Achabal (), also known as Achival () in Kashmiri, is a town in

Anantnag district Anantnag district is an administrative district of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a m ...

, in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Achabal is an important tourist town about 8.1km away from

Anantnag Anantnag ( ; ), also called Islamabad ( ; ), is the administrative headquarters of Anantnag district of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "admi ...

, and is notable for a Mughal garden called Achabal Gardens, holding an ancient spring surrounded by a terraced landscape developed by the Mughals. The upper portion of the garden is called 'Bag-e-Begum Abad' developed by Malika Noor Jehan Begum in 1616 AD and renowned as Sahib Abad in which there is a Hamam (treasure of water) getting heat from a logical lamp (Tosnag). Cascades and fountains have been erected by Mughal Emperors. A

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

standing in the garden is believed to have been constructed by Mughal Prince

Dara Shikoh Dara Shikoh (20 March 1615 – 30 August 1659), also transliterated as Dara Shukoh, was the eldest son and heir-apparent of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Dara was designated with the title ''Padshahzada-i-Buzurg Martaba'' () and was favoured ...

. Achabal was once the pleasure retreat of Empress Nur Jahan. A trout hatchery is also located nearby.

Geography

Achabal is located at . It has an average elevation of 1936 metres (6352 feet) above

mean sea level A mean is a quantity representing the "center" of a collection of numbers and is intermediate to the extreme values of the set of numbers. There are several kinds of means (or "measures of central tendency") in mathematics, especially in statist ...

History

According to Kalhana's

Rajatarangini ''Rājataraṅgiṇī'' (Sanskrit: Devanagari, राजतरङ्गिणी, IAST, romanized: ''rājataraṅgiṇī'', International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: Help:IPA/Sanskrit, �ɑː.d͡ʑɐ.t̪ɐˈɾɐŋ.ɡi.ɳiː ) is a metrical legend ...

Achabal (Sanskrit Akṣavāla) was founded by Aksha, son of King Nara II of the Gonanditya dynasty.

Demographics

At the 2001 India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Achabal had a population of 5835. Males constituted 53% of the population and females 47%. Achabal had an average

literacy rate Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

of 65%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 65% of the males and 35% of females literate. 12% of the population was under 6 years of age.

Nearest tehsils

* Shangus *

* Kokernag

References

{{Kashmir Valley Cities and towns in Anantnag district