Sudhanoti (region)

This article is about the former Sudhanoti region. For District of Azad Kashmir, see Sudhanoti District.

Sudhanoti
Region
Sudhanoti region in yellow
Countries	Pakistan
Subdivisions	Thorar, Sudhan Gali, Khai Gala, Davi Gali, Paniola
Demographics
• Ethnic groups	Sudhans Minor: Durrani Pathans, Lodi Pathans, Awans, Gujjars, Rajputs,Ghakhars, Dhunds
• Languages	Pahari
Largest cities	List Rawalakot Palandri Tararkhal Mang

Sudhanoti is a historical region mainly situated in the Himalayas range in South Asia. The region was bounded on the north by upto Sudhan Gali in Bagh and east by the Poonch District of Jammu and Kashmir, India, on the south by the Kotli, and on the west by the Rawalpindi District of Pakistan's Punjab Province. The historical region emcompassed 1420 square kilometers, consisting of the whole Sudhanoti and Poonch districts of Azad Kashmir, and some areas of Bagh and Kotli District. The region maintained its status as self independent state from 1407 to 1832, and subdivision of Poonch Jagir until 1843 and it resurgent state from 1843 to 1862 and subdivision of Poonch Jagir until 1947 Poonch rebellion. In 1947 after formation of newly state of Azad Kashmir, Sudhanoti region was split into two Districts of Azad Kashmir, Poonch District and Sudhanoti District.

Introduction

Sometime in the 1300s, Jassi Khan gathered an army of soldiers belonging to his clan, from in and around Ghazni, after he had been requested by the local Brahman tribes of present-day Sudhanoti to rescue them from a "tyrannous tribe", allegedly the "Bhagars" whom are said to have recently occupied those territories and ruled the local populace with cruelty.

Jassi, after routing the Bhagars from Sudhanoti, was granted the laqab (title) "Sudhan" from Sanskrit by the Brahmans, which is said to translate to "Very fair". Jassi later settled these territories with his troops and their families, accepting the title "Sudhan" and proceeding to rule the region of Sudhanoti until his death. His descendants continued Sudhan rule in Sudhanoti in one form or another until 1837, when after their rebellion against the Sikhs, they were stripped of all autonomy and subjugated to a direct foreign government, with the Sikhs completely annexing Poonch into the Sikh Empire and bringing it under the control of the Lahore government.

One unique aspect of former Bhan or Sudhanoti is that from the 8th century until the end of the 16th century, it was never part of any external, Indian, or Kashmiri sultanate, despite being surrounded by large empires. Sudhanoti was an tribal independent hill state founded by a Nawab Jassi Khan. Khan was the first Afghan ruler who laid the foundations of the Sudhanoti state and Saduzaieyu ruled the former Bhan for about 427 years until the fall of Sudhanoti in 1832. Bhan was primarily a land of Brahmins who ruled this region from the 8th century until the end of the 13th century. Nawab invaded the former Bhan in the 1407 and defeated the Brahmin tribe in Bhan state renamed the region from Bhan to Sudhanoti, meaning the place or homeland of the Sudhans. Register Sudhnoti English Version by Yousuf Khan Abakhel Sadozai Publication date 2025-01-10 Topics Sadozai, Register Sudhnoti, Poonch, Yousuf Khan Abakhel Sadozai, Abakhel, Captain, Sudhnoti, Sidhnoti, Poonch, Sardar, Abakhel, Abdal Collection opensource Language English

Nawab Jassi Khan Saddozai, founder of the state of Sudhanoti migrated from Ghazni, Afghanistan around the end of 1406, according to Hafiz Waja Khan's diary, written in Persian in 1690, titled Dirop Nama. Nawab Jassi Khan, along with his family and 200 horsemen from his clan, left Ghazni in search of a better future and headed towards India.

At that time, Tajuddin Firoz Shah Bahmani was the ruler of India. Firoz Shah was a devout Muslim ruler, highly knowledgeable in the Quran and Islamic jurisprudence, and was regarded as a great king. He was known for keeping the doors of his court open to scholars, artisans, and brave warriors. Every year, he would send ships from the two major eastern ports of his kingdom, Goa and Dabhol, to the Persian Gulf to recruit talented individuals, administrators, and brave Muslim warriors and artisans to bring back to his country and contribute to its development. Hafiz Waja writes that as Firoz Shah Bahmani's reputation for appreciating Scholars, artisans, and brave Muslim warriors spread far and wide, many people from Iran, Afghanistan, and other distant regions set their sights on the Bahmani Kingdom. Among them was Nawab J assi Khan, who, along with 200 chiefs from his clan, also decided to head towards the Bahmani Kingdom.

However, destiny had other plans. As the caravan journeyed from Ghazni, passing through most of the regions of present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, they eventually reached Taxila. From there, they lost their way and ended up in the hills of Murree. While resting in these hills for a few days, they found themselves near the land of Bhan, which was under the control of the Bhagri Rajputs, who had seized it from the Brahmins. Although the Brahmins were the majority population, they were oppressed and helpless under the Bhagri Rajputs. When the Brahmins saw this armed Afghan contingent encamped at the very gates of their state, they saw it as a potential savior.

Frustrated by the Bhagri Rajputs' tyranny, the Brahmins invited Afghans attack the occupiers, promising to remain loyal subjects under the Saddozai rule if he succeeded. With this assurance, Nawab Jassi Khan Sadozai recruited more Pashtuns into his army, took command of both the Afghan and Brahmin forces, and launched an attack on Bhan. Within a few weeks, the Bhagri Rajputs were defeated, and the Brahmins crowned Nawab Jassi Khan Saddozai as the ruler of Bhan. On this occasion, the Brahmins' religious leader, Guru Vishnudas, conferred upon him the title of "Sudhan," meaning brave and just.

Nawabs (Rulers) of Sudhanoti

The following information regarding the rulers of the state is taken from the English version of the Register Sudhnoti, which is closely based upon the original version of the book, written in the 1960's by Sardar Sherbaz Khan. The book takes this information from Makhaz-e-Sudhnuti, a personal diary of a chieftain Sardar Suba Khan, the last official ruler of Sudhanoti, whom wrote it in Persian, which itself derived information from a book titled Diropnama written in 1690, named after a prominent local ruler Dirop, also written in Persian.

#	Names	Reign Start	Reign End
1	Nawab Jassi Khan Abdal Sadozai	1407	1417
2	Various Abdal Sadozai rulers (not all explicitly mentioned)	1417	1584
3	Saeed "Khan-e-khanan" Abdal Sadozai	1584	1623
4	Rajab Saeed Abdal Sadozai	1623	1624
5	Alam Khan Abakhel Sadozai & Mukarram Khan Abdal Sadozai	1624	1626
6	Khan Dirop Khan 'Badshah' Abakhel Sadozai	10 March 1626	1649
7	Bahadur Khan Abakhel Sadozai & Bahadur's descendants	1650	1749
8	Sarbuland Khan 'Aalim-e-Sani' Abakhel Sadozai (Bahadur Dynasty)	1749	1785
9	Rais Khan Abakhel Sadozai (Bahadur Dynasty)	1785	1810
10	Shams-Ud-Din Khan Abakhel Sadozai	17th December 1810	5 April 1832

Resurgence (1844 - 1862)

After the rebellion by the Sudhanoti state, it had been defeated and annexed. In 1843, the garrisons of Dhian Singh began withdrawal from the western Poonch hills, marching to Lahore following Dhian Singh's attempt to take over the Sikh Empire which was facing collapse. Taking advantage of this, a local chieftain named Suba Khan Abakhel Sadozai (cousin of Shams-Ud-Din Khan, and also a direct descendant of Dirop) once again declared independence of the territories of Sudhanoti in 1844, becoming the ruler of that state. Suba Khan wrote about the history of Sudhanoti and much of these events in his diary, Makhaz-e-Sudhnuti, which was written by him in Persian.

Dhian Singh had been assassinated following the intrigues in the Lahore court, and his son Hira Singh had been appointed the next Wazir of the Sikh Empire. In 1846 after the Jammu and Kashmir (princely state) was created, Gulab Singh purchased Jammu and Kashmir and was declared its Maharaja. After the death of Dhian Singh, the successions of the jagir of Poonch and other areas under Dhian Singh to his sons were brought into question. Gulab Singh was preoccupied dealing with invasions by the Sikh Empire, which retaliated for Gulab's betrayal. Due to the political situation, Suba Khan was allowed to continue unchallenged. He gathered support within the state which was given time to recover from the mass casualties in the previous rebellion.

In 1849, after some political intrigue, Gulab Singh annexed the areas of Bhimber, Rajouri and Kotli which had previously belonged to Dhian Singh for himself, while granting Poonch to Raja Moti Singh, and 3.1% of the revenue of the Poonch state to his brother Raja Jawandar Singh. In December 1850, Moti Singh arrived to Poonch to exert his control over the newly granted territory. Moti Singh, despite realizing that the Western Poonch hills had broken away left the state alone. Moti feared that a war with Suba Khan's state could result in a defeat, after which Gulab Singh would involve himself, and thus annex the jagir of Poonch as well. He decided to bide for time, waiting for the death of Gulab Singh.

After the death of Gulab Singh in 1857, Moti gained the favor of the British after allying with them in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, hence growing in strength and support. In 1859, Moti attacked the state of Suba Khan. Suba Khan defeated Moti Singh at Talyan, forcing him to retreat. After Moti's retreat, a soldier of Suba Khan accidentally shot his horse, resulting in the death of Suba. He was succeeded by his son Sarzameen Khan, whom did not consult the traditional tribal meeting, but was accepted nonetheless as the ruler. Moti Singh incited Tareen Khan whom was a descendant of Bahadur Khan, encouraging him to challenge Sarzameen, questioning his legitimacy as he had not called the tribal meeting. He promised financial support if Tareen challenged Sarzameen, which Tareen accepted.

Sarzameen Khan convened a tribal meeting, in which he proposed to attack Tareen Khan. The chieftain's present at the meeting suggested a diplomatic solution, which Sarzameen refused while insulting the chieftains. Tareen Khan held his own tribal meeting, where the insulted chieftains were convinced to join his side, whom then declared Sarzameen unfit to rule. After a short civil war, Sarzameen was left isolated at Fort Bawar with 140 of his men, most of whom were his relatives. Sarzameen Khan began to insult them, which frustrated his younger brother Lamma Khan, whom suddenly attacked and decapitated his brother. Lamma Khan and some of the troops inside the fort negotiated peace with Tareen Khan, allowing the 140 troops inside the fort to leave and return to their village, which then fell into Lamma Khan's rule.

Tareen Khan gained rule over most of the areas within the state. Moti Singh requested him to allow the use of Fort Bawar as a "storage and transit point for grain and goods". The Qiladar's (commanders) of the two remaining major forts (Brahan and Aain) within the region declared autonomy from Tareen Khan's rule. The commanders then began skirmishes with one another, which eventually also involved Tareen Khan, which resulted in a three-way prolonged war. The three rulers obtained goods and weaponry from Moti Singh, whom provided them in exchange to use forts Brahan and Aain as storage points, though his real intentions were to gain control of them and subjugate the tribals that way. In 1862, Moti Singh used his control of the forts to divide the state into three autonomous sections, bringing the territory into his rule.

Rulers of the State

#	Names	Reign Start	Reign End
1	Sardar Suba Khan Abakhel Sadozai	1844	March 3 1859
2	Sardar Sarzameen Khan Abakhel Sadozai	1859	1859
3	Tareen Khan (Bahadur Dynasty), Aka Khan, & Yaqoob Khan	1859	1862