| Sudhanoti District | |
| Native Name Lang: | ur |
| Settlement Type: | District of Azad Kashmir administered by Pakistan |
| Image Map1: | Kashmir region. LOC 2003626427 - showing sub-regions administered by different countries.jpg |
| Map Caption1: | A map showing Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir (shaded in sage green) in the disputed Kashmir region |
| Coordinates: | 33.6667°N 116°W |
| Coor Pinpoint: | Pallandri Tehsil |
| Subdivision Type: | Administering country |
| Subdivision Name: | Pakistan |
| Subdivision Type1: | Territory |
| Subdivision Name1: | Azad Kashmir |
| Subdivision Type2: | Division |
| Subdivision Name2: | Poonch Division |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Seat Type: | Headquarters |
| Seat: | Pallandri |
| Government Type: | District Administration |
| Leader Title: | Deputy Commissioner |
| Leader Name: | N/A |
| Leader Title1: | District Police Officer |
| Leader Name1: | N/A |
| Leader Title2: | District Health Officer |
| Leader Name2: | N/A |
| Area Total Km2: | 569 |
| Population Total: | 297,584 |
| Population As Of: | 2017 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Density Km2: | 523 |
| Demographics Type1: | Languages |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Official |
| Demographics1 Info1: | Urdu[2] |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Spoken |
| Demographics1 Info2: | Gujari |
| Timezone1: | PST |
| Utc Offset1: | +5 |
| Blank Name Sec1: | District Council |
| Blank1 Name Sec1: | Number of Tehsils |
| Blank1 Info Sec1: | 4 |
| Website: | sudhanoti.com |
The Sudhanoti District (also spelled Sudhanuti District) (Urdu: {{Nastaliq|ضلع سدھنوتی), meaning the "heartland of Sudhans" or "Sudhan heartland"),[3] [4] [5]
It is one of the 10 districts of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.[6] [7] The Sudhanoti District is bounded on the north and east by the Poonch District,[8] on the south by the Kotli District, and on the west by the Rawalpindi District of Pakistan's Punjab Province. It is located from Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. It is connected with Rawalpindi and Islamabad via the Azad Pattan Road.
The district headquarters is the town of Pallandri. It lies at an elevation of 1,372 meters and is at a distance of 97 kilometers from Rawalpindi via the Azad Pattan Road. Pallandri is connected to Rawalakot by a 64-km metalled road.
Nawab Jassi Khan Siddozai was the first Pakhtun ruler who laid the foundations of the Sudhanoti state. He attacked Sidhnuti in 14th century AD, at that time Sidhnuti was ruled by Ladin Bhagads and Ghaghars whose first name was Bhan was ruled by Brahmins who were usurped by the Bhagaras. There were Bhagar Ladin who oppressed the religious Brahmins, so the Brahmins invited Nawab Jassi Khan to attack Bhan Sidhnuti here against this oppression. So Nawab Jassi Khan attacked and conquered it and named itSudhanoti.[9]
| Nawab Jassi Khan Saduzai The first founder of the Pashtun ruling state of Sadhunati | |
| Birth Name: | 1370 |
| Birth Place: | Ghazni, Afghanistan |
| Death Date: | March 1417 AD |
| Death Place: | Sidhnuti, Azad Kashmir |
| Nationality: | Afghan |
| Citizenship: | Afghan |
Sudhanoti, whose first name was Bhan Ya (Brahman) who was defeated by the Pashtun Sadozai invaders in the thirteenth century AD, who defeated the Bhagar Rajputs and named it Sudhanoti.[10] The state of Sudhanoti is one of the former ten states of Jammu and Kashmir, Its history is approximately one thousand twelve hundred years old which Sudhanoti was ruled by Brahmins from 830 to 1105 AD.The Brahman Raj was invaded by the Rajputs of hill Punjab in 1105 and they captured Sudhanoti in 1105. The Bhagar Rajputs ruled Sudhanoti from 1105 to 1407. The Bhagar Rajputs were then attacked by the Afghan chief named Nawab Jassi Khan in 1407 AD, defeating them and establishing their own Sadozai government.The Sadozai tribe ruled Sudhanoti from 1407 to 1832, Sudhanoti which from 800 to 1832 was called the fully independent state of Sudhanoti, came to an end in the Third Sikh-Sudhanoti War, in which fifty to thirty thousand Sadozai people were killed. The Sikh Khalsa merged with the state of Poonch and brought it under the control of the Lahore government.[11] Later from 1940 to 1947, it was a tehsil of Jammu province. Thereafter, in 1947, Sudhanoti became the capital of the Azad Kashmir Revolutionary Government, which was the capital of the Azad Kashmir Revolutionary Government from 1947 to 1949.After that, in 1960, Sidhanoti was divided into four districts, Poonch, Bagh, Kotli, and the rest of Siddhonti was divided into one agency until 1996. After a long time in 1996, this agency was converted into a district.[12] [13] [14] [15]
The known history of Sidhnuti, whose earlier name was Bhan, dates back to 830 AD Iqbal Darwish, a well-known historian of Siddhnauti, writes in Siddhnauti History that in the 8th century AD, Siddhnauti was ruled by regular Hindu Brahmins. After which the condition of the Brahmins became worse. Historian Fazlahi writes in Sardaran Sidhnuti that the knowledge of the Sidhans is known through awareness. When most of the Afghan chieftains moved from Afghanistan to India in the 14th century AD, among them Afghan Nawab Jassi Khan Saduzai along with three hundred warriors and two hundred women of his tribe, camped in Rawalpindi from different parts of India. The Brahmins of Bhan Sidhnuti who had been persecuted by the Bhagar Rajputs for a long time. They brought this Afghan Nawab to attack the Baghars and Ghaghars occupying their country. So the Afghan Nawab Jassi Khan attacked (Bhan Sidhnuti) and defeated the Baghars and Ghaghars, after which the Brahmins gave Jassi Khan the title of Sidhan on the coronation of Nawab Jissi Khan at Sidhnuti.Which means brave and just. After the Afghan Nawab Jassi Khan gained government control over Bhan, the name was changed from Bhan to Sidhnuti, which means the place of Sidhu's stay.This well-known name Sudhnuti is also recorded in the first Indian census of 1881History of the Muslim Nations of Punjab was written by British officer Lt. Col. JM Wakely when Poonch was part of the British province of Punjab and the Insaf Kot of Poonch was also in Lahore, Punjab. Books were written containing the information obtained from the census of Punjabi Muslims. In which he assigns the name of Sidhnuti to Nawab Jassi Khan, he writes that here Sidhnuti was formerly ruled by Brahmins from whom the Bhagars and Ghaghars had taken away their government and occupied their country. So the Brahmins brought the Afghan Nawab Jassi Khan Saduzai to attack the Bhagars, after which the Afghan Nawab attacked the Bhagars and defeated them and established his government here.The British Lt. Weekley, the author of Kitab Punjab Muslim, writes that after the coronation of the government of Nawab Jassi Khan Saduzai, the Brahmins gave him the title of Sadhan, which means brave and just. So after that the Afghan Nawab Jassi Khan Sidhuzai took control of the government at Bhan and changed its name from Bhan to Sidhnuti which means the place of settlement of Sadhus. [16]
Ian Stephens (editor) was a British journalist who was the editor of the British Indian newspaper The Statesman in Kolkata, West Bengal from 1942 to 1951. He is one of the eyewitnesses of the Kashmir issue. He writes in his famous Zaman book Pakistan that Tehreek Azadi Kashmir is actually a rebellion of Sidhnuti whose rebellion took the form of Tehreek Azadi Kashmir [17] In additionThe Sudhan tribe has been described as "a main and martial tribe of dissident Poonch" by Christopher Snedden, a political analyst. Sardar Ibrahim Khan, a barrister, and politician of the Muslim Conference party, was among the Sudhan people who rose to significance in 1947 as a result of the campaign and later rebellion against the Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. Khan led a significant faction of the Muslim Conference activists in their demands that Singh should join Pakistan rather than accede to India. it was the Sudhans who were at the heart of this campaign.[18] The Sudhans rebels were directed by the Pakistan Army, and with the support of Pashtun tribal lashkars sent in from the Khyber and Waziristan tribal agencies,[19] Sudhans were able to liberate a portion of the state, called Azad Kashmir (Free Kashmir). Azad Kashmir has been under the control Pakistan ever since.[20]
The Sudhanoti District is divided into four tehsils:[21]
Sudhanoti has a population of 297,584 according to the 2017 Census.[1] [22]
The main native language is Pahari, spoken by an estimated 95% of the population.[23] [24]
According to the Alif Ailaan Pakistan District Education Rankings 2017, Sudhanoti is ranked 34 out of 155 districts with a score of 68.85 in terms of education. For facilities and infrastructure, the district is ranked last with the very low score of 6.76.[25]
Educational institutes include: