Kotli District

Kotli

Kotli district was carved out of district Mirpur in 1975. Prior to the present status, the district was sub-division of Mirpur district. The district is bounded by occupied Kashmir in the east, by Mirpur district in the south. Rawalakot lies in its north and is bounded to Pakistan in the west.The district is divided in three sub-divisions/tehsils covering total area of 1862 square kilometers. Total population of the district according to 1998-census stands at 558000 and its population according to 1999 projections is approx 570,000.

District Kotli is a hilly area rising gradually towards the high mountains of Poonch district. Its climate is more moderate than that of Mirpur due to the sub-mountainous topography. The river Poonch passes through Kotli to be joined by a smaller river called the Baan at Brahli, a short distance from Kotli. Kotli city serves as the district headquarters of the district. The district is linked to Mirpur by two metalled roads, one via Gulpur and Rajdhani, and the other via Dhungi and Charohi. It is also directly linked with Islamabad/Rawalpindi via Sehnsa and Holar.

There are two theories about the origins of the name of Kotli. One school of thought claims that in ancient times, Prince Raja Shahswar Khan built a small residency here and called it Kot later to be adopted as Kotli. An another theory states that the name is derived from the Sanskirit word Kotli which means to reside or take up residence. At one stage the area was inahbited by the Mangran and Solhan people and was called Kotli Solwhan, later to be called just Kotli. Kotli is well known for its Mosques and is often referred to as Madina-al-Masajed.

--172.191.0.84 21:38, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)