Kishtwar is a municipality in the Kishtwar District of the Jammu region in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. District Kishtwar has been curved out in the year 2007 and it started functioning as independent administrative unit on 01-04-2007. Kishtwar town, the headquarter of District Kishtwar is situated at a distance of 235 kms from the winter capital of Jammu. The altitude of the district varies from 3000-15000 ft. above mean sea level. Commonly known as the ‘Land of Sapphire and Saffron’, it is also very rich in forests and wildlife. Kishtwar is surrounded by the districts Anantnag and Doda and also touches the boundaries of state Himachal Pradesh.
History
Kishtwar is first referred to in the Rajatarangini by the ancient name Kashthavata. during the reign of Raja Kalsa of Kashmir, when "Uttamaraja", the ruler of Kashthavata visited the court of the Kashmir King in company with several other hill chiefs to pay their respects to the Raja. Kishtwar merged with the State of Jammu and Kashmir in 1821, A.D. With the passage of time Kishtwar became a Tehsil of the Udhampur district and remained so until 1948, when it became part of the newly created District Doda in the wake of first re-organization of the state during the post-independence period.
Demographics
Indiacensus Kishtwar had a population of 14,865. Males constitute 63% of the population and females 37%. Kishtwar has an average literacy rate of 78%, higher than the Indian national average: male literacy is 82%, and female literacy is 42%. In Kishtwar, 11% of the population is under six years of age. The main language spoken here by the Muslims is Kashmiri and local Hindus of Kishtwar speak a local dialect of Kashmiri language called Kashtwari. The dominant religion in Kishtwar is Islam with 69.21% population Muslims following Hinduism with second-largest religion with 29.59% as Hindus.
Transport
Air
Kishtwar doesn't have its own airport as of now. Though, there is a helipad in Kishtwar which is located just 3 kilometres north of the city of Kishtwar. The government is upgrading it into a full-fledged airstrip. The nearest airports to Kishtwar are Jammu Airport and Srinagar International Airport located 219 and 211 kilometres respectively.
