Europe North America Oceania The Pothohar Plateau (Punjabi: پوٹھوہار پٹھار, romanized: Pо̄ṭhoā̀r Paṭhār; Urdu: سطح مرتفع پوٹھوہار, romanized: Satāh Murtafā Pо̄ṭhohār), also spelled Pothwar, is a plateau in the Sind Sagar Doab of northern Punjab, Pakistan, located between the Indus and Jhelum rivers.

[8] Taxila was the capital city of ancient Gāndhāra, situated on the eastern shore of the Indus—the pivotal junction of the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia;[9] it was founded around 1000 BCE.

When the great ancient trade routes connecting these regions ceased to be important, the city sank into insignificance and was finally destroyed in the 5th century by the invading Hunas.

The major biradaris of the region (Punjabi: برادری) include Rajputs, Jatts, Awans, Janjuas, Gujjars, Khokhars, and Gakhars.

[23][24][25][26] Prior to the partition of India, other biradaris including the Khatris, Mohyal Brahmins, and Aroras were also present in large numbers throughout the region.

[27][28][29] The plateau covers about 7 percent of all the cultivated land of Pakistan and most of it is very fertile, but the region does not have any proper irrigation system, with the agriculture being largely dependent on rainfall.

A major oil reserve has been discovered near Jhelum in Punjab, opening up a new area for exploitation of hydrocarbon potential (e.g., Meyal Field[32]).

With an estimated production of 5,500 barrels per day, the Ghauri X-1 oil well is expected to be the country’s largest oil-producing well and is likely to start contributing its output to the system by the end of June 2014.

Due to low rain fall, extensive deforestation, coal mining, oil and gas exploration, the area is becoming devoid of vegetation.

The third and most recent settlement is that of Sirsukh, which was built by rulers of the Kushan empire, who ruled from nearby Purushapura (modern Peshawar).

Rohtas Fort was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997, as an "exceptional example of the Muslim military architecture of Central and South Asia.

[39] The temples' pond is said in the Puranas to have been created from the teardrops of Shiva, after he wandered the Earth inconsolable after the death of his wife Sati.

The stupa was built to commemorate the spot, where according to the Jataka tales, an incarnation of the Buddha called Prince Sattva sacrificed himself to feed seven hungry tiger cubs.