Sopore

Sopore
City
Sopore Location in Jammu and Kashmir, India
Coordinates: 34°18′N 74°28′E / 34.30°N 74.47°E / 34.30; 74.47Coordinates: 34°18′N 74°28′E / 34.30°N 74.47°E / 34.30; 74.47
Country	India
State	Jammu and Kashmir
District	Baramulla
Population (2011)
• Total	66,963
• Rank	seventh
Languages
• Official	Urdu
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)

Sopore,{sə(ʊ)ˈpɔ:} (Hindi: सोपोर) known as Suyyapur in antiquity,^[1] is a prosperous apple town in the Baramulla district of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is 35 km (22 mi) north-west of Srinagar, the summer capital of the state and 16 km (10 mi) south-west from Baramulla City. Sopore is a trading centre and is surrounded by a large number of hamlets. It also is a large fruit trade centre.

History

Sopore was founded by the famous Utpala engineer and irrigation minister Suyya during the peaceful reign of king Avantivarman in 880 CE.^[2] As such the name of the city is Suyya-pur, which has been shortened to Sopore.^[2] When the engineer Suyya was working in Sopore no people were coming forth to plunge themselves in gushing water.^[2] The king, Avantiverman, thereupon ordered that a part of treasury may be thrown into the water; consequently, a large number of people plunged into the river to get as many coins as they could.^[2] The skill of Suyya worked and the river was cleared of silt.^[2]

Till the end of 14th century the town did not observe any significant growth.

Some Pashtun tribesmen such as Mehsud and Afridi from mountainous region of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of the newly formed state of Pakistan invaded the Kashmir valley on 22 October 1947.^[3]

A new bridge about 3 km downstream of the site of old bridge was constructed and agglomeration of Administrative Offices brought radical change in the overall development of the town. The rapid urban growth of the town can be attributed mainly to its locational advantage as the centre of the valley, its rich and fertile soil which is good for agriculture, the abundance of water, potentially supportive for the rearing of a rich variety of fish due to the proximity to Wular lake and several forest resources.

In 1989, Sopore became a focus of the separatist activities and continues to be a highly politicized hotbed of separatist activity with frequent spontaneous protests and strikes ("bandhs" in local parlance). On the morning of 6 January 1993, a group of 7–8 armed JKLF militants attacked a platoon of Border Security Force soldiers at Baba Yousuf Lane near Sopore and killing at least one.^[4][5] It was alleged that after this the Indian troops fired at local residents and set fire to local homes and businesses.^[6] Witnesses claim that Indian troops attacked a public coach killing the driver and at least 15 passengers as well as attacking and burning three other cars. Some residents were burnt alive as Indian troops set fire to their homes and businesses. While the Indian government claims that the civilian deaths happened as a consequence of shootout between militants and security forces.^[4]

Main Town

The main town of sopore is a large area consisting of residential area and market places. The old town sopore lies on both sides of the Jehlum river which consists of localities such as Maharajpora, Ashpeer, Batpora, Jamia Qadeem, Takyabal etc. This is a densely populated area. Far from the banks are the colonies like arampora, chinkipora, shalpora, new colony, badamibagh, Model Town etc. which are less dense civil lines with modern houses. The main markets in sopore are old market known as poat bazar, Iqbal market, uptown and downtown markets. The fish market in downtown is a very famous place in sopore where traders sell freshwater fish of the wular lake. A vast apple mandi lies in the outskirts near doabgah villages where buyers from all over india and bangladesh come to buy apples for supply across india and bangladesh. The main public educational institutions in sopore town are Boys Higher secondary schools sopore, Girls Higher secondary school sopore, Boys Degree college sopore^[7] and Degree college for women sopore. Some famous private institutions like Islamia Model School, MET educational trust^[8] and Welkin educational trust.^[9] Besides there are scores of both private and public schools in the town. The main sporting activities in the town take place in the ground near Degree college for boys and Khushal Stadium, Tulibal. Besides cricket, the youngsters of sopore are known for their football skills and there are many football clubs like Baba Raza football Club and Khushall FC. Hockey is also played at college and school levels in sopore.Sopore has many public and private hospitals such a sub-district hospital, maternity hospital and sopore nursing home. There is also a cluster of private clinics all over sopore. There are many branches of many leading indian banks in sopore such as State bank OF india sopore and Central Bank Of India Sopore besides many branches of Jammu and Kashmir Bank. There are many restaurants and hotels in sopore.

Outskirts

Many hamlets lie in the outskirts of the Sopore town. The National Highway leading to Kupwara from Sopore touches many villages such as Seelu, Wadoora and Nathipora. These villages are known for their apples. The Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology is located in Wadoora.^[10] More interior to this hamlet are villages like Tujar Sharief, Bomai and Dooru which are boarded on the east side by a great mountain on which very sparse population in the form of very small villages such as Yamberzalwoor exist. Collectively this beautiful hamlet consisting of above important villages and many other smaller one are collectively called Zaingeer. There are many open vast green paddy fields and apple orchids separating these villages. This is a politically active area in which a lot of mainstream and separatist political activities occur. This area has many private and public educational institutions such Islamia Model Highs Schools in Tujar Sharief and Dooru which are run by Fala-e-Aam trust and Higher Secondary Schools in Bomai which is a public institution. Zaingeer is irrigated in the form of Lal Kul (name of a stream irrigating the paddy fields) and many irrigation pumps which draws water from the Pohru River. The youngsters of this area like to play cricket and many cricket tournaments takes place right from the spring season to autumn season between the teams from the above villages. The main competitions take place in Nathipora cricket ground which is a large oval shaped ground maintained by the cricketers from Nathipora village. The competitions are fierce and the talents on display have the potential to excel international levels if better facilities and mechanism to spot talent are available. The road from Sopore to Bandipora touches villages such as Aadipora, Warpora, Hathlangoo and Watlab. The general makeup of this area is also similar to Zaingeer with many paddy fields and orchids. Watlab is a very beautiful tourist spot where people go on top of a mount of a sufi sait Baba Shukru Din, and from there one can have a view of the great Wular Lake. From Sopor side there are many villages which touch Wular lake and these people of these villages are economically dependant on the lake where from they catch fish, rare water birds such a ducks and swans.

Demographics

As of 2001 census,^[11] Sopore had a population of 58416 and area of 61 km² making it the sixth largest town after Srinagar, Jammu, Anantnag, Udhampur and Baramulla. But as per the census of 2011 the population of Sopore town was recorded as 66,963 and occupied seventh position in the state as Khatua emerged as sixth populous town in the state. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Sopore has an average literacy rate of 55%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: Male literacy is 63%, and female literacy is 46%. In Sopore, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

The majority of old Sopore's population resides on the banks of Jhelum River which passes through the township. These localities are marked by homes with old style of architecture. New Sopore consists mainly of civil lines areas.

Religion and politics

The majority of Sopore's population practices Islam, although there is a significant Hindu population. The important Muslim shrines include: Khan-kah Shah-i-Hamdan and Jamia Masjid. Besides there are numerous little shrines (locally called 'Astans') spread all over the place. Frequented by people from many areas, some of these spiritual places include: Baba Shukur Din Watlab Sopore, Shiekh Hamza Makhdoomi Tujar, Syed Fatullah Haqani Bomai, Saed shahib Darapora Zainagir, Daid Mouj Mundji, Arza sahib takya khan zainagair, Hathi-Shah Sahib, Rahim-Sahib Armpora, Hab Shahib Hathlangoo, Shah-Dargah Sahib, Syed Jamal-Din Sahib, Khuj Sahib-Shiva and Baba Sahib Botingoo.Mir Sahib, Saad Sahib both Astan's Situated in Village Duroo just 7 km from sopore town.

There also exist several old Hindu shrines including Rishi peer Mandir (Batpora), Shiv Mandir, Bhairon Mandir and Kali Mandir. Historically, many in Sopore used to venerate the local Peers (holy men) as in the past, the township was home to several of these holy men. The more famous ones are: Ahad Sahib, Lassa Sahib Arm, Ama Sahib Gaknoo, Aziz Sahib Vandhome, aak sahib

Transport

Sopore is accessible from srinagar, baramulla, kupwara and bandipora through a well built road network. Many private and public busses play on these roads and highways till 6 pm. The small private transport vehicles such as tata sumo and tavera also play on these roads and can be found till late in the evening. Sopore has a railway station on the Kashmir Railway line.

See also

• Botingoo
• Government Degree College Sopore
• Government Higher Secondary Institute Botingoo
• Panchayat Cricket Ground
• Sopore massacre

References