Akhnoor is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and

municipal committee A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counci ...

, near

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Jammu Jammu () is a city in 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 mention of the Kashmir dispute ...

Jammu district Jammu district is an administrative district of the Jammu division of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kash ...

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

union territory Among the states and union territories of India, a Union Territory (UT) is a region that is directly governed by the Government of India, central government of India, as opposed to the states, which have their own State governments of India, s ...

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

. It lies 28 km away from

Jammu city Jammu () is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary sources ...

. Akhnoor is on the bank of the

Chenab River The Chenab River is a major river in India and Pakistan, and is one of the 5 major rivers of the Punjab region. It is formed by the union of two headwaters, the Chandra and Bhaga, which rise in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul region of Hima ...

, just before it enters the

Pakistani Punjab Punjab (, ) is a province of Pakistan. With a population of over 127 million, it is the most populous province in Pakistan and the second most populous subnational polity in the world. Located in the central-eastern region of the country, i ...

. Its border location gives it strategic significance. The Akhnoor area is divided into three administrative sub-divisions - Akhnoor,

Chowki Choura Chowki Choura, Akhnoor, is a Sub-Division in Jammu district in Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir, India. Located from Jammu and 640 km from National Capital Delhi, Chowki Choura is located in the foothills of the Himalayas. ...

and Khour; Seven Tehsils - Akhnoor Khaas, Chowki Choura, Maira Mandrian, Jourian, Kharah Balli, Khour & Pargwal.

History

Ancient

The place is believed to be the ancient city of ''Virat Nagar'' mentioned in the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

however,

Bairat Viratnagar previously known as Bairat (IAST: ) or Bairath (IAST: ) is a town in Kotputli-Behror district of Rajasthan, India. History Ancient era According to Huen Tsang, visitor to China, Tonk was under Bairath State or Viratnagar previo ...

, a town in northern

Jaipur district Jaipur District is a district in the state of Rajasthan in Northern India.the city of Jaipur, which is Rajasthan's capital and the largest city, is the district headquarters. It is the tenth most populous district in India (out of 640). Etymo ...

of Rajasthan is more established as the ancient ''Virat Nagar''. The place is one of the most important historical sites in Jammu and Kashmir. Excavations by the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...

have established the fact that Akhnoor was one of the last bastion of the

Indus Valley civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form from 2600 BCE ...

and Manda, Akhnoor is the northernmost site.

Terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...

figures and other anthropological objects belonging to the later Indus period have been found during the excavations. Beyond Akhnoor, towards the upper hilly area that joins

Sivalik Hills The Sivalik Hills, also known as Churia Hills, are a mountain range of the outer Himalayas. The literal translation of "Sivalik" is 'tresses of Shiva'. The hills are known for their numerous fossils, and are also home to the Soanian Middle Pale ...

, there has been no trace of any object that could show that Harappans moved any further beyond this town. Excavations at Ambaran-Pamberwan sites have proved that the place was a prominent abode of

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

during the Kushan period and

Gupta Gupta () is a common surname of Indian origin, meaning "guardian" or "protector". Origins and distribution The name is based on the Sanskrit word गोप्तृ ''goptṛ'', which means "guardian" or "protector". According to historian ...

period. Apart from an ancient an eight-spoke

Stupa In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...

(a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, made of high quality baked bricks and surrounded by stone pathways, meditation cells and rooms), life sized Terracotta busts of

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

and coins belonging to those periods were also excavated from the sites. The

14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served a ...

visited the place in August, 2012. Buddhist relics from the Pre-Kushan reign and silver caskets, gold and silver leaves, pearls, corals and three copper coins from the Gupta period are reported to be found. The location of the Stupas is such that it lies on the ancient routes from

Pataliputra Pataliputra (IAST: ), adjacent to modern-day Patna, Bihar, was a city in ancient India, originally built by Magadha ruler Ajatashatru in 490 BCE, as a small fort () near the Ganges river.. Udayin laid the foundation of the city of Pataliput ...

, in present-day

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

, in India to

Taxila Taxila or Takshashila () is a city in the Pothohar region of Punjab, Pakistan. Located in the Taxila Tehsil of Rawalpindi District, it lies approximately northwest of the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area and is just south of the ...

now in

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

Province,

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. Among other find of historical importance that indicates the place inhabited by people pre-dominantly belonging to

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

is the green coloured

Trimurti The Trimurti ( /t̪ɾimʊɾt̪iː/) is the triple deity of supreme divinity in Hinduism, in which the cosmic functions of creation, preservation, and destruction are personified as a triad of deities. Typically, the designations are that ...

idol made up of a single stone at Ambarran Village.

Modern

See

Operation Grand Slam Operation Grand Slam was a key military operation of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. It refers to a plan drawn up by the Pakistan Army in May 1965, that consisted of an attack on the vital Akhnoor Bridge in Jammu and Kashmir, India. The br ...

in the

Chumb Chumb (), officially called Chammb, is a city in the southern tip of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. The Chammb sector consists of many villages, Kherowal, Burejal, Nagial, Paur, Dingawali, Chak Pandit, Praganwala, Jhanda, Singry, Sardari, Banian, Punjgra ...

Jourian Jourian is a town and a notified area committee in Jammu district in the Indian administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. History See Operation Grand Slam in the Chumb-Jourian-Akhnoor sector. Geography Jourian is located at . It ha ...

-Akhnoor sector.

Etymology

The town is believed to have been named Akhnoor by Mughal Emperor Jahangir who once visited the area and the fort on the advice of a saint when his eyes got infected while returning from Kashmir. Amazingly, Jahangir's eyes were fully cured by the fresh air of the town blowing over the Chenab. He called the town ''Aankho-ka-Noor'' (light of the eyes) and since then the place has come to be known as ''Akhnoor''. Some believed another etymology which is published in the official site of Akhnoor goes like this:

Geography

Akhnoor is located at . It has an average elevation of . Akhnoor is located at the right bank of the mighty Chenab. Chenab enters plains at Kathar (Khadhandhara Valley) in Maira Mandrian tehsil of Akhnoor. On the north and east, the Shiwaliks, Kali Dhar and Trikuta range surround it. Akhnoor lies on National Highway 144A that runs between Jammu and Poonch, about 28 km away from Jammu. It connects with

Rajouri district Rajouri is a district in the Jammu division of Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir, in the larger Kashmir#Dispute, disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various re ...

on the north,

Reasi district Reasi district is an administrative district in the Jammu division of Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir in the Jammu region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is sup ...

on the east and the

Chamb The Chamb () is a river in Germany and the Czech Republic, a right tributary of the Regen (river), Regen River. It flows through Bavaria and Plzeň Region. It is long. Etymology The name is derived from the Celtic word ''kambos'', which transla ...

tehsil (

Pakistan-administered Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. The term has since ...

) on the west. It has humid subtropical climate.

Demographics

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 ...

, Akhnoor had a population of 11,225. Akhnoor is governed by Municipal Committee of Akhnoor having 13 wards. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Akhnoor has an average literacy rate of 78%, higher than the national average of 74%; with 56% of the males and 47% of females literate. The languages spoken are Dogri followed by Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi and English.

Religion

Hinduism is the largest religion in Akhnoor with 92.37% followers. Sikhism, Islam and Christianity are followed by 1.91%, 2.70% and 2.38% people respectively.

References

{{Municipalities of Jammu and Kashmir Cities and towns in Jammu district Tehsils of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)