Poonch (ˈpu:nʧ) (also referred to as Punch) is a town and a municipal council in Poonch District in the Indian administered state of Jammu and Kashmir. Based on the Mahābhārata evidence, and the evidence from the 7th-century Chinese traveler Xuanzang, the districts of Poonch along with Rajauri and Abhisara were under the sway of the Republican Kambojas during epic times.