Pahari-Pothwari
Pahari Pothwari is an Indo-Aryan language variety of the Lahnda group, spoken in the northern half of Pothohar Plateau, in Punjab, Pakistan, as well as in the most of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir and in the western areas of Indian-admini ...
/ ; ) is a city and headquarters of the
Kotli District
Kotli District () is a district of Pakistan-administered Azad 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 tertia ...
in Pakistan-administered
Azad Kashmir
Azad Jammu and Kashmir (), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir ( ), is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee:
*
*
* and constituting the western portion of the larger ...
. The city lies along the
Poonch River
The Poonch River (also known as Punch River, Punch Tohi, Pulast, and Tohi of Punch) is a tributary of the Jhelum River that flows through Jammu and Kashmir in India, and Azad Kashmir in Pakistan.
Name
According to Georg Bühler, the ancie ...
, which is known for its natural secenary and waterfalls. According to the
2017 Census of Pakistan
The 2017 Census of Pakistan was a detailed enumeration of the Pakistani population which began on 15 March 2017 and ended on 25 May 2017. It was the first census taken in the country in the 21st century, nineteen years after the previous one i ...
, the city has a population of 46,907 people.
History
The city of Kotli dates back to the twelfth century, when it was settled by a branch of the Royal Mangral family of Kashmir, descendants of Raja Mangar. Originally known as Kohtali, literally meaning "under the mountain" due to the surrounding mountainous landscape. Kotli remained as a semi-autonomous state until it was finally subdued by
Ranjit Singh
Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839) was the founder and first maharaja of the Sikh Empire, in the northwest Indian subcontinent, ruling from 1801 until his death in 1839.
Born to Maha Singh, the leader of the Sukerchakia M ...
in 1819 and incorporated into the
Sikh Empire
The Sikh Empire was a regional power based in the Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. It existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849, when it was defeated and conquered by the East India Company, Br ...
.
After the
independence of Pakistan
The Pakistan Movement was a religiopolitical and social movement that emerged in the early 20th century as part of a campaign that advocated the creation of an Islamic state in parts of what was then British Raj. It was rooted in the two-nation th ...
and
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 ...
from the
British rule
The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent,
*
* lasting from 1858 to 1947.
*
* It is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
* or dire ...
, "bands of deserters from the State Army, some serving soldiers of the Pakistan Army on leave, ex-servicemen, and other volunteers who had risen spontaneously" reached Kotli in November 1947. They expelled the Dogra garrison at the town after a night of fighting. India then sent its armed forces to Kashmir where they attacked Kotli in an attempt to recapture it. The
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...
counter-attacked with the aid of the native tribesmen, winning a decisive victory in the Battle of Kotli. It has been under
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# ...
i control ever since.
Education
Kotil is home to the
University of Kotli
The University of Kotli Azad Jammu and Kashmir is a university in the Pakistani-administered self-governing region of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The University of Kotli (کوٹلی یونیورسٹی) (UoK) was formerly a constituent college of the ...
(
Urdu
Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
:کوٹلی یونیورسٹی) (UoK), formerly a constituent college of the
University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir
The University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir ( Koshur:''ژاٹھَلِ آزاد جۄٚم تہٕ کشیٖر'') is located in Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan.Lala Waterfall, close to Kotli town and the Gulpur Waterfalls, found in the village of Gulpur to the southwest.
Sarda Point View is great place to see kotli City