| Kotla Arab Ali Khan | |
|---|---|
| — Town — | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Province | Punjab |
| Region/Division | Gujranwala |
| District | Gujrat |
| Tehsil | Kharian |
| Time zone | PST (UTC+5) |
| Postal Code | 50990 |
| Area code(s) | 053 |
Kotla Arab Ali Khan (Urdu: کوٹلہ ارب علی خان, also known as Kotla-Kakrali or Kotla) is a small town based on market/bazzar. The town is located at 32°51'05N 74°04'20E and is situated near the border with Azad Kashmir and Punjab, Pakistan. Kotla Arab Ali Khan is the Union Council of Tehsile Kharian located in the Gujrat District of Pakistan. The town is located 35 km away from the district capital Gujrat and Bhimber Azad Kashmir is just 12 km away from Kotla. Famous Urdu poet, journalist & writer "Ameen Asim" (امین عاصم) belong this town. Ameen Asim's two books "Ishq AaKhir Azaab Hota Hae" (عشق آخر عذاب ہوتا ہے) & "Qarya e Laila" (قریۂ لیلیٰ) are published. Kotla Arab Ali Khan consists of three main areas, these are:
Langrial Chowk, Bhimber Road and Bunder and murarian chowk are also well known places.
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The history of Kotla begins with mainly old Hindu civilization and the legends of the Hindu mythology. Raja Dogra was the first who ruled this area from Jammu. After his death there were several Rajas who ruled this area. One of them was Raja Sohbat who built a Kotla which is a fort or walled city. Sohbat married with Rani Gujjars a semi-nomadic Gujjar people living along the hill slopes of Kotla. In those days there were four sects of people Raja, Jat, Gujar and Malik-Awan living near Kotla. With advent of Arabs and Afghans into south east asia and in particular the Indus valley the name of Kotla was amended to reflect the Islamic influence, cultural and recognition of its change from Hindu past to Islamic future. History records show that Baba Pir-e-Shah Ghazi or 'Damrian Wali Sarkar' Mian Mohammed Baksh, Malik Sultan, Lodhi Khan and many more good people were instrumental in influencing the cultural and religious landscape.
The importance of Kotla is due to main markets/hospitals/Schools/Colleges and its location. Roads which connect people of surrounding villages to the district. Kotla is mostly a commercial area and people of surrounding villages come here for shopping, business, trading and educational purposes. Almost every facility needed for life is available in the town.
The weather of this area/region is extreme, especially the summer season.
There are many primary, middle, high schools, colleges for boys and girls which include private and government institutions. The literacy rate of boys is not good as compared to girls, its main reason is that people send their sons to foreign countries to earn and financially support their families, rather than geeting higher education. If overseas education is not an option then for higher education students mainly opt for Lahore or Islamabad. Among private institutions are Pakistan Educational Academy, Kotla (PEAK), Iqbal Academy run by Malik Mukhtar, Quid Cambridge by Amar Usman, Quaid-e-Azam Academy by Ch. Ashfaq and some new modern institutions are also in the process of being opened. One of such institute is Dare-Arqam school in Kotla, opened in 2011.
Most of the people are farmers by profession. Now people are leaving this profession and are looking for alternative source of livelihood. Most people of this region are also settled in foreign countries. People abroad are supportive of their families and relatives financially.
There are many villages in the area surrounding Kotla, including