Baltistan
Baltistan ; also known as Baltiyul or Little Tibet, is a mountainous region in the Pakistani-administered territory of Gilgit-Baltistan and constitutes a northern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947. It is located near the Karakoram and borders Gilgit to the west, China's Xinjiang to the north, Indian-administered Ladakh to the southeast, and the Indian-administered Kashmir Valley to the southwest. The average altitude of the region is over. Baltistan is largely administered under the Baltistan Division.
Prior to the partition of British India in 1947, Baltistan was part of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, having been conquered by Gulab Singh's armies in 1840. Baltistan and Ladakh were administered jointly under one wazarat of the state. The region retained its identity in this setup as the Skardu tehsil, with Kargil and Leh being the other two tehsils of the district. After Hari Singh, the last maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, acceded to the Dominion of India in 1947, his local governor in Gilgit was overthrown by the Gilgit Scouts, who then took the entire region for Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948. The Gilgit Agency and Skardu tehsil, as well as a portion of Kargil tehsil, have since been under Pakistani governance while the Kashmir Valley as well as Leh tehsil and most of the Kargil tehsil remain under Indian governance. The Chorbat Valley, geographically in the Baltistan region, was de-facto partitioned when its four villages were captured by India during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, and were incorporated into the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The region is inhabited primarily by the Balti people, a largely Muslim ethnic group of Tibetan descent. Baltistan is strategically significant to both Pakistan and India; the Siachen conflict and the Kargil War took place in this region alongside others.
Etymology
Like other Islamic regions near the Indian subcontinent, the name Baltistan is likely created by adding the Persian suffix -istan to the name of the Balti people, who lived here before the Islamic conquests.Geography
The 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica characterises Baltistan as the western extremity of Tibet, whose natural limits are the Indus River from its abrupt southward bend around the map point and the mountains to the north and west. These features separate a comparatively peaceful Tibetan population from the Indo-Aryan tribes to the west. Muslim writers around the 16th century speak of Baltistan as the "Little Tibet", and of Ladakh as the "Great Tibet", emphasising their ethnological similarity. According to Ahmad Hassan Dani, Baltistan spreads upwards from the Indus river and is separated from Ladakh by the Siachen Glacier. It includes the Indus valley and the lower valley of the Shyok river.Baltistan is a rocky mass of lofty mountains, the prevailing formation being gneiss. In the north is the Baltoro Glacier, one of the longest glaciers outside of the polar regions, long, contained between two ridges whose highest peaks to the south are and to the north.
The Indus river runs in a narrow gorge, widening after receiving the Shyok river at. It then forms a crescent-shaped plain varying between in width. The main inhabitable valleys of Kharmang, Khaplu, Skardu, Shigar and Roundu are along the routes of these rivers.
The village of Chalunkha, now in Leh district, is traditionally considered the southernmost settlement of Baltistan, delimiting it from the Nubra region of Ladakh. The traditional boundary of Baltistan with Ladakh along Nubra valley was finalised in the early 19th century by the ruler of Khaplu, while that of along Suru valley was demarcated at Ghargurdo, between Ganokh and Garkon, in the 17th century following a battle between the Balti king Ali Sher Anchan and Gyalpo Jamyang Namgyal. Ruins of a series of watchtowers, which were jointly guarded by the both kingdoms, are still found here. A few villages of the Kharmang ilaqa, such as Hardas and Karkichu in the Suru River Valley, remained part of Kargil after the First Kashmir War. They mark the former southern boundary of Baltistan, and are populated by ethnic Baltis till today.
Administration
The Baltistan is one of three divisions of Gilgit-Baltistan. The Division of Baltistan is administed under a BPS-20 Commissioner of Pakistan Administrative Service group of Central Superior Services of Pakistan. The current Commissioner Baltistan Division is Shula Alam.Valleys and districts
°*Although part of Baltistan, Chorbat valley has been de-facto partitioned between Pakistan and India, after territorial exchanges during 1972 Simla treaty.History
Origins
Today, the people of Kharmang and Eastern Khaplu have Tibetan features and those in Skardu, Shigar and the western villages of Khaplu are Dards. It was believed that the Balti people were in the sphere of influence of Zhangzhung. Baltistan was controlled by the Tibetan king in 686. Culturally influenced by Tibet, the Bon and animist Baltis began to adopt Tibetan Buddhism. Religious artifacts such as gompas and stupas were built, and lamas played an important role in Balti life.For centuries, Baltistan consisted of small, independent valley states connected by the blood relationships of its rulers, trade, common beliefs and cultural and linguistic bonds. Baltistan was known as Little Tibet, and the name was extended to include Ladakh. Ladakh later became known as Great Tibet. Locally, Baltistan is known as Baltiyul and Ladakh and Baltistan are known as Maryul.
Medieval and Early Modern History
Medieval Baltistan was divided into three main kingdoms: Skardu, Shigar, and Khaplu. The Maqpon dynasty, which ruled from Skardu, also later established side branches at Kartaksho and Roundu.During the 14th century, Muslim scholars from Kashmir crossed Baltistan's mountainous terrain to spread Islam. The Noorbakshia Sufi order further propagated the faith in Baltistan and Islam became dominant by the end of the 17th century. With the passage of time a large number also converted to Shia Islam and a few converted to Sunni Islam.
In 1190, Maqpon dynasty of Skardu was founded by Ibrahim Shah, who was born in Skardu. This royal family ruled over Baltistan for approximately 700 years. The kings of the Maqpon dynasty extended the frontiers of Baltistan to Gilgit Agency, Chitral, and Ladakh. In the late 1500s/early 1600s, the Maqpon rulers of Skardu expanded their kingdom to include Shigar, Astor, Rondu, and Karataksha. The greatest ruler during this period was Alī Sher Khān, known as "Anchan", or "the Great". After the Mughal conquest of Kashmir in 1586, during the reign of Anchan's grandfather Ghāzī Mīr, diplomatic relations developed between the Mughals and the Maqpon rulers of Baltistan. A Balti princess was sent to the Mughal court, and according to local tradition, a Mughal princess was also sent to Skardu and built a Mughal-style fort at Mandok. Around 1595, the Mughal historian Abu'l-Fazl wrote that Kashmir was then importing silkworm eggs from Gilgit and Baltistan.
The Kharmang came under the control of the Namgyal royal family and developed a close relationship with Ladakh when the raja of Ladakh, Jamyang Mangyal, attacked the principalities in Kargil. Mangyal annihilated the Skardu garrison at Kharbu and put to the sword a number of petty Muslim rulers in the principalities of Purik. Ali Sher Khan Anchan, raja of Khaplu and Shigar, left with a strong army via Marol. Passing the Laddakhi army, he occupied Leh and the raja of Ladakh was taken prisoner.
Ali Sher Khan Anchan included Gilgit and Chitral in his kingdom of Baltistan, reportedly a flourishing country. The valley from Khepchne to Kachura was flat and fertile, with abundant fruit trees; the sandy desert now extending from Sundus to Skardu Airport was a prosperous town. Skardu had hardly recovered from the shock of the death of Anchan when it was flooded.
After the death of Anchan in 1633, the Maqpon polity declined as his three sons fought among themselves. One of them, Adam Khān, had fled to Kashmir and then sought refuge with the Mughal emperor Jahāngīr while Anchan was still alive. In 1637, Adam accompanied a Mughal expedition into Baltistan led by Zafar Khān. Adam's elder brother Abdāl was captured, and Zafar Khān announced Mughal suzerainty over Baltistan. However, with winter coming, Zafar hastily withdrew his troops from Baltistan and appointed one of Abdāl's partisans to govern the territory on his behalf, which upset the Mughal emperor Shāh Jahān. Ultimately, though, Adam Khān ended up taking control of Baltistan. Both he and his successor, Murād Khān, acknowledged Mughal suzerainty.
The Kingdom of Khaplu probably came into existence around the 10th century following the breakup of the Tibetan Empire. Its ruling dynasty was known as the Yabgu dynasty, after the Turkish title of yabghu. The local population was Buddhist up until around the 14th century, when Sayyid Alī Hamadānī is credited with spreading Islam to the region. Khaplu was conquered by Skardu under Alī Sher Khān Anchan in the early 1600s. From then on, it was administered by a governor, or kharpon, appointed by the ruler in Skardu. The last kharpon was Yulehing Karīm, who governed Khaplu from 1820 to 1840, when the Dogra commander Zorāwar Singh conquered it.
The official Mughal historian Abdul Hamid Lahori left an account of Baltistan in his entry for the year 1638. He wrote that Baltistan had 22 parganas and 37 forts. Its narrow mountain valleys could support limited cultivation, primarily of wheat and barley; certain fruits also thrived in the local climate. Rather poor-quality gold was collected from river sands in small amounts – only about 2,000 tolas was collected per year.
In 1840, the region was subjugated by the Dogra rulers of Jammu under the suzerainty of the Sikh Empire.
On 29 August 2009 the government of Pakistan announced the creation of Gilgit–Baltistan, a provincial autonomous region with Gilgit as its capital and Skardu its largest city.