Parnotsa To Poonch: Journey Of A Hill Kingdom

Tracing the rise of Poonch from its earliest rulers to the age of shifting powers and borderlands.

- Shahid Ahmed Hakla Poonchi

Long before borders cut across the Pir Panjal, a fierce hill kingdom called Parnotsa ruled these heights. It rose 3,300 feet above the sea, held tight by ridges that stood like walls against the storms racing up from the plains.

The Poonch Tohi River shaped the early life of this land. Its small streams fed farms, guided settlements, and supported trade. People built homes close to the water and grew their societies in sheltered valleys.

Surrounded by hills and deep river systems, Parnotsa became organised early. It did not grow into a mighty empire, but it carried its own way of life with confidence.

When the Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang reached the region in 633 A.D., he found a land already known to traders and pilgrims. He had walked across high passes and through sharp wind before entering the valley. His record shows that the kingdom had a calm and settled character. The mountains guarded it, and the rivers connected it to the world outside.

The region that we call Poonch today stood between the Jhelum and the Chenab. These two rivers were like long arms stretching through ancient trade routes.

Traders, soldiers, and wandering monks often passed through these hills on their way to Kashmir or the plains.

The old state of Parnotsa sat in the valleys of the Poonch Tohi and its many feeders. The Pir Panjal marked the north, Rajapuri or Rajouri lay in the east, the Punjab plains opened in the south, and the Jhelum flowed in the west.

THE PERIOD SAW THE RISE OF MAHMUD GHAZNAVI FROM THE WEST. THE HINDU SHAHI KINGS OF PUNJAB, JAIPAL, ANANDPAL, AND TRILOCHANAPALA TRIED TO STOP HIM. They fought many battles near Peshawar and the Indus. When they lost ground in the plains, they moved into the hills and sometimes took shelter in the Poonch Tohi valley and Lohara.