Poonch

Poonch, in the Pir Panjal region of Jammu & Kashmir, has a history shaped by its frontier location near the Line of Control and the old routes linking Kashmir with the plains of Punjab. The wider Poonch valley has been inhabited since ancient times by pastoral and farming communities using the rich river plains below and alpine pastures above. Over centuries it came under a succession of powers – local hill rajas, early Kashmir rulers, and later the Mughals, who used the nearby Mughal Road as a summer route to the Kashmir Valley.

From the 17th–18th centuries, Poonch emerged as the centre of a semi-independent jagir / principality, ruled at different times by local Muslim and Dogra chiefs who acknowledged larger empires but kept strong local authority. In the 19th century it came firmly under the Dogra Maharajas of Jammu & Kashmir, with Poonch town growing around its large hill fort, bazaars and administrative offices.

At Partition in 1947, Poonch was a major theatre of conflict; the district was divided, with part going to Pakistan-administered territory and the rest remaining in India. Since then, Indian Poonch has been a sensitive border district, its history marked by army presence, cross-LOC tensions, and more recently, efforts to promote tourism around its forts, meadows and waterfalls.