Bhimber
Bhimber
بھمبر | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Bhimber  Bhimber | |
| Coordinates: 32°58′50″N 74°04′10″E / 32.980645°N 74.06943°E | |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Territory | Azad Jammu Kashmir |
| District | Bhimber District |
| Government | |
| • MLA | Ch Tariq Farooq |
| • Deputy Commissioner | Raja Qaiser Aurengzeb |
| • Assistant Commissioner | Sardar Faisal Mughal |
| Population (2017)[1] | |
• Total | 27,636 |
| Time zone | UTC+5 (PST) |
| Postal code | 10040 |
| Dialling code | 0092-05828 |
| Website | Official Website |
Bhimber (Template:Lang-ur) is the capital of Bhimber District, in the Pakistan-administered territory of Azad Jammu Kashmir. The town is on the border between the disputed Jammu region and Punjab in Pakistan proper, about 47 km (29 mi) by road southeast of Mirpur.[2]
History
Bhimber was the capital of the Chibhal dynasty, which lasted from 1400 to 1856.[3][4][5]
Bhimber lies on the route that was followed by the Mughal Emperors for their frequent visits to the Kashmir Valley. It is also known as "Baab-e-Kashmir" (Door to Kashmir) because of its importance and geographical location, which was ideal for the Mughal Emperors to use to enter Kashmir. Therefore, the Mughals used Bhimber as a staging point for their journey to Srinagar. The Mughal Emperor Jahangir discussed Bhimber in his book Tuzk-e-Jahangiri.[6]
Modern history
In the 19th century, Chibhal came under the Sikh Empire of the Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Around 1822, along with Poonch, it was granted as a jagir (feudal land grant) to Raja Dhian Singh of the Dogra dynasty, Gulab Singh's brother. After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Sikh court fell into disunity, and Dhian Singh was murdered in a court intrigue. Subsequently, the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir was formed under the suzerainty of the British Empire, and these territories were transferred to Jammu and Kashmir. The jagir given to Dhian Singh was respected, however, and Dhian Singh's sons Moti Singh and Jawahir Singh were retained as its Rajas.[7][8][9]
In 1852, the brothers Jawahir and Moti Singh quarreled, and the Punjab Board of Revenue awarded a settlement. Moti Singh was awarded the Poonch district, and Jawahir Singh was awarded Bhimber, Mirpur and Kotli.[10][11] In 1859, Jawahir Singh was accused of 'treacherous conspiracy' by Maharaja Ranbir Singh (r. 1857–1885), who succeeded Gulab Singh. The British agreed with the assessment and forced Jawahir Singh to exile in Ambala. Ranbir Singh paid Jawahir Singh an annual stipend of Rs. 100,000 until his death, and appropriated his territory afterwards because Jawahir Singh had no heirs.[12]
The appropriated territory was organised as the Bhimber district (wazarat) in 1860. In the decade preceding 1911, the district headquarters was shifted to Mirpur and it came to be called the Mirpur district.[13][14] Bhimber remained a tehsil headquarters until 1947. It had a Hindu majority population, mostly consisting of Mahajans.[15]
Geography and climate
Bhimber is a valley. Its hot, dry climate and other geographical conditions closely resemble those of Gujrat, the adjoining district in Punjab.
Its climate is classified as warm and temperate. Summers have a good deal of rainfall; winters have very little. This location is classified as Cwa by Köppen and Geiger. The average annual temperature is 23.6 °C (74.5 °F) with a yearly average rainfall of 974 mm (38.3 in). July and August are the wettest months. Temperatures are highest in June.[16]
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 18.7 (65.7) |
21.6 (70.9) |
26.9 (80.4) |
33.1 (91.6) |
38.5 (101.3) |
40.6 (105.1) |
36.2 (97.2) |
34.3 (93.7) |
34.9 (94.8) |
32.7 (90.9) |
26.7 (80.1) |
21 (70) |
30.4 (86.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 12.2 (54.0) |
14.9 (58.8) |
20 (68) |
25.6 (78.1) |
30.7 (87.3) |
33.5 (92.3) |
31.2 (88.2) |
29.8 (85.6) |
29.1 (84.4) |
24.9 (76.8) |
18.3 (64.9) |
13.4 (56.1) |
23.6 (74.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 5.7 (42.3) |
8.2 (46.8) |
13.1 (55.6) |
18.2 (64.8) |
23 (73) |
26.5 (79.7) |
26.3 (79.3) |
25.4 (77.7) |
23.3 (73.9) |
17.1 (62.8) |
10 (50) |
5.9 (42.6) |
16.9 (62.4) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 54 (2.1) |
56 (2.2) |
57 (2.2) |
30 (1.2) |
26 (1.0) |
52 (2.0) |
258 (10.2) |
272 (10.7) |
112 (4.4) |
21 (0.8) |
12 (0.5) |
24 (0.9) |
974 (38.2) |
| Source: Climate-Data.org[16] | |||||||||||||
Education
People living in Bhimber are mostly educated. Literacy rate is higher than 80%. There are many peoples having masters degree. The percentage of people with postgraduate degree in Bhimber is much higher than Pakistan. Alot of people are Doctors and Engineers and working in Pakistan and Abroad . Many Peoples also have PHD in their respective field. At now Bhimber has 2 universities i.e AJK University and Al Khair University, many universities are also planned to be built in future. Students of Bhimber are intelligent and hard working. Bhimber is well known for its students always getting many positions in AJK board. There are many private and government schools and colleges working in Bhimber. Some well known schools and colleges in bhimber are The Learners School and college, Read foundation, Insight Model college, Dar-e-Arqam, Aspire college, Royal Model college, The Educators and many more. A new technical college has built in the city by government. Almost all boys and girls in city are going to schools. There is no restriction on girls from their families for not going to school like in some parts of Pakistan.
Development
Bhimber is developing very fast. In a very few years many Educational intitutes are built and a lot of improvement in infrastructure is done. Many high end restaurants are opened in Bhimber. They are providing high quality services. Some famous restaurants in Bhimber include Shan restaurant, Discount center, Pink rose, Bab-e-Bhimber, Wazwan, Italian pizza and Pizza hut. Marriage halls and plazas are also built in Bhimber in last some years. Jasyal plaza is one of most popular and old plaza of Bhimber. Mirpur chowk, Samahni chowk and Milad chowk are most developed and busiest commercial areas of the city while Sher Jang Colony, Kothi Mor, Gulshan Colony,Bhimber Rajani etc are most popular residential areas of Bhimber with all facilities available. Many planned towns like Model town, Bhimber new city etc are also started in Bhimber. Bhimber contains some of highly advanced hospitals. DHQ hospital Bhimber contains advanced machineries and highly qualified doctors. It is completely free for people and all expenses are beared by government. Loadshedding in Bhimber is much less as compared to Pakistan or rest of AJK. There is almost no loadshedding in winters while in summers an average of 15-30 minutes loadshedding accurs per day. 2 big Filtration plants are providing water to most of city.
Notable People
- Manzoor Mirza, economist
- Ghulam Rasul Raja, Pakistan Army officer
- Chaudhary Sohbat Ali (Late). EX Sr. Minister, Sr. Leader PPP Very Famous for his struggle to uplift the community by Education.
- Raja Zulqurnain Khan. Ex. President of Azad Kashmir. Sr. Leader of MC.
- Chaudhary Tariq Farooq. Sr. Leader of PMLN (AK) and Sr. Minister of AK Assembly. Has famous for his contribution to built the infrastructure (Roads & Bridges) in Bhimber.
- Chaudhary Anwar Ul haq. Ex. Speaker of Logistic Assembly of AK. Sr. Leader of PPP
- Maulana Muhammad Din (Late). He was a preacher of Islam and great contribution in religion aspect. He did great effort for Eid Gah & Jamia Masjid.
References
- ^ "Statistical Year Book 2019" (PDF). Statistics Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
- ^ "Bhimber" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
- ^ Gulabnama of Diwan Kirpa Ram: A History of Maharaja Gulab Singh of Jammu & Kashmir, page 41
- ^ History of the Punjab Hill States by Hutchison and Vogel, reprinted edition, 2 volumes in 1 Chapter XXIV. 1933 AD
- ^ The Ancient Geography of India by Alexander Cunningham page 134 1871
- ^ Government of Azad Jammu & Kashmir Website. "Jahangir discussed Bhimber in his book Tuzk-e-Jahangiri". Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
- ^ Panikkar, Gulab Singh 1930, pp. 121–123.
- ^ Brahma Singh, History of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles 2010.
- ^ Satinder Singh, Raja Gulab Singh's Role 1971, pp. 52–53.
- ^ Snedden, Kashmir: The Unwritten History 2013, p. 232.
- ^ Panikkar, Gulab Singh 1930, p. 123.
- ^ Snedden, Kashmir: The Unwritten History 2013, p. 233.
- ^ "A peep into Bhimber". dailyexcelsior.com. 6 November 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
- ^ India. Census Commissioner (1912), Census of India, 1911, Superintendent of government printing, India
- ^ Saraf, Kashmiris Fight for Freedom, Volume 2 2015, p. 238.
- ^ a b "Climate Bhimber". en.climate-data.org. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
Bibliography
- Bamzai, P. N. K. (1994), Culture and Political History of Kashmir, M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd., ISBN 978-81-85880-31-0
- Effendi, Col. M. Y. (2007), Punjab Cavalry: Evolution, Role, Organisation and Tactical Doctrine 11 Cavalry, Frontier Force, 1849-1971, Karachi: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-547203-5
- Huttenback, Robert A. (1961), "Gulab Singh and the Creation of the Dogra State of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh" (PDF), The Journal of Asian Studies, 20 (4): 477–488, doi:10.2307/2049956, JSTOR 2049956, archived from the original (PDF) on 15 August 2016, retrieved 23 November 2018
- Panikkar, K. M. (1930). Gulab Singh. London: Martin Hopkinson Ltd.
- Raghavan, Srinath (2010), War and Peace in Modern India, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 101–, ISBN 978-1-137-00737-7
- Rai, Mridu (2004), Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects: Islam, Rights, and the History of Kashmir, C. Hurst & Co, ISBN 1850656614
- Schofield, Victoria (2003) [First published in 2000], Kashmir in Conflict, London and New York: I. B. Taurus & Co, ISBN 1860648983
- Saraf, Muhammad Yusuf (1977), Kashmiris Fight for Freedom: 1819-1946, Lahore: Ferozsons, p. 238, LCCN 78930778
- Singh, Bawa Satinder (1971), "Raja Gulab Singh's Role in the First Anglo-Sikh War", Modern Asian Studies, 5 (1): 35–59, doi:10.1017/s0026749x00002845, JSTOR 311654
- Singh, K. Brahma (2010) [first published Lancer International 1990], History of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, 1820-1956: The State Force Background (PDF), brahmasingh.co.nf, ISBN 978-81-7062-091-4, archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2016, retrieved 23 November 2018
- Snedden, Christopher (2013) [first published as The Untold Story of the People of Azad Kashmir, 2012], Kashmir: The Unwritten History, HarperCollins India, ISBN 978-9350298985
- Zaheer, Hasan (1998), The Times and Trial of the Rawalpindi Conspiracy, 1951: The First Coup Attempt in Pakistan, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-577892-2
 Tehsils of Azad Jammu and Kashmir | |||||||||
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| Mirpur |
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| Muzaffarabad |
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| Poonch |
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