Sudhanoti District

The Sudhanoti District (also spelled Sudhanuti District), meaning the "heartland of Sudhans" or "Sudhan heartland"),

It is one of the 10 districts 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 tertiary sources (a) through (e), reflecting due weight in the coverage. Although "controlled" and "held" are also applied neutrally to the names of the disputants or to the regions administered by them, as evidenced in sources (h) through (i) below, "held" is also considered politicized usage, as is the term "occupied," (see (j) below). (a) (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcontinent ... has been the subject of dispute between India and Pakistan since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. The northern and western portions are administered by Pakistan and comprise three areas: Azad Kashmir, Gilgit, and Baltistan, the last two being part of a territory called the Northern Areas. Administered by India are the southern and southeastern portions, which constitute the state of Jammu and Kashmir but are slated to be split into two union territories."; (b)  (subscription required) Quote: "Aksai Chin, Chinese (Pinyin) Aksayqin, portion of the Kashmir region, at the northernmost extent of the Indian subcontinent in south-central Asia. It constitutes nearly all the territory of the Chinese-administered sector of Kashmir that is claimed by India to be part of the Ladakh area of Jammu and Kashmir state."; (c)  C. E Bosworth, University of Manchester Quote: "KASHMIR, kash'mer, the northernmost region of the Indian subcontinent, administered partlv by India, partly by Pakistan, and partly by China. The region has been the subject of a bitter dispute between India and Pakistan since they became independent in 1947"; (d) Quote: "Jammu and Kashmir: Territory in northwestern India, subject to a dispute between India and Pakistan. It has borders with Pakistan and China." (e) Quote: "We move from a disputed international border to a dotted line on the map that represents a military border not recognized in international law. The line of control separates the Indian and Pakistani administered areas of the former Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir."; (f)   (g)  (h)  Quote: "J&K: Jammu and Kashmir. The former princely state that is the subject of the Kashmir dispute. Besides IJK (Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir. The larger and more populous part of the former princely state. It has a population of slightly over 10 million, and comprises three regions: Kashmir Valley, Jammu, and Ladakh.) and AJK ('Azad" (Free) Jammu and Kashmir. The more populous part of Pakistani-controlled J&K, with a population of approximately 2.5 million.), it includes the sparsely populated "Northern Areas" of Gilgit and Baltistan, remote mountainous regions which are directly administered, unlike AJK, by the Pakistani central authorities, and some high-altitude uninhabitable tracts under Chinese control." (i) Quote: "Kashmir’s identity remains hotly disputed with a UN-supervised “Line of Control” still separating Pakistani-held Azad (“Free”) Kashmir from Indian-held Kashmir."; (j)  Quote:"Some politicised terms also are used to describe parts of J&K. These terms include the words 'occupied' and 'held'." The Sudhanoti District is bounded on the north and east by the Poonch District, on the south by the Kotli District, and on the west by the Rawalpindi District of Pakistan's Punjab Province. It is located 90 km 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.

Founder Sudhnoti
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.

History
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. 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. 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.
 * Cultural Heritage Sudhanoti
 * Fort In Pune
 * Fort Bharand
 * Fort Baral
 * Fort Mandhol

History of Sudhanoti Name
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.

Sudhanoti's Role in Azad Kashmir Movement
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 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. 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, 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.

Administrative divisions
The Sudhanoti District is divided into four tehsils:
 * Baloch Tehsil
 * Mang Tehsil
 * Pallandri Tehsil
 * Trarkhel Tehsil

Population
Sudhanoti has a population of 297,584 according to the 2017 Census.

The main native language is Pahari, spoken by an estimated 95% of the population.

Education
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.

Educational institutes include:
 * Mirpur University of Science & Technology (MUST) Pallandri campus, Sudhanoti District
 * Mohi-ud-Din Islamic University Nerian Sharif, a chartered university situated 125 km west of Islamabad
 * University of Poonch (SM campus, Mang, Sudhanoti District)

Notable people

 * Kiran Imran Dar, Member National Assembly (MNA) Pakistan
 * Aziz Khan, General of the Pakistan Army and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee
 * Khan Muhammad Khan, Politician and the Chairman of the War Council during the 1947 Poonch Rebellion
 * Dr. Muhammad Najeeb Naqi Khan, Minister for Health and Finance. He was elected as a member of the Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly five times (in 1991, 1996, 2006, 2011, and 2016) from the Pallandri constituency and was a member of the Kashmir Council from 2001 to 2006.
 * Muhammad Alauddin Siddiqui was a great Islamic Sufi Scholar and 2nd custodian of Nerian Sharif, Tarar Khel. He died on 3 February 2017.