Gilgit, Pakistan

Gilgit (Urdu: گلگت) is the capital city of the Northern Areas, Pakistan and a tehsil (headquarters) of Gilgit District. Its ancient name was Sargin which later on came to be known as Gilit and it is still called Gilit or Sargin-Gilit by local people, it was the Sikh and Dogra conquerors who gave it the name of Gilgit^[1], in the Burushaski language, it is named Geelt. Ghallata is considered its name in ancient Sanskrit literature. Gilgit city is one of the two major hubs on the Northern Areas for all mountaineering expeditions of Karakoram to the peaks of the Himalayas, the other hub being Skardu.

Gilgit has an area of 14,680 square miles (38,021 km²). The region is significantly mountainous, lying on the foothills of the Karakoram mountains, and has an average altitude of 1,500 metres (4,900 ft). It is drained by the Indus River, which rises in the neighbouring regions of Ladakh and Baltistan.

History

Gilgit was an important city on the Silk Road through which Buddhism was spread from India to the rest of Asia. A large number of Buddhist Sanskrit texts, included the long version of the Heart Sutra have been unearthed in Gilgit. The Dards and Cizinas also appear in many of the old Pauranic lists of peoples, with the former finding mention in Ptolemy's accounts of the region. Two famous travellers, Faxian, and Xuanzang are known to have traversed Gilgit as per their accounts.

Gilgit was ruled for centuries by the local Trakhàn Dynasty. However, its independence came to an end about 1810 with the death of Raja Abas, the last Trakhàn Raja.^[3]

The rulers of Hunza and Nager also claim origin with the Trakhàn dynasty. They claim descent from a heroic Kayani Prince of Persia by the name of Azur Jamshid (also known as Shamsher) who secretly married the daughter of the king Shri Badat who conspired with him to overthrow her Cannibal father^[4]. Sri Badat's faith is theorised as Hindu^[5]^[6] by some and Buddhist^[7]^[8] by others. However, considering the regions Buddhist heritage, with the most recent influence being Islam, the most likely proceeding influence of the region is likely to have been Buddhism. Though the titular Sri and the name Badat denotes a Hindu origin of the this ruler. Cannibalism is also not practiced in Buddhism at all.

Prince Azur Jamshid succeeded in overthrowing the tyrant cannibal King Badat who was known as Adam Khor (the cannibal)^[9]^[10], often demanding a child a day from his subjects, his demise is still celebrated to this very day by locals in traditional annual celebrations^[11]. In the beginning of the new year, where a Juniper procession walks along the river, in memory of chasing the cannibal king Sri Badat away^[12].

Azur Jamshid abdicated after 16 years of rule in favour of his wife Nur Bakht Khatùn until their son and heir Garg, grew of age and assumed the title of Raja and ruled, for 55 years. The dynasty flourished under the name of the Kayani dynasty until 1421 when Raja Torra Khan assumed rulership. He ruled as a memorable king until 1475. He distinguished his family line from his step brother Shah Rais Khan (who fled to the king of Badakshan and with who's help he gained Chitral from Raja Torra Khan), as the now known dynastic name of Trakhàn. The descendants of Shah Rais Khan being respectfully known as the Ra'issiya Dynasty.^[13]

The area had been a flourishing tract but prosperity was destroyed by warfare over the next fifty years, and by the great flood of 1841 in which the river Indus was blocked by a landslip below the Hatu Pir and the valley was turned into a lake^[1]. After the death of Abas, Sulaiman Shah, raja of Yasin, conquered Gilgit. Then, Azad Khan, raja of Punial, killed Sulaiman Shah, taking Gilgit; then Tair Shah, raja of Buroshall (Nagar), took Gilgit and killed Azad Khan. Tair Shah's son Shah Sakandar inherited, only to be killed by Gaur Rahman, raja of Yasin of the Khushwakhte Dynasty, when he took Gilgit. Then in 1842, Shah Sakandar's brother, Karim Khan, expelled Gaur Rahman with the support of a Sikh army from Kashmir. The Sikh general, Nathu Shah, left garrison troops and Karim Khan ruled until Gilgit was ceded to Gulab Singh of Jammu and Kashmir in 1846 by the Treaty of Amritsar,^[3] and Dogra troops replaced the Sikh in Gilgit.

Nathu Shah and Karim Khan both transferred their allegiance to Gulab Singh and continued local administration. When Hunza attacked in 1848 both of them were killed. Gilgit fell to the Hunza and their Yasin and Punial allies, but was soon reconquered by Gulab Singh's Dogra troops. With the support of Gaur Rahman, Gilgit's inhabitants drove their new rulers out in an uprising in 1852. Gaur Rahman then ruled Gilgit until his death in 1860, just before new Dogra forces from Ranbir Singh, son of Gulab Singh, captured the fort and town.^[3] The rule of Jammu was restored. Gilgit came under British rule in 1889, when it was unified with neighbouring Nagar and Hunza in the Gilgit Agency.

Villages of Gilgit Tehsil

Rivers of Gilgit

Geography

Only a part of the basin of the Gilgit River is included within the political boundaries of Gilgit District. There is an intervening width of mountainous country, represented chiefly by glaciers and ice fields, and intersected by narrow sterile valleys, measuring some 100 metres (330 ft) to 150 metres (490 ft) in width, to the north and north-east, which separates the province of Gilgit from the Chinese frontier beyond the Muztagh and Karakoram. Towering above Gilgit is Mount Rakaposhi at 7,788 metres (25,551 ft).

Tourism and transport

Gilgit city is one of the two major hubs for all mountaineering expeditions in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Almost all tourists headed for treks in Karakoram or Himalaya ranges arrive at Gilgit first. Many tourists choose to travel to Gilgit by air since the road travel between Islamabad and Gilgit, by the Karakoram Highway, takes nearly 24 hours, whereas the air travel takes a mere 45-50 minutes.

Road transport

There are various transports companies i.e. Silk Route Transport Pvt, Mashabrum Transport Pvt and Northern Areas Transport Corporation (NATCO) but Northern Areas Transport Corporation has vast coverage faciality. It offers passenger road service between Islamabad, Gilgit, Sust and Tashkurgan, and road service between Kashgar and Gilgit (via Tashkurgan and Sust) started in the summer of 2006. However, the border crossing between China and Pakistan at Khunjerab Pass (the highest border of the world) is open only between May 1 and October 15 of every year. During winter, the roads are blocked by snow. Even during the monsoon season in summer, the roads are often blocked due to landslides. The best time to travel on Karakoram Highway is spring or early summer.

Air transport

Pakistan International Airlines flies brand new ATR 42-500 flights twice daily between Gilgit Airport and Islamabad International Airport and the journey offers one of the most scenic aerial views (especially from the cockpit) of the world as it passes close to Nanga Parbat and the mountain peaks are higher than the aircraft's cruising altitude. There are two routes that the aircraft takes one is the direct route from the capital Islamabad that takes it over the Margalla Hills then over the town of Haripur directly over the Kaghan Valley from where it heads towards Nanga Parbat and finally abeam the mountain the descent starts into the Indus valley. The other route that it flies is all along the Indus valley which is also scenic but a little longer. These flights, however, are subject to the clearance of weather and in winters, flights are often delayed by several days. After a Fokker aircraft crashed near Multan, the Government of Pakistan banned all Fokker flights in domestic operations.

Hospitals

There are two major hospitals in Gilgit proper. The first is the DHQ or District Head Quarters which is the general hospital for the city. The Aga Khan Health Services Hospital is the other major health system including Emergency, Medicine, Paediatrics and Gynaecology Ops. It was started by the Aga Khan in 1981 under an umbrella organization called Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). It is generally considered the best hospital system in the entire Northern Areas. CMH combine millitry hospital Jutial Gilgit.

Schools

University

Colleges

Notable people (Religious)Alive

Notables General

Notable people Late

Picture Gallery

Notes

^ ^a ^b Gilgit - Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 12, p. 238
^ Tribes of the Hindoo Koosh by John Bidduph published by Sang-e-Meel -Publications Page 20
^ ^a ^b ^c Drew, Frederic (1875) The Jummoo and Kashmir Territories: A Geographical Account E. Stanford, London, OCLC 1581591, republished a number of times
^ The Gilgit Agency, 1877-1935 by Amar Singh Chohan, Atlantic Publishers & Distributors 1984, p4
^ Between the Oxus and the Indus by Reginald Charles Francis Schomberg, 1976, p249
^ The Gilgit Agency, 1877-1935 by Amar Singh Chohan, Atlantic Publishers & Distributors 1984, p4
^ Recent Research on Ladakh 4 & 5: Proceedings of the Fourth and Fifth by Henry Osmaston, Philip Denwood, 1995 Motilal Banarsidas, p226
^ History of Northern Areas of Pakistan by Ahmad Hasan Dani, 1989, p163
^ Imperial Gazetteer of India. Provincial Series: Kashmir and Jammu, ISBN 0543917762, Adamant, p107
^ Between the Oxus and the Indus by Reginald Charles Francis Schomberg, 1976, p144
^ Dissertation page 21
^ Recent Research on Ladakh 4 & 5 by Henry Osmaston, Philip Denwood, Motilal Banarsidass Publ. 1995, p229
^ History of Civilizations of Central Asia By Ahmad Hasan Dani, Vadim Mikhaĭlovich, Motilal Banarsidass Publ 1999, p216-217
^ Tribes of the Hindoo Koosh by John Bidduph published by Sang-e-Meel -Publications Page 20 and 21

References

The Gilgit Game by John Keay (1985) ISBN 0-19-577466-3
Drew, Frederic. Date unknown. The Northern Barrier of India: a popular account of the Jammoo and Kashmir Territories with Illustrations. Reprint: Light & Life Publishers, Jammu. 1971.
Jettmar, Karl, 1980. Bolor & Dardistan. National Institute of Folk Heritage, Islamabad.
Knight, E. F. 1893. Where Three Empires Meet: A Narrative of Recent Travel in: Kashmir, Western Tibet, Gilgit, and the adjoining countries. Longmans, Green, and Co., London. Reprint: Ch'eng Wen Publishing Company, Taipei. 1971.
Leitner, G. W. 1893. Dardistan in 1866, 1886 and 1893: Being An Account of the History, Religions, Customs, Legends, Fables and Songs of Gilgit, Chilas, Kandia (Gabrial) Yasin, Chitral, Hunza, Nagyr and other parts of the Hindukush, as also a supplement to the second edition of The Hunza and Nagyr Handbook. And An Epitome of Part III of the author's “The Languages and Races of Dardistan. First Reprint 1978. Manjusri Publishing House, New Delhi.
Muhammad, Gulam. 1980. Festivals and Folklore of Gilgit. National Institute of Folk Heritage, Islamabad.
Imperial Gazetteer of India. Provincial Series: Kashmir and Jammu
Shri Badat The Cannibal King A Buddhist Jataka from Gilgit

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