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History of Gilgit-Baltistan AI simulator
(@History of Gilgit-Baltistan_simulator)
Hub AI
History of Gilgit-Baltistan AI simulator
(@History of Gilgit-Baltistan_simulator)
History of Gilgit-Baltistan
Gilgit-Baltistan is an administrative territory of Pakistan that borders the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, Azad Kashmir to the southwest, Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan to the northwest, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China to the north, and the Indian-administered region of Jammu and Kashmir to the south and south-east.
The early recorded history of the region is linked with Western Tibet. The region appears to have been part of the Tibetan Empire, with Buddhism flourishing in the region by 5th century. Later, Buddhist Patola Shahis ruled the region. However, by the 13th century, the region came under Islamic influence, notably under Maqpon Kings. This resulted in the separation of the Balti people from the Buddhist Ladakhi neighbours. The Baltis increasingly converted from Buddhism to Islam, resulting in increased interaction and conflict with their Kashmiri Muslim neighbours. Muslim rule in the area ended with the expansion of the Sikh Empire. After the British defeat of the Sikhs in the Anglo-Sikh wars, the region was ruled by the Dogras under British paramountcy. After independence, the region became part of the newly formed state of Pakistan through Gilgit rebellion in first Kashmir war.
There exists no written record of the region; however, rock art (petroglyphs) and inscriptions are abundant esp. along the Karakoram Highway which have been used to reconstruct a rough history.
No extant manuscripts pertaining to the history of the region from premodern times have been located.
Ḥashmatullah Khan's Mukhtaṣar Tarikh-e Jammun va Kashmir (1939) and Rajah Shah Rais Khan's Tarikh-e-Gilgit (unpublished manuscript; 1941) remain the chief sources. H. Khan was a Dogra official, who oversaw the administration of Gilgit-Baltistan and drafted a gazetteer of the entire region, borrowing from official documents, local clerics, epic literature, oral folklore, ruins, etc. Notwithstanding the briefness, his chronologies are internally inconsistent and Dani advises caution in using the material. Despite, it has become an authoritative reference for local historians. Rais Khan was a descendant of the Trakhan family and compiled what was essentially a family history. Dani found it to be heavily biased towards the Trakhans and severely contemptuous of neighboring powers.
There are more than 50,000 pieces of rock art (petroglyphs) and inscriptions all along the Karakoram Highway in Gilgit Baltistan, concentrated at ten major sites between Hunza Nagar and Shatial. The carvings were left by various invaders, traders, and pilgrims who passed along the trade route, as well as by locals. The earliest date back to between 5000 and 1000 BCE, showing single animals, triangular men and hunting scenes in which the animals are larger than the hunters. These carvings were pecked into the rock with stone tools and are covered with a thick patina that proves their age.
The ethnologist Karl Jettmar has pieced together the history of the area from various inscriptions and recorded his findings in Rock Carvings and Inscriptions in the Northern Areas of Pakistan and the later released Between Gandhara and the Silk Roads - Rock Carvings Along the Karakoram Highway.
The rock carvings found in various places in Gilgit-Baltistan, especially those found in the Passu village of hunza Nagar, suggest a human presence since 2000 BC. It is believed that the Burusho people were the indigenous of the region and were pushed higher into the mountains by the movements of the Indo-Aryans, who traveled southward sometime around 1800 B.C." Within the next few centuries of human settlement on the Tibetan Plateau, this region became inhabited by Tibetans, who preceded the Balti people of Baltistan. Today Baltistan bears similarity to Ladakh physically and culturally (although not in religion). Dards are found mainly in the western areas. These people are the Shina-speaking peoples of Gilgit, Chilas, Astore and Diamir, while in Hunza Nagar and the upper regions, Burushaski and Khowar speakers predominate. The Dards find mention in the works of Herodotus, Nearchus, Megasthenes, Pliny, Ptolemy, and the geographical lists of the Puranas. In the 1st century, the people of these regions were followers of the Bon religion while in the 2nd century, they followed Buddhism.
History of Gilgit-Baltistan
Gilgit-Baltistan is an administrative territory of Pakistan that borders the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, Azad Kashmir to the southwest, Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan to the northwest, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China to the north, and the Indian-administered region of Jammu and Kashmir to the south and south-east.
The early recorded history of the region is linked with Western Tibet. The region appears to have been part of the Tibetan Empire, with Buddhism flourishing in the region by 5th century. Later, Buddhist Patola Shahis ruled the region. However, by the 13th century, the region came under Islamic influence, notably under Maqpon Kings. This resulted in the separation of the Balti people from the Buddhist Ladakhi neighbours. The Baltis increasingly converted from Buddhism to Islam, resulting in increased interaction and conflict with their Kashmiri Muslim neighbours. Muslim rule in the area ended with the expansion of the Sikh Empire. After the British defeat of the Sikhs in the Anglo-Sikh wars, the region was ruled by the Dogras under British paramountcy. After independence, the region became part of the newly formed state of Pakistan through Gilgit rebellion in first Kashmir war.
There exists no written record of the region; however, rock art (petroglyphs) and inscriptions are abundant esp. along the Karakoram Highway which have been used to reconstruct a rough history.
No extant manuscripts pertaining to the history of the region from premodern times have been located.
Ḥashmatullah Khan's Mukhtaṣar Tarikh-e Jammun va Kashmir (1939) and Rajah Shah Rais Khan's Tarikh-e-Gilgit (unpublished manuscript; 1941) remain the chief sources. H. Khan was a Dogra official, who oversaw the administration of Gilgit-Baltistan and drafted a gazetteer of the entire region, borrowing from official documents, local clerics, epic literature, oral folklore, ruins, etc. Notwithstanding the briefness, his chronologies are internally inconsistent and Dani advises caution in using the material. Despite, it has become an authoritative reference for local historians. Rais Khan was a descendant of the Trakhan family and compiled what was essentially a family history. Dani found it to be heavily biased towards the Trakhans and severely contemptuous of neighboring powers.
There are more than 50,000 pieces of rock art (petroglyphs) and inscriptions all along the Karakoram Highway in Gilgit Baltistan, concentrated at ten major sites between Hunza Nagar and Shatial. The carvings were left by various invaders, traders, and pilgrims who passed along the trade route, as well as by locals. The earliest date back to between 5000 and 1000 BCE, showing single animals, triangular men and hunting scenes in which the animals are larger than the hunters. These carvings were pecked into the rock with stone tools and are covered with a thick patina that proves their age.
The ethnologist Karl Jettmar has pieced together the history of the area from various inscriptions and recorded his findings in Rock Carvings and Inscriptions in the Northern Areas of Pakistan and the later released Between Gandhara and the Silk Roads - Rock Carvings Along the Karakoram Highway.
The rock carvings found in various places in Gilgit-Baltistan, especially those found in the Passu village of hunza Nagar, suggest a human presence since 2000 BC. It is believed that the Burusho people were the indigenous of the region and were pushed higher into the mountains by the movements of the Indo-Aryans, who traveled southward sometime around 1800 B.C." Within the next few centuries of human settlement on the Tibetan Plateau, this region became inhabited by Tibetans, who preceded the Balti people of Baltistan. Today Baltistan bears similarity to Ladakh physically and culturally (although not in religion). Dards are found mainly in the western areas. These people are the Shina-speaking peoples of Gilgit, Chilas, Astore and Diamir, while in Hunza Nagar and the upper regions, Burushaski and Khowar speakers predominate. The Dards find mention in the works of Herodotus, Nearchus, Megasthenes, Pliny, Ptolemy, and the geographical lists of the Puranas. In the 1st century, the people of these regions were followers of the Bon religion while in the 2nd century, they followed Buddhism.