Poonch District (or Poonch Jagir) was a district of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, which is currently divided between India and Pakistan. The Pakistani part of the erstwhile district is now the Poonch Division in the Azad Kashmir territory, whilst the Indian part of the district is the Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir. The capital of the Pakistan-controlled side is Rawalakot; while the capital of the Indian-controlled side is Poonch.
In ancient times, Poonch was part of the Abhisara region and formed part of Alexander the Great's conquests. In later sources, the region is called Paranotsa, but also known by its capital city, Lohara, which gave rise to the Lohara dynasty of Kashmir (c. 1003–1320 CE). Afterwards Poonch came under the control of the Mughal Empire, then the Durrani Empire and finally the Sikh Empire. The Sikh monarch, Maharaja Ranjit Singh gave Poonch to the Dogra noble, Raja Dhyan Singh, as a 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 Jammu and Kashmir state under British suzerainty. After the departure of the British in August 1947, the tribesmen of Poonch rebelled, inviting Pakistani assistance and giving rise to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war ended a year later with the region being divided between India and Pakistan.
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