History of Poonch

Poonch jagir or Poonch district, was a former semi-autonomous region in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. The territory was divided between India and Pakistan in 1947, represented by the present-day Poonch Division of Azad Kashmir and Poonch District of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Sikh monarch, Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured the Poonch region in 1819 and gave it to the Dogra noble, Raja Dhyan Singh, as a jagir (fief). After the death of Ranjit Singh, Dhyan Singh was murdered in Sikh intrigues, and the region was transferred to Gulab Singh as part of the Treaty of Amritsar, which established Jammu and Kashmir as a princely state under British suzerainty. The jagir of Poonch continued among Dhyan Singh's descendants as a subsidiary fief of Jammu and Kashmir. In 1928, the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir started encroaching into the internal administration of the Poonch Jagir and, by 1947, the status of Poonch was like a regular district of Jammu and Kashmir.

After the departure of the British in August 1947, the tribesmen of Poonch rebelled, inviting Pakistani assistance and giving rise to the First Kashmir War. The war ended a year later with the region being divided between India and Pakistan.