History of Kotli

About 300 years ago, there was a thick forest at the present site of the Kotli along with the other parts of Jammu & Kashmir. A true and pious Muslim Raja Sawar Khan with the council of his Prime Minister, Malik Nawaz Khan inhabited a town with the Name of “KET ” on the Halakari at Dakhari. In 1949 The British handed over the territory to Gulab Singh, a Hindu Dogra a sale deed for a small sum of Rs.705 million.

In the Same year Gulab Singh sent a message to Raja Shah Sawar Khan to obey his supremacy, which he refused. After that the forces of Raja Gulab Singh attacked the Town and destroyed it. Shah Sawar Khan again inhabited another town at bottom of mountain at the present place and gave the name “ Kot Tali” which is now the headquarter of District Kotli.

The Kotli district was carved out of the Mirpur district ⁱⁿ 1975. Prior to the present status, the district was a sub-division of the Mirpur district. The district is bounded by occupied Kashmir in the east, and by the Mirpur district in the south. Rawalakot lies to its north and it is bounded by Pakistan in the west. The district is divided into three sub-divisions/tehsils covering a total area of 1862 square kilometres. The total population of the district according to a 1998 census stands at 558000 and its population according to 1999 projections is approximately 570,000.

The Kotli district is a hilly area rising gradually towards the high mountains of Poonch district. Its climate is more moderate than that of Mirpur due to the sub-mountainous topography. The River Poonch passes through Kotli to be joined by a smaller river called the Baan at Brahli, a short distance from Kotli. Kotli City serves as the headquarters of the district. The district is linked to Mirpur by two metalled roads, one via Gulpur and Rajdhani, and the other via Dhungi and Charohi. It is also directly linked with Islamabad/Rawalpindi via Sehnsa and Holar.

There are two theories about the origin of the name of Kotli. One school of thought claims that in ancient times, Prince Raja Shahswar Khan built a small residence here and called it Kot later to be adopted as Kotli. Another theory states that the name is derived from the Sanskrit word Kotli which means to reside or take up residence. At one stage the area was inhabited by the Mangran and Solhan people and was called Kotli Solwhan, later to be called just Kotli. Kotli is well known for its mosques and is often referred to as Madina-al-Masajed.

More about history and topography...

The major tribes residing in the district are Syed, Gujar, Jat, Rajput, Awan and Sudhan. Native languages spoken in the district are Hindko. Gojri and Pahari. Urdu and Punjabi are also spoken.

Wheat is the staple food grain of the people. Their favorites food contains wheat. maize, rice, meat, vegetables etc. The manner of cooking is the same as throughout Pakistan. Near towns, vegetables are found in abundance. Subsidiary food is fowl, egg and fish. During festivals, people cook pulao, Chicken, Roast etc. Lussi is much liked by the villagers. Drinking water is also available from wells and springs which are quite numerous throughout the district. In certain areas, however, the sub-soil water level is low. People in such areas collect rainy water from ponds and use it for drinking and bathing purposes. 'The villages are generally neat and clean. Now a days tea has replaced the traditional beverages everywhere in the district.

The Deputy Commissioner supervises the activities of all the nation building departments in the district. He is assisted by three Assistant Commissioners in sub-division namely Kotli, Fatehpur Thakiala (Nakyal) and Sehnsa. His major concern is the maintenance of law and order in the district as the District Magistrate and also to look after the land record as the District collector.

Superintendent of Police is the head of the district police. He is assisted by Sub-divisional Police Officers at 3-sub divisions of the district.

The Judiciary at district level is headed by the District and Session Judge. Be- District and Session Judge and Additional Session Judge, three Sub-Judges at tehsil level, a family Judge at district level deals with criminal, civil and family court cases. A District Qazi, three Tehsil Qazis at tehsil level and Forest Magistrate. Tehsil headquarter are also working on criminal court cases, etc. Third system is based on Civil Procedure Code and Criminal Procedure Code. The Government Pleading Prosecutor contest the cases on behalf of the state.

District health Officer supervises the health care activities in the district. Following health care units and hospitals have been established in the district as shown in Kotli.

S.No.	Health Units/Hospitals	Number	Beds
1	District Headquarter Hospital	1	165
2	Tehsil Headquarter hospital	2	100
3	Dispensaries	94	124
4	Rural Health Centres	4	48
5	T.B. Clinics	6	-
6	Dental Clinics	2	-
7	E.P.I. Centres	34	-
8	Maternity and Child Health Centres	18	-

District Health Officer. Kotli. Government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir

STRENGTH OF MEDICAL AND PARA MEDICAL STAFF IN KOTLI DISTRICT, 1997-98

S.No.	Category	Strength
1	Dental Surgeon	2
2	Doctors including specialists	33
3	Nurses (including Para medical staff)	316
4	Lady Health Visitors	16

Source: District Health Officer. Kotli. Government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir

EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES IN KOTLI DISTRICT 1997-98

S-No	Educational Institutions	Number
1	Post Graduate College (Male)	1
2	Degree College (Male/Female)	6
3	Inter College (Male/Female)	7
4	Higher Secondary School (Male/Female)	6
5	High School (Male/Female)	77
6	Middle School (Male/Female)	132
7	Primary School (Male/Female)	456
8	Mosque School (Male)	339
9	Village Workshops (Male)	3
10	Maktabs (Male)	1
11	Elementary College (Male/Female)	2
12	Vocational Youth Centre for Male	1
13	Vocational Youth Centre for Female	1
14	Centres For wood working carving and wool weaving	1
15	Women Industrial Schools	5

Source: District Education Officer Kotli

At present, the installed grid capacity is 1306 ampere. The transmission lines have been extended to 140 villages and about 27.746 consumers have been provided Connections. Kilometerage of High Tension Lines and Low Tension Lines are 391.80 and 550.50 respectively. About 73.12 percent villages in the district are electrified.

In case of urban areas 94 percent of population has been provided with piped water supply through 5628 house connections. So far 60 percent of rural population has been provided with water supply.

CATEGORY-WISE ROAD LENGTH IN KOTLI DISTRICT

S.No.	Constructed by	Total	Metalled	Fair
1	P.W.D	342	283	59
2	L.G.& R.D	643	15	628

Deputy Commissioner/Census District Officer. Kotli, 1998

In 1998 there were 3684 telephone connections, one telegraph office and post offices functioning in Kotli district.

On account of mountainous topography, a very small percentage of cultivable land is irrigated by means of small water channels which are made to bring water from rivers and nallahs. In most of the cases, spring water is diverted for irrigating paddy fields and also for vegetables by means of small channels. Five hundred twenty five hectares area is irrigated by different water channels and wells.

Most of the area of the district is mountainous, however some valleys are cultivable. Agriculture in Kotli district depends on rain, which is quite frequent. The pattern of agriculture varies with the condition of soil. Climate rainfall and availability of irrigation water. Where water is assured. Paddy has the priority but where the water supply is comparatively limited. maize is grown. There are tremendous possibilities of fruit and beget able cultivation in the district. The high pressure of population on land has led to very small size of holdings. The areas comprising slopes where grass is available are generally utilized for grassing of cattle. Ploughing is done usually by bullocks but on the sleep hill sides the land is prepared by spades.

The area under orchards is small. Number of farms and trees under compact scattered farming in Koti district is given in the following table

NUMBER OF FRUIT FARMS AND TREES IN KOTLI DISTRICT, 1997-98

S.No.	Description	Number
1	Number of farms	36754
2	Trees under compact farming	5610
3	Trees under scattered farming	135066

Banana, walnut and apricot trees are found everywhere in Kotli district. Acreage and production of fruits and vegetables grown in the district for the year 1997-98 is as under:

ACREAGE AND PRODUCTION OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES GROWN IN KOTLI DISTRICT, 1997-98

S.No.	Particulars	Area Production (Hectares)	(Metric Tons)
1	Vegetables	275	1473
2	Fruits	310	1882

Physical Features/ Topography

Topographical, the whole of Kotli district is a hilly area with narrow valleys. These hills are the southern limits of the PirPunjal range. The average height in the eastern and central part of the district is about 1000 meters above sea level. The rest of the area is less than 1000 meters in altitude. Hills are generally covered with coniferous trees.

Rivers and Streams

The main river is Poonch that enters the district from the north at a place called tata pani and flows towards south passing west of Kotli town and finally enters Mirpur district before falling in to Mangla Lake. Jhelum rivers makes the western boundary of the district and flows in north-south direction. The rangpur nala is an important western tributary of the poonch river while two important streams namely Ban nala and Mahuli nala join it from the east.

Climate

The climate of the district is generally hot in summer and cold in winter. The Eastern and northern parts are dry and cold. Where as the western areas are a little bit hot. June is the hottest month with the mean maximum and minimum temperature of about 38 C to 25 C respectively. January is the coldest in month with the mean maximum and minimum temperatures of about 18C and 5C respectively.

The mean annual rainfall is about 1300 millimeters, more then half of which occurs during July and August.