It has an average altitude of 1739 meters (5705 feet). It is now a separate district from Jammu and Kashmir. A religious saint gave the place its name Kulgam. Kul meaning "clan" and Gam meaning" Village". The saint had come to India from a place called Simnan in Iran. While traveling through the Kashmir Valley, he came to Kulgam and liked the place on a cliff overlooking the Veshaw River. He made Kulgam his permanent residence and was buried in the exact spot that he found fascinating. The spot is a magnet for the people of Kulgam and its surroundings. The Mughal emperors and the Dogra rulers frequented the place as it was their hunting ground, especially Shahanshah Shah Jehan, who laid the Chinarbagh, and Maharaja Hari Singh, and discovered the unspoiled potential of the shrine at Kutbal. The district is the birthplace of Sheikh Nooruddin Noorani, the founder of the Rishi Order and the ancestors of Allama Iqbal and Jawaharlal Nehru.