The Sudhanoti District (also spelled Sudhanuti District) ( ur, ), meaning the "heartland of

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. ...

s" or "

heartland"), is one of the 10 districts of

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 ...

's dependent territory of Azad Kashmir. The Sudhanoti District is bounded on the north and east by the Poonch District, on the south by the Kotli District, and on the west by the Rawalpindi District of Pakistan's Punjab Province. It is located from

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

, the capital of Pakistan. It is connected with Rawalpindi and Islamabad via the Azad Pattan Road. The district headquarters is the town of

Pallandri Pallandri, also spelled Palandri ( ur, ), originally Pulandari, is a Tehsil which serves as administrative capital of Sudhanoti district of Azad Kashmir. It is located at latitude 33° 42′ 54″ N, longitude 73° 41′ 9″ E, from Islamabad ...

. It is at an elevation of 1,372 meters and is at a distance of 97 kilometers from Rawalpindi via the Azad Pattan Road. Pallandri is connected to Rawalakot by a 64-km metaled road.

History

The word ''Sudhanoti'' literally means "heartland of

s" ''

'' (tribe) ''Noti'' (heartland). Sudhanoti, whose first name was Bhan Ya (Brahman) who was defeated by the

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

Sadozai invaders in the thirteenth century AD defeated the Bhagar Rajputs and named it Sudhanoti. The state of Sudhanoti is one of the former ten states of Jammu and Kashmir, Its history is approximately one thousand twelve hundred years old which Sudhanoti was ruled by Brahmins from 830 to 1105 AD. The Brahman Raj was invaded by the

Rajputs Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

of hill

Punjab 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 ...

in 1005 and captured Sudhanoti in 1105, The Bhagar Rajputs ruled Sudhanoti from 1105 to 1360. The Bhagar Rajputs were then attacked by the

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

chief named Nawab Jassi Khan in 1360 AD, defeating them and establishing their own Sadozai government. The Sadozai tribe ruled Sudhanoti from 1360 to 1837, Sudhanoti which from 800 to 1837 was called the fully independent state of Sudhanoti, came to an end in the Third Sikh Sudhanoti War, in which fifty to thirty thousand Sadozai people were killed. The Sikh Khalsa merged with the state of Poonch and brought it under the control of the Lahore government. Later from 1940 to 1947 it was a tehsil of Jammu province, Thereafter in 1947 Sudhanoti became the capital of the Azad Kashmir Revolutionary Government, which was the capital of the Azad Kashmir Revolutionary Government from 1947 to 1949. After that in 1960 Sudhanoti was divided into four districts and Sudhanoti was made a district * Cultural Heritage Sudhanoti *Fort In Pune *Fort Bharand *Fort Barel *Fort Mandhol

Administrative divisions

The Sudhanoti District is divided into four

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administ ...

s: * Baloch Tehsil *

Mang Tehsil Mang may refer to: Places *Mangshi, county-level city in Yunnan, China People *Anton Mang (born 1949), German motorcycle racer *Henry Mang (1897–1987), Canadian politician *Mang of Xia, ruler of the Xia Dynasty, China *Rudolf Mang (1950–201 ...

Pallandri Tehsil Pallandri, also spelled Palandri ( ur, ), originally Pulandari, is a Tehsil which serves as administrative capital of Sudhanoti district of Azad Kashmir. It is located at latitude 33° 42′ 54″ N, longitude 73° 41′ 9″ E, from Islamabad ...

* Trarkhel Tehsil

Population

Sudhanoti has a population of 297,584 according to the 2017 Census. The main native language is Pahari, spoken by an estimated 95% of the population.

Education

According to the Alif Ailaan Pakistan District Education Rankings 2017, Sudhanoti is ranked 34 out of 155 districts with a score of 68.85 in terms of education. For facilities and infrastructure, the district is ranked last with the very low score of 6.76. Educational institutes include: * Mirpur University of Science & Technology (MUST) Pallandri campus, Sudhanoti District * Mohi-ud-Din Islamic University

Nerian Sharif Nerian Sharif is an Islamic historic site located in a mountainous area in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth- ...

, a chartered university situated 125 km west of Islamabad *

University of Poonch University of Poonch is a public university located in Rawalakot, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. The university has 3 different campuses: The Main campus in Rawalakot, the Kahuta campus, and the Mong campus. , the university has 7 faculties consist ...

(SM campus, Mang, Sudhanoti District)

Notable people

* Aziz Khan, General of the Pakistan Army and Chairman of the

Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee The Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC), ( ur, ); is an administrative body of senior high-ranking uniformed military leaders of the unified Pakistan Armed Forces who advises the civilian Government of Pakistan, National Security Council, ...

* Khan Muhammad Khan, Politician and the Chairman of the War Council during the

1947 Poonch Rebellion In spring 1947, an uprising against the Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir broke out in the Poonch jagir, an area bordering the Rawalpindi district of West Punjab and the Hazara district of the North-West Frontier Province in the fut ...

* Dr. Muhammad Najeeb Naqi Khan, Minister for Health and Finance. He was elected as a member of the Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly five times (in 1991, 1996, 2006, 2011, and 2016) from the Pallandri constituency and was a member of the Kashmir Council from 2001 to 2006. *

Muhammad Alauddin Siddiqui Muhammad Alauddin Siddiqui ( ur, ; 1 January 1938 – 3 February 2017) was an Islamic Sufi scholar and social personality. He appeared in islamic educational programmes on ARY Q TV and on NOOR TV. He established madrassas for religious and ...

was a great Islamic Sufi Scholar and 2nd custodian of

Tarar Khel Tarar Khal ( ur, ) (also spelled Tarar Khel, Tararkhel and Tararkhal) is a Tehsil and tourist attraction (Banjusa lake, diyar) in Sudhanoti District of Pakistan-protected Azad Kashmir, which is disputed with India. It is the headquarters of Teh ...

. He died on 3 Feb 2017.

References

External links

Government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir
* {{Coord, 33, 42, 54, N, 73, 41, 09, E, region:PK_type:city, display=title Districts of Azad Kashmir