Sudhanoti District
Sudhanoti is one of the 10 districts of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. 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 from Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. It is connected with Rawalpindi and Islamabad via the Azad Pattan Road. Historically, the tehsil of Sudhanoti established during the Dogra period by Raja Moti Singh as part of the larger Poonch jagir included territories that are now part of the separate Poonch District. This included towns such as Rawalakot and Khaigala, which historically lay within the greater, pre-partition Sudhanoti region.
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.
Administrative divisions
The Sudhanoti District is divided into four tehsils:Sudhnoti was first established as a tehsil of the Poonch jagir by Raja Moti Singh, the ruler of Poonch in the second half of the 19th century. In the Dogra era, the tehsil of Sudhanoti also included the territories of the modern day Poonch district in Azad Kashmir.
Population
The district is overwhelmingly dominated by the Sudhans, and the population of Sudhanoti was recorded as 297,584 in 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 Pallandri campus, Sudhanoti District
- Mohi-ud-Din Islamic University Nerian Sharif, a chartered university situated 125 km west of Islamabad
- University of Poonch
Notable people
- Kiran Imran Dar, Member National Assembly 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 from the Pallandri constituency and was a member of the Kashmir Council from 2001 to 2006.
- Muhammad Alauddin Siddiqui, Islamic Sufi Scholar and 2nd custodian of Nerian Sharif, Tarar Khel. He died on 3 February 2017.