Handwara

Handwara is a town in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, India, on the Baramulla-Handwara National Highway NH-701 and governed by a municipal committee. During Sikh rule, according to the English Wikipedia article, Raja Zabardast Khan, chieftain of the Bomba tribe, led guerrilla warfare against Sikh Empire garrisons here. The town lies at about 34.40 degrees north and 74.28 degrees east at an average elevation of 1,582 metres, and the Pohru River, locally called the Talri, a tributary of the Jhelum, flows through it. The conical peak Soyamji, 1,860 metres and locally called Paput, in North Machhipura, erupted lava for about 13 months in 1934 and has been dormant since. The 2011 census gave Handwara 13,600 people, with a literacy rate of 64.39 percent, and Islam is the dominant religion.