Kreeri

Kreeri is one of the largest villages of Baramulla District in the Jammu and Kashmir state of India.

Its name comes from Kreer – a thorny bush bearing sweet smelling flowers, known in English as the Dog Rose. Having a rich literary tradition, kreeri has produced great poets like Syed Abdul Jabbar Khamosh and Syed Sanaullah kreeri. It is also known as Sheeraz of Kashmir. This is the birth place of Sanulluha Bhat, a famous player of musical instrument locally known as Rabaab.

With a population of more than 5,000 people it is a centre spot in the Kandi region of Baramulla, catering for the social, economic and cultural needs of about 100 villages scattered around it all the way up to Gulmarg in the west and Sangrama in the north. It has recently been developed as Model Village in the Baramulla District.

History

Kreeri has a 700 year old Ziyarat (shrine) of a renowned Islamic scholar and the master jurisprudence of his times, Syed Haji Muhammad Murad Bukhari. This village has a naturally beautiful landscape consisting of hills, valleys, and karewas. People grow crops such as rice, maize, and pulses while the main form of agriculture is apple cultivation. The main irrigation channel that nourishes this part of land is known by the name` Babul Kannal``. The most outstanding achievement of this town has been the uplifting of educational standards; Hanfia model school has inspired people in this respect. Famous scientists and scholars are Dr. Noor Ud Din Zargar (medicinal plants, polymer chemistry), Dr. Bashir Ahmad Zargar (mathematician), presently at Aljazan University in Saudi Arabia, and Dr. Nazir Ahmad Zargar (Islamic Studies).

Amenities

The village has many of the amenities normally expected in a town:

• a sub-district hospital
• a senior secondary school
• a fire service station
• a girls secondary school
• many private high schools and government basic schools(Hanfia Model Sec.School and others)
• a large stadium located in the middle of green pastures
• a tehsil library
• a veterinary hospital
• a police station
• a sub post office (Pin Code 193108)
• a J&K Bank
• a Treasury Office
• a Horticulture Office
• a Agriculture Office
• A recently commissioned regional water supply scheme catering to water requirements of about three dozen villages of Sangrama/Pattan constituencies.

Tehsil status

Kreeri has recently been given the tehsil status, which might give impetus to the developmental work going on in the village and its suburbs. The spokesperson of the People's Democratic Party, a mainstream political party of Jammu and Kashmir is a young and dynamic person from Kreeri village. Kreeri has also produced a well known journalist Syed Basharat who writes for Kashmir's first English Daily, The Kashmir Times.Near Kreeri, a small village based on 500 or more population creates a great sufi saint 100 years ago named as "Khawaja Saleem Bhat" who was very unknown to people because of his silence.He was related with the Silsila "Chasti" in Tareeqat (Tasuaf). His graveyard was located in the garden lying down the Chinar in the north side of A village 'Suchipora'.