Many Kotli city residents have ties to British nationals in the city of Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Bradford, Luton, Bedford, Watford and Birmingham.
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Like many Azad Kashmiris (Poonch valley - a region found in the Jammu part of Jammu and Kashmir) living in the fringes of the Mangla Dam in Mirpur, emigration fever took hold of the surrounding country from the mid 1950s onwards.
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As stated in History of the Punjab Hill States by J.Hutchinson and J.P. Vogel: "Kotli was founded about the fifteenth century by a branch of the royal family of Kashmir. Kotli and Poonch remained independent until subdued by Ranjit Singh in 1815 and 1819 respectively."
Bardhaman Raj was founded in 1657 by Sangam Rai, of a Hindu Khatri family of Kotli in Lahore, Punjab, whose descendants served in turn the Mughal Emperors and the British government.
The name of this town is derived from word Kotli Aunchi (high), the old town in K L East, which Later become Kotli Loharan.
Growing up, Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan received his early schooling in his native village of Karela in tehsil Fatehpur Thakiala, now in District Kotli and in Poonch city.