Kathua district

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Kathua district is one of 14 administrative districts that comprise the state of Jammu and Kashmir in India. It is surrounded by Jammu to the northwest, the Doda and Udhampur districts to the north, the state of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Punjab to the south, and Pakistan to the west. Its terrain is diverse, consisting of rich agricultural areas along the Pakistani border, plains sweeping eastward to the foothills of the Himalaya, and a mountainous Pahari region in the east.

Kathua district is divided into 8 blocks:Bani, Barnoti, Basholi, Billawar, Duggan, Ghagwal, Hiranagar, Kathua and Lohai Malhar. It has approximately 587 villages.

The traditional language of Kathua is Dogri. The Pahari language is prevalent in the mountainous area of the east. The principal media of education are English, Hindi, and Urdu.

In a Muslim majority state, Kathua, like the Jammu region, is overwhelmingly Hindu, the religion practiced by 91% of its district population. Another 7% is Muslim, and 2% Sikh.

A relatively safe regional pocket, Kathua was spared the decade-long insurrection sparked by the Khalistan separatist movement in Punjab that ended in the early 1990s, just to its south, and the ongoing Freedom movement in Kashmir Valley further to the north, beginning in the 1980's.

[edit] History

Though there is no detailed and fully documented history of Kathua district. It is believed that One Jodh Singh a famous Rajput of Andotra clan migrated from Hastinapur to Kathua nearly 2000 years ago and settled here. The three Hamlets of Taraf Tajwal, Taraf Manjali and Taraf Bhajwal were established by his three sons Viz. Teju, Kindal and Bhaju. Their descendant are now called as Tajwalia, Bhajwalia and Khanwalia Rajputs of Andotra sub-caste. The conglomeration of these three hamlets was loosely called “KATHAI” in earlier times which with the passage of time came to be called as Kathua.

Greek historians, who provide an insight into the ancient history of Jammu hills prominently record the existence of two powerful empires of Abhisara (present day Poonch) and Kathaioi at the time of invasion of India by Alexander, Strabo describes Kathaioi as a mighty republic of that era located in the foothills along river Ravi. The topography of Kathaioi corresponds with the present day Kathua. Starbo describes the people of the republic as epitone of bravery and courage and records that they gave a tough fight to invading army of Alexander.

[edit] Basohli Paintings

Basohli, a town of Kathua district, is widely known for its paintings. Immortalised by their artistic eminences and their connoisseur patrons, Basohli today is a metaphor for a vigorous, bold and imaginative artistic style, rich, stylish and unconventional. A style of painting characterized by vigorous use of primary colours and a peculiar facial formula prevailed in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries in the foothills of the Western Himalayas in the Jammu and Punjab States. The earliest paintings in this style originated in Basohli from where the style spread to the Hill States of Mankot, Nurpur, Kulu, Mandi, Suket, Bilaspur, Nalagarh, Chamba, Guler and Kangra. The first mention of Basohli painting is in the annual report of the Archaeological Survey of India for the year published in 1921.