Neelum District نيٖلَم ضِلہٕ | |
|---|---|
District of Azad Kashmir administered by Pakistan[1] | |
| ضلع نیلم | |
 Photograph showing the heavily-forested landscape of the Neelum Valley in April 2015 | |
 Interactive map of Neelum district | |
![A map showing Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir (shaded in sage green) in the disputed Kashmir region[1]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aKashmir_region._LOC_2003626427_-_showing_sub-regions_administered_by_different_countries.jpg) A map showing Pakistani-administeredAzad Kashmir (shaded insage green) in the disputedKashmir region[1] | |
| Coordinates (Athmuqam):34°35′N73°55′E / 34.59°N 73.91°E /34.59; 73.91 | |
| Administering country | Pakistan |
| Territory | Azad Kashmir |
| Division | Muzaffarabad Division |
| Headquarters | Athmuqam |
| Area | |
• Total | 3,621 km2 (1,398 sq mi) |
| Population (2017)[3] | |
• Total | 191,233 |
| • Density | 53/km2 (140/sq mi) |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Urdu |
| • Local | Hindko,Kashmiri,Shina,Gojri,Kundal Shahi |
| Number ofTehsils | 2 |
Neelum District (spelt alsoNeelam;Urdu:نیلم[niːləm],Kashmiri: نيٖلَم) is a district of Pakistan-administered territory ofAzad Kashmir, in thedisputedKashmir region.[1] It is the northernmost and the largest by land area of the ten districts ofAzad Kashmir. Taking up the larger part of theNeelum Valley or theKishanganga Valley, the district had a population of around 191,233 people as of the2017 census.[3] It was among the worst-hit areas of Pakistan during the2005 Kashmir earthquake.[4][5]
The district is bordered on the north and north-east by theDiamer district, theAstore district, and theSkardu District ofGilgit-Baltistan, on the south by theKupwara district and theBandipora district of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, on the south-west by theMuzaffarabad district, and on the west by theMansehra district of Pakistan'sKhyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The Neelum Valley was known before thepartition asKishanganga and was subsequently renamed for the village ofNeelam.[6] TheNeelum River flows from theGurez Valley in Indian-administeredJammu and Kashmir and roughly follows first a western and then a south-western course until it joins theJhelum River atMuzaffarabad. The valley is a thickly wooded[citation needed] region with an elevation ranging between 4,000 feet (1,200 m) and 7,500 feet (2,300 m), with mountain peaks on either side reaching 17,000 feet (5,200 m).[7] The Neelum Valley is 144 kilometres (89 mi) long.[8] TheLine of Control runs through the valley, either across the mountains to the south-east or in places right along the river, with several villages on the left bank falling on the Indian side of the border.[9]
The Neelum District was part of theMuzaffarabad District until 2005.[7] It is made up of twotehsils:[10] theAthmuqam Tehsil, in which the district headquarters is located, and theSharda Tehsil.The Neelum District is the largest district of Azad Kashmir by area. The valley extends for approximately 200 kilometers along the Neelum River.This is a generally poor region, reliant on subsistence agriculture and handicrafts, with tourism growing in importance in recent years.[11]
Several languages are spoken natively in the district. The predominant one isHindko. It is the language of wider communication in the area and is spoken at a native or near-native level by almost all members of the other language communities, many of whom are abandoning their language andshifting toHindko.[12] This language is usually calledParmi (orParimi,Pārim), a name that likely originated in the Kashmiri wordapārim 'from the other side', which was the term used by the Kashmiris of theVale of Kashmir to refer to the highlanders, who spoke this language. The language is also sometimes known asPahari, although it bears a closer resemblance to the Hindko of neighbouringKaghan Valley than to thePahari spoken in theMurree Hills.[13] Unlike other varieties of Hindko, Pahari orPunjabi, it has preserved thevoiced aspirated consonants at the start of the word: for example,gha 'grass' vs. Punjabikà, where the aspiration and voicing have been lost giving rise to a lowtone on the following vowel. This sound change however, is currently spreading here as well, but it has so far only affected the villages situated along the Neelam highway.[12] This variety of Hindko is also spoken in nearby areas of India-administered Kashmir. SincePartition, the language varieties on either side of the Line of Control have diverged in a number of ways. For example, in the Neelam Valley, there is a higher proportion of Urdu loanwords, while the variety spoken across the Line of Control has retained more traditional Hindko words.[14]
The second most widely spoken language of the Neelam Valley isKashmiri. It is the majority language in at least a dozen or so villages, and in about half of these, it is the sole mother tongue. It is closer to the variety spoken in northern Kashmir (particularly inKupwara district) than to the Kashmiri of the city ofMuzaffarabad.[15]
The third-largest ethnic, though not linguistic,[16] group are theGujjars, whose villages are scattered throughout the valley. Most of them have switched to Hindko, but a few communities continue using theGujari language at home. Gujari is more consistently maintained among theBakarwal, who travel into the valley (and beyond, into Gilgit-Baltistan) with their herds in the summer and who spend the winters in the lower parts of Azad Kashmir and in Punjab.[17]
In the upper end of the valley, there are two distinct communities speaking two different varieties ofShina (locally sometimes calledDardi). One of them is found atTaobutt and the nearby village ofKarimabad (formerly known asSutti) near the border with India. Its speakers claim that their variety of Shina is close to the one spoken further up the valley in IndianGurez. The community is bilingual in Kashmiri and is culturally closer to the neighbouring Kashmiri communities than to the other Shina group, who inhabit the large village ofPhulwei 35 kilometres (22 mi) downstream. The Shina people of Phullwei claim to have originally come fromNait nearChilas inGilgit-Baltistan.[18]
APashto dialect is spoken in two villages (Dhaki and Changnar) that are situated on the Line of Control. Because of cross-border firing since the early 1990s, there has been large-scale migration away from these villages. The local dialect is not completely intelligible with the ones spoken in the rest of Pakistan.[19]
One language that is unique to the Neelum Valley is the endangeredKundal Shahi. It is spoken by some of the inhabitants of theKundal Shahi village near Athmuqam.[20]
Additionally,Urdu is spoken by the formally educated and, likeEnglish, is used as a medium of instruction in schools.[21]
The situation between the two nations was complicated by the 1957–1959 uprising by Tibetans against Chinese rule. Refugees poured across the Indian border, and the Indian public was outraged. Any compromise with China on the border issue became impossible. Similarly, China was offended that India had given political asylum to the Dalai Lama when he fled across the border in March 1959. In late 1959, there were shots fired between border patrols operating along both the ill-defined McMahon Line and in the Aksai Chin.
Territorial Dispute: The situation along the Sino-Indian frontier continued to worsen. In late July (1959), an Indian reconnaissance patrol was blocked, "apprehended," and eventually expelled after three weeks in custody at the hands of a larger Chinese force near Khurnak Fort in Aksai Chin. ... Circumstances worsened further in October 1959, when a major class at Kongka Pass in eastern Ladakh led to nine dead and ten captured Indian border personnel, making it by far the most serious Sino-Indian class since India's independence.
