Rajouri
Rajouri or Rajauri is a city in the Rajouri district in the Jammu division of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is located about from Srinagar and from Jammu city on the Poonch Highway.
History
The first ruler of this Kingdom was Raja Prithvi Pal from the Jarral Rajput clan ruled Rajouri from 1033 to 1192, Prithvi Pal defended Pir Panchal Pass at the time of incursion of Mahmud of Ghazni in 1021 CE. The old name of Rajouri was "Rajapuri" as mentioned in Rajtarangni of Kalhana Pandita written in 1148 CE.Rajouri came under the suzerainty of the Kashmir Sultanate during the 15th century through the military campaigns of General Malik Tazi Bhat. In 1475, he led conquests that brought Rajouri, along with Poonch, Jammu, Bhimber, Jhelum, Sialkot, and Gujrat, under the administrative control of the Kashmiri Sultan. Local rulers retained limited autonomy but were required to acknowledge the Sultan’s authority and provide tribute and military support. This vassal arrangement continued until the late 16th century, when Mughal Emperor Akbar annexed Kashmir in 1586, ending Kashmir’s control over Rajouri.
During the Mughal rule, the Jarral Rajput rulers or Raja agreed to a treaty with the Mughal Empire and thus were given the title 'Mirza'. In 1810 and 1812, Maharaja Ranjit Singh attempted to conquer Bhimber, Kotli, and Rajouri. However, Rajouri successfully resisted these invasions. In 1813, Gulab Singh of Jammu captured Rajouri for the Sikh Empire of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, by defeating Raja Aghar Khan. After this, Rajouri became part of the Sikh Empire. But parts of it were given as jagirs to Raja Rahimullah Khan and other parts to Gulab Singh.
Following the First Anglo-Sikh War and the Treaty of Amritsar (1846), all the territories between the Ravi River and the Indus were transferred to Gulab Singh, and he was recognised as an independent Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. Thus Rajouri became a part of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. Gulab Singh changed the name of Rajouri to Rampur. He appointed Mian Hathu as Governor of Rajouri, who remained in Rajouri up to 1856. Mian Hathu constructed a stunning temple in between Thanna Nallah in close proximity to Rajouri city. He also built Rajouri Fort at Dhannidhar village.
After Mian Hathu, Rajouri was transformed into a tehsil and affiliated with Bhimber district. In 1904, this tehsil was separated from Bhimber and affiliated with the Reasi district.
The area of Rajouri principality included proper Rajouri, Thanna, Bagla Azim Garh, Behrote, Chingus, Darhal, Nagrota and Phalyana etc.
Partition
After the Partition of India and the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India in October 1947, there followed the First Kashmir War between India and Pakistan. The Pakistani raiders, along with the rebels and deserters from the western districts of the state, captured Rajouri on 7 November 1947. The 30,000 Hindus and Sikhs living in Rajouri were reportedly killed, wounded or abducted. Rajouri was recaptured on 12 April 1948 by the 19 Infantry Brigade of the Indian Army under the command of Second Lieutenant Rama Raghoba Rane. Rane, despite being wounded, launched a bold tank assault by conveying the tanks over the Tawi river bed in order to avoid the road blocks along the main road. When the Indian Army entered the town, the captors had fled, having destroyed most of the town and killing all its inhabitants. After the arrival of the Army, some 1,500 refugees that had fled to the hills, including women and children, returned to the town. The ceasefire line at the end of the War ran to the west of the Rajouri-Reasi district.Inside India
Soon after the war, the Rajouri and Reasi tehsils were separated. The Rajouri tehsil was merged with the Indian-administered Poonch district to form the Poonch-Rajouri district. The Reasi tehsil was merged with the Udhampur district.On 1 January 1968, the two tehsils were reunited and the resulting district was named the Rajouri district.
The Reasi tehsil was also separated out in 2006 into a separate Reasi district. The present Rajouri district comprises the 1947 Rajouri tehsil.
Rajouri witnessed some of the toughest fighting during the Second Kashmir War in 1965. Pakistani infiltration in Kashmir during Operation Gibraltar caused Rajouri to be initially captured from the Indian Army by undercover Pakistani commandos. But the wider operation failed and, with all-out war with India looming, Pakistan withdrew its troops. Major Malik Munawar Khan Awan, a Pakistani commando officer who led the attack on Rajouri on the night of 15 September 1965, was later awarded the title "King of Rajouri" by the Government of Pakistan.
Geography and education
Rajouri is located at. It has an average elevation of 915 metres.Rajouri has its own deemed University Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University popularly known as BGSBU which offers various Diploma, UG and PG courses. It also has one Government Medical College GMC Rajouri along with other degree colleges.