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Turtuk
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Turtuk
Turtuk is a town, the headquarters of the eponymous tehsil and community development block in the Nubra district of Indian union territory of Ladakh. Situated on the banks of the Shyok River, sandwiched between the Karakorum Range and the Himalayas,[unreliable source?] and one of the northernmost habitations of India, close to the Line of Control between India and Pakistan. Geographically, the village is in the Baltistan region, which has been under Pakistani administration, except for five villages of the Turtuk block which are part of India. These villages form the only region in India populated by Balti people. Turtuk is known for its fruit, especially apricots.
Turtuk was administered by Pakistan and was under Pakistani control until the war of 1971, when the Indian Army regained control. It is also one of the gateways to the Siachen Glacier.
The earliest known tribe which inhabited Turtuk were a Dardic tribe, locally known as the Brogpas, who are believed to have migrated from Chilas, a place now in Pakistan. They lived in Turtuk from an unknown time till, mostly probably, the 13th century AD. At some point around the 13th century AD, two warriors named Chuli and Yangdrung, came to Turtuk. They killed the king and eventually most of the locals fled Turtuk along the stream and across the mountain, to the villages now called Hanu, Dah and Domkhar. Today, a majority of the population in Turtuk are the direct descendants of Chuli and Yangdrung.[citation needed] As time passed, people immigrated to Turtuk in search of livelihood, bringing in diversity. Turtuk is believed to have remained an independent principality till the conquest of Baltistan by the Sikh Empire.[verification needed]
The people of Turtuk were followers of the Bon religion before Islam. Bon rituals can be seen both in the tradition as well as the architecture. Islam came to Turtuk due to the famous Persian Sufi poet and preacher, Syed Ali Shah Hamdani. People in Turtuk, like in other places of Baltistan, practice the Sufi sect Sufis Noorbakshia, named after a disciple of Shah Hamdani, Syed Mohammad Noorbaksh. By the nineteenth century, dominant sects from outside, such as Shia, Hanafi and later Wahabi, started converting the Sufi Noorbakshia of Baltistan, and the Noorbakshia of Turtuk. More recently, the Hanafis of Turtuk have also been converted to the more extreme subsets of Sunni. At present, only half of the population practices Noorbakshias while the rest practice either Sunni or Wahhabi Islam.[verification needed]
Raja Gulab Singh of Jammu, a vassal of the Sikh Empire, conquered the region in 1840, ending the Balti kingdom of Maqpon dynasty.
After the First Anglo-Sikh War, the British established the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir under Gulab Singh. Singh's Dogra dynasty ruled the region until 1947 under the suzerainty of British Raj.
During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948, the Gilgit Scouts based in Gilgit overthrew the Dogra administration and subsequently invaded the Baltistan region. At the end of that war, Turtuk came under the control of Pakistan along with most of Baltistan.
During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, this area was the site of the Battle of Turtuk. India's Ladakh Scouts and Nubra Guards, under the command of Brigadier Udai Singh, entered the village after Pakistani forces had retreated a day earlier. Udai Singh and his second-in-command Major Chewang Rinchen were both honoured with a Maha Vir Chakra for their gallantry and a street in Leh is named after Major Rinchen.
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Turtuk
Turtuk is a town, the headquarters of the eponymous tehsil and community development block in the Nubra district of Indian union territory of Ladakh. Situated on the banks of the Shyok River, sandwiched between the Karakorum Range and the Himalayas,[unreliable source?] and one of the northernmost habitations of India, close to the Line of Control between India and Pakistan. Geographically, the village is in the Baltistan region, which has been under Pakistani administration, except for five villages of the Turtuk block which are part of India. These villages form the only region in India populated by Balti people. Turtuk is known for its fruit, especially apricots.
Turtuk was administered by Pakistan and was under Pakistani control until the war of 1971, when the Indian Army regained control. It is also one of the gateways to the Siachen Glacier.
The earliest known tribe which inhabited Turtuk were a Dardic tribe, locally known as the Brogpas, who are believed to have migrated from Chilas, a place now in Pakistan. They lived in Turtuk from an unknown time till, mostly probably, the 13th century AD. At some point around the 13th century AD, two warriors named Chuli and Yangdrung, came to Turtuk. They killed the king and eventually most of the locals fled Turtuk along the stream and across the mountain, to the villages now called Hanu, Dah and Domkhar. Today, a majority of the population in Turtuk are the direct descendants of Chuli and Yangdrung.[citation needed] As time passed, people immigrated to Turtuk in search of livelihood, bringing in diversity. Turtuk is believed to have remained an independent principality till the conquest of Baltistan by the Sikh Empire.[verification needed]
The people of Turtuk were followers of the Bon religion before Islam. Bon rituals can be seen both in the tradition as well as the architecture. Islam came to Turtuk due to the famous Persian Sufi poet and preacher, Syed Ali Shah Hamdani. People in Turtuk, like in other places of Baltistan, practice the Sufi sect Sufis Noorbakshia, named after a disciple of Shah Hamdani, Syed Mohammad Noorbaksh. By the nineteenth century, dominant sects from outside, such as Shia, Hanafi and later Wahabi, started converting the Sufi Noorbakshia of Baltistan, and the Noorbakshia of Turtuk. More recently, the Hanafis of Turtuk have also been converted to the more extreme subsets of Sunni. At present, only half of the population practices Noorbakshias while the rest practice either Sunni or Wahhabi Islam.[verification needed]
Raja Gulab Singh of Jammu, a vassal of the Sikh Empire, conquered the region in 1840, ending the Balti kingdom of Maqpon dynasty.
After the First Anglo-Sikh War, the British established the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir under Gulab Singh. Singh's Dogra dynasty ruled the region until 1947 under the suzerainty of British Raj.
During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948, the Gilgit Scouts based in Gilgit overthrew the Dogra administration and subsequently invaded the Baltistan region. At the end of that war, Turtuk came under the control of Pakistan along with most of Baltistan.
During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, this area was the site of the Battle of Turtuk. India's Ladakh Scouts and Nubra Guards, under the command of Brigadier Udai Singh, entered the village after Pakistani forces had retreated a day earlier. Udai Singh and his second-in-command Major Chewang Rinchen were both honoured with a Maha Vir Chakra for their gallantry and a street in Leh is named after Major Rinchen.
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