Kathua

Kathua, in the southern tip of Jammu & Kashmir near the borders of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, has long been a gateway district into the Jammu hills. The wider region was historically dotted with small Rajput hill principalities, the most famous being Jasrota, ruled by Dogra Rajput chiefs. These chieftains controlled river crossings, forests and trade routes along the Ravi and Ujh rivers, collecting revenue from caravans moving between the plains and the mountains.

From around the 18th century, as larger powers like the Sikhs and later the Dogras of Jammu rose, the smaller estates of Kathua–Jasrota were gradually drawn into the expanding Dogra kingdom. When Maharaja Gulab Singh established the princely state of Jammu & Kashmir in the 19th century, Kathua and its surrounding tracts became part of this new state, serving as a southern frontier district and an entry point from the Grand Trunk belt into the hills.

Under the Dogras and later the British-influenced administration, roads, bridges and small market towns developed, but the area remained largely agrarian, with scattered villages, forests and temples. After Independence and Partition in 1947, Kathua gained further importance as a border district on key national highways and rail routes. In recent decades it has evolved into a mix of agriculture, small industry and transport hub, while still retaining the feel of a transitional zone between the plains of Punjab and the mountains of Jammu.