WelCome To Mirpur

Mirpur (Urdu: مِيرپُور) is the capital and largest city of Mirpur district and one of the largest cities in the part of the state of Jammu Kashmir administered by Pakistan. Since Mirpur adjoins the northern plains of the Punjab, the climate is quite hot during the summer times. The city itself has gone through a process of modernization while most of the surrounding area remains agricultural. Mirpur is known for its grand buildings and large bungalow-houses primarily funded through its ex-pat community mainly which is resident in the United Kingdom. Mirpur is also known as "Dusra England" because of high population of people living in England lives here. The main crop cultivated during spring is millet. However, there are places where other crops such as wheat, maize and vegetables are also grown. The production of electricity, through Mangla Dammakes this district somewhat unique in the entire region which provides energy needs for Azad Kashmir and Northern Punjab province much to the consternation of the locals which typically leads to unannounced energy blackouts.

A significant portion of the population is settled in England (UK) – mostly in the Bradford. For this reason Mirpur is sometimes known as "Little England". Many products from the UK are found in this city.

The area that is now Mirpur has always been a crossroad for major invasions of the subcontinent and has formed part of various empires over time including Achaemenid empire of Persia, an outlying region of the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Kingdom of Gandhara, the Mauryan empire, theKushan empire, the Sultanate of Ghazni, the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal empire amongst others.

The city of Mirpur itself was founded in around 1642 AD or 1052 AH by the Ghakhar chief Miran Shah Ghazi. The Imperial Gazetteer of India Provincial Series Kashmir and Jammu (1909) provides this information about Mirpur history as "it is said to have been founded by Miran Shah Ghazi and Sultan Fateh Khan"

The area that is now Mirpur has been historically associated with Pothohar. Though modern demarcation of Potohar devised by British excludes Mirpur by using Jhelum river as the eastern boundary. By the end of 18th century, Gakhar power in Pothohar had declined. Mirpur had become part of Chibb ruled state of Khari Khariyali with capital at Mangla Fort. With the rise of Sikh power in Punjab, Maharaja Ranjit Singh established his supremacy and set his eyes on the Chibh states of Bhimber and Khari Khariyali. In 1810, a force was sent against Raja Sultan Khan of Bhimber and was met with fierce resistance. However, in 1812 another Sikh army under prince Kharak Singh defeated Sultan Khan and the Bhimber state was annexed as Jagir of Kharak Singh. Around the same time, Ranjit Singh acquired Gujrat and invaded Khari Khariyali ruled by Raja Umar Khan. Raja Umar Khan made peace with Ranjit Singh. But before a settlement could be made, he died and the state and Mirpur became part of Ranjit Singh's territories.

Since Mirpur lies at the point where the Jhelum River breaks out of the heavily forested foothills of the Pir Panjal mountains into the plains of the largely treeless Punjab. It was an ideal spot for the construction of the boats used to carry goods down the five rivers of the Punjab to the Indus River and onto the seaports in the Indus delta. Traders have been operating from there across the Indian Ocean for over three thousand years. Most of the crew on the boats trading up and down the Punjab and Indus River system were drawn from Mirpur, as training as a boat-builder was a necessary prerequisite for becoming a boatman.

                   As an aftermath of the First Anglo-Sikh War and the Treaty of Lahore, The Treaty of Amritsar was signed between the British Government and Raja Gulab Singh of Jammu on March 16, 1846. This treaty transferred him all the hill states between Ravi and Indus. The transfer included Kashmir, Hazara and the southern hill states (including former Khari Khariyali). Thus sealing the fate of Mirpur with the new state of Jammu and Kashmir

 Mirpur city is situated at 459 meters above sea-level and is linked with the main Peshawar-Lahore Grand Trunk road at Dina Tehsil. It is the headquarters of Mirpur District, which comprises two sub-divisions, Mirpur and Dadyal.^[5] The building of the new city in late Sixties paved the way for New Mirpur situated on the bank of Mangla lake.

In fact the remains of the old city (old Mirpur) are underneath the waters of the Mangla Lake; during the colder months of March and April, the water level recedes to such an extent that one can travel on motorcycle on old Mirpur road which still exists. Holy Shrines of Syed Abdul Karim and Meeran Shah Ghazi become visible and so do the remnants of a Sikh Gurdwara as well as a Hindu Mandir possibly dedicated to the "Mangla Mata" (Mangla mother goddess).

                                      

  The remains of old houses, water wells, Graveyards reappear too. People from surrounding areas visit old Mirpur during these months to pay homage to their ancient land they lived on and pray on graveyards of their loved ones. Urs Mubarak of Meeran Shah and Syed Abdul Kareem are also arranged in these months in old Mirpur.

The remains of old Mirpur depict a silhouette of pre-partition city when many faiths co-existed side by side. However after division of the State of Jammu Kashmir, the non-Muslim community consisting of Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs fled to Jammu. The New Mirpur city has been well planned with construction of modern designed buildings and ample roads serving each part of city. The affluence brought on by immigration mainly to the UK is reflected by the structure and grandiose of the residential houses. 

         

            There are tell-tale signs of inward investment by the expatriate community living in the United Kingdom, Europe, North America and the Middle East. The city has a number of good hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and other urban facilities.