History of Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir

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History of Gilgit-Baltistan

Gilgit Baltistan: A Little Piece of Heaven​

Palwasha Khan
Gilgit Baltistan, formerly known as Northern Areas, is a sparsely inhabited area near the northern extremity of the Indian subcontinent, bordering three nations to the east, west, and south: China, Afghanistan, and Pakistan respectively. The Karakoram highway serves as the province’s only commercial route to China. From the Attabad Lake in Hunza to the Deosai Plains near Skardu city, Gilgit Baltistan is a wonder to behold.

In view of its significant water resources, constituting River Indus and expansive glaciers, it is regarded as Pakistan’s water tower and energy hub. Independent communities, however, live in a rugged mountain landscape, serving as an essentially autonomous region. Three of the world’s colossal mountain ranges, namely the Himalayas, the Karakoram, and the Hindu Kush, abut in this region.

Hunza River and the Karakoream Highway

Due to the region’s isolated, remote position, the extensive geographic diversity found there has resulted in an equally diverse array of biodiversity, ethnicities, and languages. The Himalayan mountainous region of Gilgit Baltistan covers an area of 72, 971 km², six times more than that of Azad Jammu & Kashmir.

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Crammed in nature, snow-clad peaks, galvanic glaciers and rivers, eccentric flora, and exotic cultures, Gilgit Baltistan makes for a great attraction, alluring thousands of people every year. The region splits into the three divisions of Gilgit, Baltistan and Diamer, and is further divided into ten districts.

Ethnically & Culturally Diverse​

The area’s population is estimated to be 2 million, and it is ethnically divided into two major areas: Dardistan and Baltistan. Local people speak several dialects including Burushaski, Shina and Khowar, which are commonly spoken languages. However, Urdu was adopted in schools following Pakistan’s takeover of these territories.

Similarly, inhabitants in this vast region, Muslims belong to countless groups such as Ismailis, Shiʿite and Shinkaris. Baltis in Baltsitan predominantly follow the Twelver Shiʿite faith, while some Balti intellectuals are attempting to restore Tibetan culture to preserve their original cultural features.

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En Route – Chitral-Gilgit Rd, Ghizer

Most importantly, the region is rich in natural resources and acts as an important conservation landscape. It accommodates the Himalayan mountain’s last remaining arid conifer forests, dominated by blue pine and chilgoza pine. Besides this, the province is home to a range of glorious and endangered wildlife species such as the snow leopard and the flare-horned markhor.

Other threatened wildlife species in the Gilgit Baltistan area include musk deer, Himalayan brown bears, Himalayan lynx, and leopard cats. Gilgit Baltistan is abundant in mineral resources and yields a variety of valuable radioactive substances. Gold mines are located in numerous areas and riverbeds. While high-quality marble is excavated in Skardu, emerald is mined in Shigar valley. Interestingly, Uranium-238 mines are said to exist there as well.

History of Gilgit Baltistan​

The Dogras​

Dogri language speakers are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group known as the Dogras in India and Pakistan. They are mostly found in Jammu and Kashmir as well as the adjacent districts of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and northeastern Pakistan. Jammu was ruled by the Dogra Rajputs from the 19th century.

Prior to its independence, the area of Gilgit Baltistan was once a part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, one of India’s major princely states. The state of Jammu and Kashmir was established in 1846 with the signing of the Treaty of Amritsar between the British and Gulab Singh of the Dogra Dynasty. The treaty also effectively delineated the southern, eastern, and western borders of a new political entity, pushing the Dogras to the forefront of northern India’s rule.

During the first Anglo-Sikh war, Gulab Singh of Jammu opted to stand with the East India Company (EIC) by remaining neutral. Therefore, the EIC acknowledged Singh’s dedication during the war and thus ‘sold’ the state to him for 7.5 million rupees. Subsequently, Gulab Singh became the first Maharaja of the state.

Jammu and Kashmir’s princely state was divided into four units: the provinces of Jammu and Kashmir as well as the districts of Ladakh and Gilgit. Before signing the Treaty of Amritsar, in 1840, Gulab Singh’s Dogra army attacked and annexed Baltistan. As a result, under the new administrative setup, Baltistan was included in the district of Ladakh.

Formation of the Gilgit Scouts​

Tensions erupted when the British recognized the region’s geostrategic importance and anticipated a Russian takeover from Central Asia. The British intervened by forming the ‘Gilgit Agency‘ to assume control of the province, signifying the start of the ‘British-Dogra’ rule in Gilgit. While the Dogra rulers were in charge of civil administration, the British Indian Empire was in charge of security and military affairs to safeguard its northern frontier.

A local paramilitary force was formed and called the ‘Gilgit Scouts’, trained under the directives of the British. The British took over the administration of the Gilgit Agency from the Dogras in 1935 on a sixty-year lease, but the Dogras still ruled Baltistan. The lease was terminated by the British two weeks before Pakistan’s independence.

Kachura Lake, Skardu, Gilgit Baltistan

Major General Scott, the British commander-in-chief of the Kashmir army, arrived in Gilgit with Brigadier Ghansara Singh, the governor of Kashmir then. When the British offered the State of Jammu and Kashmir to take over Gilgit, the governor seized control of the Gilgit Agency from the British, and the Maharaja ruled over the whole province.



Gilgit Scouts were left in the dark regarding their position after Lord Mountbatten abruptly cancelled the lease and transferred power. The Scouts were enraged when it was announced that the force would be replaced by the Kashmir army because they were opposed to the control of the Kashmiri forces.

Road to Liberation​

Gilgit and Baltistan were divided into smaller empires governed by local monarchs and elites before and during Dogra rule. Officer ranks were awarded to the governing elites of the empires in the Scouts, affording the Scouts a powerful voice in the region’s future settlement. Revolts against the Maharaja erupted in several parts of Kashmir as British rule loomed.

Fearing Muslim uprisings and rebellions in Kashmir, Gulab Singh proclaimed Kashmir’s accession to India. As a result, the Scouts staged a revolt against the Dogras. After considerable struggle, Governor Singh surrendered, and the districts surrounding Gilgit were freed from Dogra control. The Islamic Republic of Gilgit became an independent state on November 1, 1947, and Raja Shah Raees Khan was elected president of the provincial government.

Gilgit acceded to Pakistan ‘unconditionally’ after fifteen days of its independence. Conversely, the Raja of Rondu, Mohammad Ali Khan, gathered everyone in order to confront the Sikh forces that had arrived in Gilgit. During the battle, several troops were slain, while some were captured and imprisoned.

The Scouts were called by the Raja to free Baltistan from the Dogra Raj since there was no organized army in the area. For nearly a year, locals in Baltistan battled with the Scouts against the Kashmir army, costing many lives. Despite the horrors of the past, peace has been achieved in the region. The efforts of Gilgit Scouts that translated into the liberation of the region must be acknowledged and lauded.

 

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Baltistan

Baltistan, geographic region of Gilgit-Baltistan, in the Pakistani-administered sector of the Kashmir region, in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent.

Drained by the Indus River and tributaries such as the Shyok River, Baltistan is situated on the high Ladakh Plateau and contains the loftiest peaks of the Karakoram Range—K2 (Mount Godwin Austen; at 28,251 feet [8,611 meters] the second highest mountain in the world), Gasherbrum I (26,470 feet [8,068 meters]), and Broad Peak I (26,401 feet [8,047 meters]).

Baltistan has a harsh climate, with an average annual precipitation of only 6 inches (150 mm). It contains several glaciers, including Siachen Glacier, the site of occasional skirmishes between Indian and Pakistani troops over the status of Kashmir. The valleys lie at elevations of 8,000 to 10,000 feet (2,500 to 3,000 meters).

Baltistan is chiefly inhabited by Baltis, Muslim tribes of Tibetan origin who eke out a meager living growing crops (mainly barley and fruits).

 

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Kashmir,
Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcontinent. It is bounded by the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang to the northeast and the Tibet Autonomous Region to the east (both parts of China), by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south, by Pakistan to the west, and by Afghanistan to the northwest. The region, with a total area of some 85,800 square miles (222,200 square km), has been the subject of dispute between India and Pakistan since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947.

The northern and western portions are administered by Pakistan. Administered by India are the southern and southeastern portions, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The Indian- and Pakistani-administered portions are divided by a “line of control” agreed to in 1972, although neither country recognizes it as an international boundary.

In addition, China became active in the eastern area of Kashmir in the 1950s and has controlled the northeastern part of Ladakh (the easternmost portion of the region) since 1962.

Land and people

The Kashmir region is predominantly mountainous, with deep, narrow valleys and high, barren plateaus. The relatively low-lying Jammu and Punch (Poonch) plains in the southwest are separated by the thickly forested Himalayan foothills and the Pir Panjal Range of the Lesser Himalayas from the larger, more fertile, and more heavily populated Vale of Kashmir to the north. The vale, situated at an elevation of about 5,300 feet (1,600 metres), constitutes the basin of the upper Jhelum River and contains the city of Srinagar. Jammu and the vale lie in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, while the Punch lowlands are largely in Azad Kashmir.

K2 (Mount Godwin Austen), in the Karakoram Range.

Rising northeast of the vale is the western part of the Great Himalayas, the peaks of which reach elevations of 20,000 feet (6,100 metres) or higher. Farther to the northeast is the high, mountainous plateau region of Ladakh, which is cut by the rugged valley of the northwestward-flowing Indus River. Extending roughly northwestward from the Himalayas are the lofty peaks of the Karakoram Range, including K2 (Mount Godwin Austen), which at 28,251 feet (8,611 metres) is the second highest peak in the world, after Mount Everest.

The region is located along the northernmost extremity of the Indian-Australian tectonic plate. The subduction of that plate beneath the Eurasian Plate—the process that for roughly 50 million years has been creating the Himalayas—has produced heavy seismic activity in Kashmir. One especially powerful earthquake in 2005 devastated Muzaffarabad, which is the administrative centre of Azad Kashmir, and adjacent areas including parts of India’s Jammu and Kashmir state (now Jammu and Kashmir union territory) and Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

The climate of the region ranges from subtropical in the southwestern lowlands to alpine throughout the high mountain areas. Precipitation is variable; it is heavier in areas that can be reached by the monsoonal winds west and south of the great ranges and sparse to the north and east where continental conditions prevail.

Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India: Raghunath temple complex
Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India: Raghunath temple complex
Raghunath temple complex, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir union territory, India.
Leh, India: palace of the kings of Ladakh
Leh, India: palace of the kings of Ladakh
Palace of the kings of Ladakh (centre background) in Leh, Ladakh union territory, India.
The people in the Jammu area are Muslim in the west and Hindu in the east and speak Hindi, Punjabi, and Dogri. The inhabitants of the Vale of Kashmir and the Pakistani areas are mostly Muslim and speak Urdu and Kashmiri. The sparsely inhabited Ladakh region and beyond is home to Tibetan peoples who practice Buddhism and speak Balti and Ladakhi.

 

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The History of Gilgit-Baltistan​

Shafqat Hussain
26 April 2021

The Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region in northern Pakistan, formerly known as the Northern Areas of Pakistan, has a long history. The people of the region, described as Dards, are mentioned by classical Greek and Roman historians and in sacred Hindu texts.

This early history (3rd century CE–10th century CE) of the region shows it as ruled by the Kushan, Chinese, and Tibetan empires. In the 7th-century accounts of Chinese travelers and 8th- and 9th-century Arabic and Persian chronicles, the region is named as Palolo or Bolor in Arabic. It is also mentioned in the 10th-century Persian chronicle Hodud al-ʿĀlam, the 11th-century Kashmiri classic Rajatarangini, and the 16th-century Tarikh-e-Rushdi of Mirza Haider Dughlat, a chronicler of the Mughal emperor Akbar’s court.

The colonial history of the region began with the forays of the Dogra generals of Gulab Singh, the Raja of Jammu in the first half of the 19th century. It is this history of foreign invasions and local rebellions that lies at the heart of the confusion that surrounds the legal, political, and constitutional status of the region to this day.

The successive invasions of local Rajas from Jammu and later on from Kashmir, then of the British, as well as the region’s attachment to Pakistan have resulted in multiple claims and counterclaims of sovereignty. Today, the region is mired in the intractable dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. At one point in the late 19th century, the Kashmir state, the British, and the Chinese all simultaneously laid claim on the small kingdom of Hunza.

Between 1947 and 1974, the Pakistani government administered GB in much the same way as the British had done, that is, without political representation of the region in the national Parliament.

Hawk Presented To Colonel Lockhart By Aman-ul-Mulk, Circa 1885.

Aman ul-Mulk (1 January 1821 - 30 August 1892) Was The Mehtar Of Chitral, Ghizer, Yasen And Ishkoman And Suzerain Of Kafiristan. He Ruled The State Of Chitral From 1857 To 1892. His Rule Saw Chitral Reach Its Territorial Peak, Extending From Ishkamun In Gilgit Agency To Asmar In Afghanistan.

The Early History of Gilgit (The North Most Territory In Pakistan) Is Thousands of Years Ago. According To Historians, Human Presence Dates Back To Some 2000 BC In Gilgit-Baltistan Region.

Lockhart And Woodthorpe were British Army Officers and Explorers Who Went on A Mission To Explore Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral Region, The Heart of Himalayas and Mountains.

 

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Memorial for the martyrs from Baltistan during the 1947-48 War, at Skardu.

Never forget,
Captain Hussain Khan of Kalakot Fakhr-e-Kashmir IDSM OBI sector commander of the nascent Azad troops in Poonch,

He fell in action during a grim battle with the retreating Dogra State Forces at Shaheed Gala - 9 miles northeast of Rawalakot, on 11ᵗʰ November, 1947.

Group Of Boys At Reshun, 1885 (c).

The Early History Of Gilgit (The North Most Territory In Pakistan) Is Thousands Of Years Ago. According To Historians, Human Presence Dates Back To Some 2000 BC In Gilgit-Baltistan Region. Lockhart And Woodthorpe Were British Army Officers And Explorers Who Went On A Mission To Explore Gilgit-Baltistan And Chitral Region, The Heart Of Himalayas And Mountains.

Source - The Gilgit Mission, 1885-1886.

Balti Coolies, 1885 (c).

 

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Militiamen from the Princely State of Swat, who fought alongside troops of the 5ᵗʰ Bagh Bn, aka the 33ʳᵈ AKRF.

In the summer of 1948, the unit was in the Jhelum Valley, taking part in desperate defensive battles - The Indian Summer Offensive was stopped dead in it's tracks.

Baltit, Hunza, Gilgit-Baltistan, 1961 (c).

The Mir Muhammad Jamal Khan Ruler Of The Remote State Of Hunza In The Himalayas, Wears Ceremonial Robes After A Religious Gathering. He Sits In A Jeep, One Of The Two Wheeled Vehicles In The Tiny State.

The Mir's Family Has Held The Supreme Power In Hunza For More Than 600 Years.

Colonel Mirza Hassan Khan Fakhr-e-Kashmir (1947-48) Military Cross (WW2) Burma Star commissioned in the JAK State Forces, he was a principal figure in Major Brown's coup d'etat of November 1947 at Gilgit - decorated with the HJ-equivalent for his role in the liberation war.




He passed out from Dehradun in 1938. awarded the MC for gallantry in combat at Meiktila, on the Burma Front - his 'C' Company would repulse several waves of Imperial Japanese Army assaults. pictured during the attack at Kennedy Peak (2704 meters); wearing the hat.

Hassan would command the Tiger Force of 'Colonel Pasha' during the Gilgit-Baltistan Liberation War - operating along the Bunji-Bandipora axis. pictured at the burma front with his bull terrier, circa 1944.

triumphant after ousting the Jamwals from Gilgit.

In a jointly coordinated effort Commandant Gilgit Scouts Major William Alexander Brown, Muslim officers of Dogra State Forces & Muslim Viceroy Commissioned Officers decided to rise in a liberation war against Dogra State Forces when Raja decided to join India instead of Pakistan.

 

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GILGIT & KASHMIR 1947

A PARTIAL VICTORY

November 1, 1947 is the day when Gilgit, Hunza and Baltistan accede to Pakistan.

Astore, Gilgit, Hunza and Nagar are part of territories conquered by the Dogra Maharajas. Their grip is tenuous and in 1889 the British create the Gilgit Agency as a means of turning the region into a buffer against the Russians. Then in 1935, the British lease the Gilgit Agency for a period of sixty years from Maharaja Hari Singh.

In 1947, Major William Brown, the Assistant Political Agent in Chilas, is informed that Lord Mountbatten has ordered that the 1935 lease of the Gilgit Agency (it still has 49 years to run) be terminated. Gilgit Agency, despite its 99% Muslim population, is to be allotted to the rule of Maharaja Hari Singh.

Meanwhile, stories of communal violence between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in the Punjab reach Gilgit, inflaming passions there. On October 26, 1947, the Maharaja signs the Instrument of Accession and joins India. (The signed document has never been seen.)

Sensing the discontent, Major Brown mutinies on November 1, 1947. He overthrows the governor, establishes a provisional government in Gilgit and telegraphs the chief minister of the NWFP asking Pakistan to take over. According to the leading historian Ahmed Hasan Dani, despite the lack of public participation in the rebellion, pro-Pakistan sentiments are strong amongst civilians.

Armed Pakhtoon tribesmen wait on a road between Peshawar and Rawalpindi for their leader Bacha Gul of the Mohmand tribe. — Excerpted with permission from Witness to Life and Freedom, Roli Books, Delhi


Upon hearing of Maharaja Hari Singh’s accession to India, these tribesmen wait for Bacha Gul to lead them into battle in Kashmir. They reach the outskirts of Srinagar before they are pushed back to the upper reaches of what constitutes today’s Azad Kashmir.

Resistance in Poonch starts over issues related to taxation, but soon turns into an armed uprising when a public meeting is fired upon by Kashmir state forces. Two days later, the chief minister of the NWFP organises a guerrilla force to attack the Maharaja’s forces in the Dheer Kot camp. According to Australian historian Christopher Snedden, it is the Muslims in the Poonch region of Kashmir who instigate the uprising and not Pakhtoon tribesmen invading from Pakistan, as India consistently maintains.

India’s case on Kashmir is built upon a version of events that asserts that India’s military intervention is in response to a tribal invasion supported by Pakistan. On January 1, 1948, India takes the issue to the UN Security Council. The Security Council pass a resolution calling for Pakistan to withdraw from Jammu and Kashmir and for India to reduce its forces to a minimum level, following which a plebiscite is to be held to ascertain the people’s wishes.

Dispute erupts over the implementation mechanism because of which the Kashmir problem remains unresolved to this day.

 

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Guards of Honour, Chinese troops and Gilgit Scouts, at Paik.
Gilgit scout was established by British India in 1913.
Circa:1918
By F.M.Bailey
Courtesy: British Library

 

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Before a polo match at Gilgit 1918.
By F.M.Bailey
Courtesy: British Library

 

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Some place in Yasin Valley, Gilgit-Baltistan.
26 Aug 1913
By Sir Aurel Stein.

 

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1888 -- Bronislav Grombchevsky was an ethnic Polish officer in the Imperial Russian Army and an explorer/spy, famed for his participation in The Great Game. traveled extensively in the Far East and Central Asia during the period 1888–92.

He is regarded as the Russian counterpart to the British military-explorer Francis Younghusband.

He visited Hunza in 1888 when Safdar Khan was the rular of Hunza. The pictures below were taken during his Hunza visit.

 

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The people of GB liberated their land without any external help and joined Pakistan unconditionally. Salute to bravery and leadership of officers and men who led the Liberation across the region . May Allah bless their souls.

 

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Polo Players At Gilgit, Circa 1885.

The Early History Of Gilgit ( GB ) Is Thousands Of Years Ago.

According To Historians, Human Presence Dates Back To Some 2000 BC In Gilgit-Baltistan Region. Lockhart And Woodthorpe Were British Army Officers And Explorers Who Went On A Mission To Explore Gilgit-Baltistan And Chitral Region, The Heart Of Himalayas And Mountains.
Source - The Gilgit Mission, 1885-1886.

 

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Gilgit Baltistan Scouts identify themselves with Gilgit Scouts which were raised in 1889. This force played a key role in fighting the war of liberation against Dogra Indian Forces in 1947-1948 and won independence for the people of Northern Areas (now Gilgit Baltistan).