The city of Mirpur itself was founded in around 1640 AD or 1050 AH by the local Ghakhar chief Miran Shah Ghazi during Mughal rule. The Imperial Gazetteer of India Provincial Series Kashmir and Jammu (1909) reports that "it is said to have been founded by Miran Shah Ghazi and Sultan Fateh Khan." An alternate view is that the city was founded by Mira Shah Gazi and Gosain Bodhpuri, both regarded as saints. The word 'Mir' was taken from the name of the former and 'Pur’ from the latter.[7]
The area that is now Mirpur has been historically associated with Pothohar region of Northern Punjab, though the modern demarcation of Pothohar devised by the British excludes Mirpur, by using the Jhelum river as its eastern boundary. By the end of the 18th century, Gakhar power in Pothohar had declined. Mirpur had become part of Chibb, which ruled the state of Khari Khariyali with its capital at Mangla Fort. With the rise of the Sikh power in the Punjab, Maharaja Ranjit Singh established his supremacy and set his eyes on the Chibh states of Bhimber and Khari Khariyali. In 1810, a force was sent against Raja Sultan Khan of Bhimber and was met with fierce resistance. However, in 1812 another Sikh army under prince Kharak Singh defeated Sultan Khan, and the Bhimber state was annexed as Jagir of Kharak Singh. Around the same time, Ranjit Singh acquired Gujrat and invaded Khari Khariyali, then ruled by Raja Umar Khan. Raja Umar Khan made peace with Ranjit Singh; but before a settlement could be made, he died, and the state and Mirpur became part of Ranjit Singh's territories.[8]
In 1808, Ranjit Singh annexed Jammu state, which was already a tributary since 1780, and in 1820 awarded Jammu to his commander Gulab Singh, who hailed from Jammu and had been under the service of Ranjit Singh for the past eight years. Between 1831 and 1839 Ranjit Singh bestowed on Gulab Singh the royalty of the salt mines in northern Punjab, and the northern Punjab towns including Bhera, Jhelum, Rohtas and Gujrat. Gulab Singh kept on expanding his kingdom, and in 1840 Baltistan was made subject to Jammu while Gilgit fell to a Sikh force from Kashmir in 1842. The state of Kashmir was annexed by Ranjit Singh in 1819. However, the rebellion in Hazara in the beginning of 1846 compelled the country to be transferred to Raja Gulab Singh of Jammu as well.[8]
Ranjit Singh had given Poonch, Mirpur and Bhimber as a Jagir to Gulab Singh's younger brother Dhian Singh. However, in 1843 Dhian Singh died and Gulab Singh considered these areas now part of his territory. Though he wasn't able to establish full control due to resistances.[9]
As an aftermath of the First Anglo-Sikh War and the Treaty of Lahore, The Treaty of Amritsar was signed between the British East India company and Raja Gulab Singh of Jammu on March 16, 1846. The British Government sold Kashmir to the Raja of Jammu for 75 lakhs Nanak Shahi Rupees. This treaty transferred him all the hill states between Ravi and Indus. The transfer included Kashmir, Hazara and the southern hill states including the former Khari Khariyali, thus sealing the fate of Mirpur with the new state of Jammu and Kashmir.[8]
Early Mirpur
Since Mirpur lies in between where the Jhelum River meets the heavily forested foothills of the Pir Panjal mountains and above the plains of the largely treeless Punjab, it was an ideal spot for the construction of the boats used to carry goods from the Himalayas down the five rivers of the Punjab to the Indus River and onto the seaports in the Indus delta. Traders have been operating from there across the Indian Ocean for over three thousand years. Most of the crew on the boats trading up and down the Punjab and Indus River system were drawn from Mirpur, as training as a boat-builder was a necessary prerequisite for becoming a boatman.[10]
British Dominion
During the modern period of the Dogra principality, a British dominion, the thriving river trade diminished due to the construction of railway lines from Bombay and Karachi into the interior of the Punjab.[11]
Mirpur lies at the foothills of the Himalayas mountain range of an altitude of 648 metres or 2,126 feet above sea level and is linked with the main Peshawar-Lahore Grand Trunk Road at Dina Tehsil. It is the headquarters of Mirpur District, which has two subdivisions: Mirpur and Dudial.[12]
Climate
Mirpur has a humid subtropical climate.[13] The average annual temperature is 25.1 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1,380 millimetres or 54.3 inches. Since it is in the extreme south of Jammu and Kashmir, the city has a climate that is extremely hot during summer, making it very similar to the Pakistani areas of Jehlum and Gujar Khan.
The government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir has successfully developed Mirpur industrially and promoted private investment in a diverse economy: foam, polypropylene, synthetic yarn, motorbikes and scooter, textile, vegetable oil (ghee), wood and sawmills, soap, cosmetics, marble, ready-made garments, matches and rosin, turpentine. The economy of Mirpur generated economy of Azad Kashmir. However, much of the infrastructure still needs improvement so that high-quality products can be obtained.
As part of the relief/compensation package in the wake of Mangla Dam, a new city is being developed along the southeastern outskirts of Mirpur, with the main city of Mirpur being doubled. Much construction is occurring around the whole district by Pakistani and Chinese contractors, raising the dam. Four towns in the district have been planned near the new city to resettle the population affected by the project.
The AJK Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Mirpur is responsible for the studies at lower levels. In addition to the state-run schools and colleges, Mirpur has a well-developed private sector providing the education to all sections of the society:
Football, cricket and volleyball are popular in Mirpur. Mirpur has a cricket stadium, Quaid-e-Azam Stadium.
There are registered sports clubs: Al-Fatah Cricket Club is one of the top clubs in the city which is among the top 10 Clubs of Pakistan. Other clubs include Eagle star Cricket Club, South Asia Cricket Club. Notable cricketers include Zaman Khan who plays for Lahore Qalandars in Pakistan Super League, Hassan Raza who has represented Pakistan in U-19 world Cup and Shadab Khan who is also playing for Northerns in Quiad Azam Trophy.
Pilot Football Club, Youth Football Club and Kashmir National FC. The district football team of Mirpur take part in the All Azad Jammu and Kashmir football championships.
There is no railway station in Mirpur. The closest station is in Dina. The promise of a rail extension to Mirpur has not been fulfilled.[16][self-published source?]
Islamabad Airport, which services the Mirpur region, is 130 km away. Sialkot International Airport is 110 kilometres away. An international airport has been planned. The location of the airport has not been determined, but possible locations near Mirpur are Mangla, Jatlan and Bhalwhara.[citation needed] In August 2013, the National Assembly and the prime minister approved the airport. It was determined that the airport would be constructed in two years after funding.[17]
Demographics
According to the 2017 census, Mirpur had a population of 124,352.[18] Mirpur's original population comprises different tribes similar to that of Punjab. However, since 1947, residents from the neighbouring Rajouri and Poonch districts of the Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir have largely settled in the Mirpur city and the surrounding areas. The bulk of the Mirpuri diaspora resides in England.[19]
Before the Kashmir War in 1947, the Mirpur District had about 75,000 Hindu and Sikhs, who made the majority population of Mirpur city and amounted upto 20 percent of the population of the district.[20] A great majority of them lived in the principal towns of Mirpur, Kotli and Bhimber. Many Hindu and Sikh refugees from the Potohar region of Northern Punjab had taken refuge in Mirpur town, causing the non-Muslim population to increase by 25,000. On 25 November 1947, during the 1947 Jammu massacres tribesmen and Pakistani military members attacked and seized the city. Of the minority population, only about 2,500 Hindus or Sikhs escaped to the Jammu and Kashmir along with the State Forces. The remainder were marched to Alibeg, where a gurdwara was converted into a prison camp, but the raiders killed 20,000 of the captives along the way and abducted 5,000 women. Only about 5,000 made it to Alibeg, but they continued to be killed at a gradual pace by the captors. In March 1948, the ICRC rescued 1,600 of the survivors from Alibeg, who were resettled to Jammu and other areas of India.[21][22][23][24][25][self-published source?]
^Snedden (2013, p. 176): On p. 29, the census report states that Urdu is the official language of the government of Azad Kashmir, with Kashmiri, Pahari, Gojri, Punjabi, Kohistani, Pushto, and Sheena 'frequently spoken in Azad Kashmir'. When surveyed about their 'mother tongue', Azad Kashmiris' choices were limited to selecting from Pakistan's major languages: Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Pushto, Balochi, and 'others'; 2.18 million of Azad Kashmir's 2.97 million people chose 'others'.
^Maqbool, Aleem (March 5, 2012). "How city of Mirpur became 'Little England'". BBC News. The city of Mirpur, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, is known as "Little England" due to its large British Pakistani community.
^Hassan, Khalid (16 March 2007). "Mirpur 1947 – the untold story". Khalid Hasan Online. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved 2015-08-13.
