Kohalla Bridge

The Kohala Bridge across the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, forms part of one of the routes from the Pakistani-controlled region of Kashmir to the rest of Pakistan.

Location

The bridge is located at the town of Kohala, 38km north of Murree and 29km south of Muzaffarabad. A suspension bridge was constructed in 1877 and vanished in an 1890 flood.

A new transportable steel bridge was constructed in 1899 and in 1990 it too vanished in a flood. A third bridge was constructed on the north edge of Union Council Birote Kalan, Abbottabad District, in 1993. Old Western Kohala is changed as a Paradise Lost.

The Police Choke of Bakote Police Station is situated there with an ASI and 12 constables. Mentioned police patrolling on Kashmir Highway and Upper Dewal Kohala Road north end of Birote, meeting point of Punjab and NWFP. Kohala town is 21km to the south of AJK capital Muzafferabad, 22km north of Murree and one mile east of Bakote on the Rawalpindi to Srinagar Highway.

Etymology

There are two theories regarding the etymology of Kohala. One is that it originates from the name of a Hindu goddess Kohala Dewi because Kohala was a place where Hindu deities were worshipped on the banks of the Watesta (Jhelum) River before the arrival of Islam. A temple called Dawal was there.

Another theory is that Kohala is derived from the Dhondi language word "Kohal". Kohal means "cattle room" or house that was partitioned in living room in ancient time or separate or beneath of living house in modern era. The substitute of Kohal is "Gotrerhi" where livestock urinate and sit.

Kohala is a place where caravans from Kashmir stayed after crossing Jhelum River and their horses and donkeys were tied there in antiquity. There are two Kohalas in the region; one is on both banks of river Jhelum and a Kohala Bala at Lora, a union council of Abbottabad District.

History

Ancient Era

In ancient times Kohala was a centre of Hindu pilgrimage who worshipped Kohala Dewi. By the middle of 500 BCE Kohala had become a centre of the Buddhist community and a temple was constructed between Kohala and Knair Pull. It was a route of Buddhist monks for travelling from Taxila to Sharda Buddhist university in Sharda, Kashmir.

Modern Era

18th Century

Kohala was possessed by the Karlal tribe in the mid eighteenth century and in 1200 when the Dhond Abbasi tribe attacked, they vacated Bakot and Kohala also. From this time Kohala was under the proprietorship of Birote. When the Mojwal family of the Dhond Abbasi tribe migrated to Bakote by force, the Kohala proprietorship transferred to Mojwals of Bakote.

19th Century

In the first decade of 1800, Malka Singh, administrator of Rawalpindi captured Kohala by force. Malka Singh and the Dogra government of Kashmir developed the area constructed new buildings and sold it to Hindu merchants and Kohala then became a business centre.

British Era

In 1863 Sir James Abbott, the first commissioner of Hazara, changed the name of the area from Patan (the old name) to Kohala.

The British government transferred Kohala administration to Murree on one hundred year lease basis in 1873. The Punjab government renewned this lease in 1973 for 20 years and it was reunited with Bakote in 1993.

The government of British India built a rest house in the south of Kohala for high officials with seven drying rooms, two kitchens, one reading room, two toilets and horse and dog barns. The Indian olive, banana, apple and silkworm trees were in the guest house's eastern lawn. Guest house staff consisted of 30 people. A telegraph office (later a post office) was established there in 1880. Allama Iqbal (Poet of the East) staying in this rest house in 1930 and wrote his famous poem "Hammala", the 1st poem of his book Bang-e-Dra here. The bazaar of Kohala was most populated until 1947. Hindu merchants from Dewal, Murree, Rawalpindi and Punch controlled trade between Punjab and Kashmir.

After Independence

In 1947 during the Partition of India the local people in Kohala started attacks and all Hindu merchants fled to Punjab and Kashmir. India bombarded Kohala twice. Mohammed Ali Jinnah (Founder of Pakistan), Sir Mohammed Iqbal (Poet of the East), Jawahar Lal Nehru (the first PM of India) and many jihadis came to Kohala and entered Kashmir by crossing over the Kohala Bridge.

A girls College was proposed by Punjab government in 1991 but was not possible due to lease conditions. A primary school is operating there with Rawalpindi Education Department funding . In 1997 ex-chief minister of NWFP Mehtab Ahmed Khan proposed to buy mentioned Kohala rest house where he wanted to construct a three star personal hotel for tourists on commercial basis, but this deal with Public Works Department (PWD) Punjab occur due to his government collapse in 1999. People of the region are demanding a new Bakote Police Station so that every person of Circle Bakote can have access to Police to help resolve problems.