Based on the Mahābhārata mythology,[6] and the evidence from the seventh-century Chinese traveller Xuanzang,[7] the districts of Poonch along with Rajauri and Abhisara were under the sway of the Republican Kambojas during epic times.

Around 326 BC when Alexander the Great invaded the lower Jhelum belt to fight with Porus, this region was known as Dravabhisar.

According to Rajatarangani, Raja Trilochanapala From Mangral Rajput Dynasty of the Poonch area gave a tough fight to Mahmood Ghaznvi, who invaded this area in 1020 A.D.[citation needed] In 1596, the Mughal emperor Jahangir made Raja Siraj-Ud-Din Rathore, the descendant of Rao Jodha and Rao Suraj Singh, the new ruler of Poonch.

In 1846 Poonch was part of the territories transferred to Gulab Singh, who became the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir under the suzerainty of the British Raj.

In the 1940s, Maharaja Hari Singh started integrating it with Jammu and Kashmir, as a de facto district.

In 1947, after the Partition of India, a rebellion started in the western part of the Poonch district (in the Bagh and Sudhanoti tehsils) against the Maharaja's rule and demanding accession to the newly independent Pakistan.

The rebels were armed and supported by Pakistan and they evicted the State Forces, who became ensconced in their garrison at the Poonch town.

The western part of the district remained under the control of the rebels, who joined Pakistan as the state of Azad Kashmir.

During the 2019 India-Pakistan standoff, the Pakistan Air Force conducted an airstrike in Poonch as part of a larger operation in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Poonch has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), which is much cooler than much of the rest of India due to its moderately high elevation and northerly position.