Brief History of district Poonch
Poonch has witnessed many historical era. Around 326 BC when Alexander the Great invaded the lower Jhelum belt to fight with Porus, this region was known as Dravabhisar. In 6th Century AD, the famous Chinese traveler Huien Tsang passed through this area. According to his observation, this region was known as Part of Kashmir. Around 850 AD Poonch became a sovereign state ruled by Raja Nar, who was basically a horse trader. According to Rajtrangani Raja Trilochan Pal of Poonch gave a tough fight to Mahmood Ghazanavi who invaded this area in 1020 A.D. In 1596, Mughal King Jahangir made Siraj-Ud-Din ruler of Poonch. Siraj-Ud-Din and his descendent Raja Shahbaz Khan, Raja Abdul Razak, Raja Rustam Khan and Raja Khan Bahadur Khan ruled this area upto 1792 AD. This time was first golden era of district Poonch which was a boon to architecture and various schemes. Large monuments and gardens were built including Poonch Qilla (The Fort of poonch) In 1819 this area was captured by