Bhimber District

Bhimber District (Urdu: ضلع بھمبر) is a district of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.^[1] It is the southernmost of the 10 districts of Pakistan's territory of Azad Kashmir. It has an area of 1,516 km², and the district headquarter is the town of Bhimber.

Map of Azad Kashmir with the Bhimber District highlighted in red

Bhimber District ضلع بھمبر
District of Azad Kashmir administered by Pakistan[1]
Bhimber
Rural scene in Bhimber District
Interactive map of Bhimber district
A map showing Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir (shaded in sage green) in the disputd Kashmir region[1]
Coordinates (Bhimber): 33°00′N 74°06′E
Administering country	Pakistan
Territory	Azad Kashmir
Division	Mirpur Division
Headquarters	Bhimber
Government
• Type	District Administration
• Deputy Commissioner	N/A
• District Police Officer	N/A
• District Health Officer	N/A
Area
• Total	1,516 km2 (585 sq mi)
Population  (2017)
• Total	420,624
• Density	277/km2 (720/sq mi)
Languages
• Official	Urdu
• Spoken	Punjabi (Majhi, Pahari-Pothwari) Dogri
Number of Tehsils	3

History

Bhimber was the Capital of the Chib dynasty which lasted from 1400 to 1846.The area is rich in archeological remains due to its strategic location on the route that was followed by the Mughal emperors on their frequent visits to the Kashmir Valley.

It is strategically important from defense and military standpoint. Due to its location, it became known as the Gateway to Kashmir (Bab-e-Kashmir).

During the 1947 Poonch rebellion and subsequent Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948 Bhimber was captured by the Azad Kashmir rebels supported by Pakistan and became a part of the Azad Kashmir.^[2]

Previously, Bhimber was a tehsil of the Mirpur District but was elevated to district status in 1996.^[3]

Location

The Bhimber District is bounded on the north by the Kotli District, on the east by the Rajouri District and the Jammu District of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, on the south by the Gujrat District of Pakistan's Punjab Province, and on the west by the Mirpur District. The town of Bhimber is 50 km from the city of Mirpur.

Administrative divisions

The Bhimber District is subdivided into three tehsils:^[4]

• Barnala Tehsil
• Bhimber Tehsil
• Samahni Tehsil

Demography

According to the 2017 census, the population of the district is 420,624.^[5]

The main native languages are Punjabi (according to a rough estimate, spoken by 35% of the population), Pahari-Pothwari (30%), Dogri (30%) and Gujari (5%).^[6][7] Urdu language has 'official' status.

Education

According to the Alif Ailaan Pakistan District Education Rankings 2015, the Bhimber District ranked 10th out of 145 districts in Pakistan and its two dependent territories in terms of education. For facilities and infrastructure, the district ranked 116 out of 145.^[8]

Climate

The southern zone of the Mirpur Division has a climate similar to the neighbouring areas of the Punjab province. Hot summer temperatures are often over 45 C from May to September. Winters are cold, and rainfall is concentrated in the monsoon season from late June to the end of August. There is often a prolonged dry period from October to early January, followed by winter rains from mid-January to March.

References

1. 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) Kashmir, region Indian subcontinent, Encyclopaedia Britannica, retrieved 15 August 2019 (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) Pletcher, Kenneth, Aksai Chin, Plateau Region, Asia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, retrieved 16 August 2019 (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) "Kashmir", Encyclopedia Americana, Scholastic Library Publishing, 2006, p. 328, ISBN 978-0-7172-0139-6 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) Osmańczyk, Edmund Jan (2003), Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements: G to M, Taylor & Francis, pp. 1191–, ISBN 978-0-415-93922-5 Quote: "Jammu and Kashmir: Territory in northwestern India, subject to a dispute between India and Pakistan. It has borders with Pakistan and China."
   (e) Talbot, Ian (2016), A History of Modern South Asia: Politics, States, Diasporas, Yale University Press, pp. 28–29, ISBN 978-0-300-19694-8 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) Skutsch, Carl (2015) [2007], "China: Border War with India, 1962", in Ciment, James (ed.), Encyclopedia of Conflicts Since World War II (2nd ed.), London and New York: Routledge, p. 573, ISBN 978-0-7656-8005-1, The situation between the two nations was complicated by the 1957–1959 uprising by Tibetans against Chinese rule. Refugees poured across the Indian border, and the Indian public was outraged. Any compromise with China on the border issue became impossible. Similarly, China was offended that India had given political asylum to the Dalai Lama when he fled across the border in March 1959. In late 1959, there were shots fired between border patrols operating along both the ill-defined McMahon Line and in the Aksai Chin.
   (g) Clary, Christopher, The Difficult Politics of Peace: Rivalry in Modern South Asia, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, p. 109, ISBN 9780197638408, Territorial Dispute: The situation along the Sino-Indian frontier continued to worsen. In late July (1959), an Indian reconnaissance patrol was blocked, "apprehended," and eventually expelled after three weeks in custody at the hands of a larger Chinese force near Khurnak Fort in Aksai Chin. ... Circumstances worsened further in October 1959, when a major class at Kongka Pass in eastern Ladakh led to nine dead and ten captured Indian border personnel, making it by far the most serious Sino-Indian class since India's independence.
   (h) Bose, Sumantra (2009), Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace, Harvard University Press, pp. 294, 291, 293, ISBN 978-0-674-02855-5 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) Fisher, Michael H. (2018), An Environmental History of India: From Earliest Times to the Twenty-First Century, Cambridge University Press, p. 166, ISBN 978-1-107-11162-2 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) Snedden, Christopher (2015), Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris, Oxford University Press, p. 10, ISBN 978-1-84904-621-3 Quote:"Some politicised terms also are used to describe parts of J&K. These terms include the words 'occupied' and 'held'."
2. Victoria Schofield (2010). Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Unending War. London, United Kingdom: I.B. Tauris. pp. 99–126. ISBN 9780755607204.
3. "Bhimber District". Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Government of Pakistan website. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
4. "Bhimber District". Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Government of Pakistan website. Archived from the original on 9 April 2010. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
5. "Census 2017: AJK population rises to over 4m". The Nation (newspaper). Retrieved 29 March 2023.
6. Statistical Year Book 2020 (PDF). Muzaffarabad: AJ&K Bureau Of Statistics. p. 140. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
7. Shakil, Mohsin (2012). "Languages of Erstwhile State of Jammu Kashmir (A Preliminary Study)". p. 12.
8. "Individual district profile link, 2015". Alif Ailaan. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2023.

External links

• Bhimber Azad Kashmir Archived website
• Bhimber District page by the Government of Azad Kashmir - Archived

• Azad Kashmir travel guide from Wikivoyage