History

Kishtwar the land of saffron, sapphire and shrines was an independent hilly state during the medieval period. Maharaja Gulab Singh, the Dogra ruler of Jammu annexed it in 1821 AD. District Kishtwar was carved out from the erstwhile District Doda during the year 2007-08  when the Chief Minister of state G.N.Azad had taken a historic decision in July 2006 for creation of the new district It has the unique distinction of being one of the biggest districts of the state in area just next to Leh and Kargil districts. Its area is almost one half of the total area of eleven districts of the valley and one third of the area of the Jammu region which too has eleven districts. Population of Kishtwar district is around 2.5lakh. History geography, topography, demography, area and population define the status of a place or region.  Kishtwar is almost mountainous like that of Himachal or Ladakh region. District Kishtwar has its boundaries touching the valleys of Himachal in the south east and Doda on South-West. The entire district is full of mountains, forest and hills. Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs all resides here with amity and brotherhood. The district has four Tehsils namely Marwah, Paddar, Chhatroo and Kishtwar with headquarters at Nauphachi, Atholi, Chhatroo and Kishtwar. An almost entire district receives snowfall during a good winter. Habitation is found even at altitude of 9,500ft. Kishtwar is full of hidden charm, wonderful sites and spots, health resorts, tourist’s locations famous historical and religious places, sacred shrines and monuments.

An official Census 2011 detail of Kishtwar, a district of Jammu and Kashmir has been released by Directorate of Census Operations in Jammu and Kashmir. Enumeration of key persons was also done by census officials in Kishtwar District of Jammu and Kashmir. In 2011, Kishtwar had population of 230,696 of which male and female were 120,165 and 110,531 respectively.