350298978
    .
  8. ^ "Tehsils of Poonch District on AJK map". ajk.gov.pk. AJK Official Portal. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  9. ^ a b "Pakistan District Education Rankings 2017" (PDF). elections.alifailaan.pk. Alif Ailaan. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 July 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  10. ^ Mughal, Roshan (16 April 2011). "Intra-Kashmir bus service completes six years". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 21 November 2023.

Bibliography

External links

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