Skardu
Skardu is a city located in Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region. Skardu serves as the capital of Skardu District and the Baltistan Division. It is situated at an average elevation of nearly above sea level in the Skardu Valley, at the confluence of the Indus and Shigar rivers. It is an important gateway to the eight-thousanders of the nearby Karakoram mountain range. The Indus River running through the region separates the Karakoram from the Ladakh Range.
Etymology
The name "Skardu" is believed to be derived from the Balti word meaning "a lowland between two high places." The two referenced "high places" are Shigar city, and the high-altitude Satpara Lake Local people might tend to write the name as སྐར་དོ་ according to how they pronounce it. But the meaning of which, as stated above, corresponds to the Tibetan word མདོ. In the course of the history of Balti, bilabial sound /m/ as a prefix has been lost, and the vowel /o/ has turned into /u/, the same as many other dialects of Tibetan.The first mention of Skardu dates to the first half of the 16th century. Mirza Haidar described Askardu in the 16th-century text Tarikh-i-Rashidi Baltistan as a district of the area. The first mention of Skardu in European literature was made by Frenchman François Bernier, who mentions the city by the name of Eskerdou. After his mention, Skardu was quickly drawn into Asian maps produced in Europe, and was first mentioned as Eskerdow the map "Indiae orientalis nec non insularum adiacentium nova descriptio" publisbed by the Dutch engraver Nicolaes Visscher II between 1680 and 1700.
Location
The Valley is located approximately 180 kilometres off the main Karakorum Highway. The road linking Skardu to the Karakoram Highway is winding and treacherous, with numerous sharp bends and steep drop-offs that demand cautious driving.At the confluence of the Indus and Shigar Rivers, the valley is wide by long. Active erosion in the nearby Karakoram Mountains has resulted in enormous deposits of sediment throughout the Skardu valley. Glaciers from the Indus and Shigar valleys broadened the Skardu valley between 3.2 million years ago up to the Holocene approximately 11,700 years ago by scientists estimate.
History
Early history
The Skardu region was part of the cultural sphere of Buddhist Tibet as early as the founding of the Tibetan Empire under Songtsen Gampo in the mid 7th-century CE. Tibetan tantric scriptures were found all over Baltistan until about the 9th century. Given the region's close proximity, Skardu remained in contact with tribes near Kashgar, in what is now China's westernmost province of Xinjiang.Following the dissolution of Tibetan suzerainty over Baltistan around the 9th–10th century CE, Baltistan came under the control of the local Maqpon Dynasty, a dynasty of Turkic extraction, which according to local tradition, is said to have been founded after a migrant from Kashmir named Ibrahim Shah married a local princess.
Maqpon period
The Maqpon kingdom was located in Baltistan. The Maqpon dynasty, a Balti royal house of Kashmiri origin based in Skardu, ruled over the region for around 700 years. The kings of the Maqpon dynasty extended the frontiers of Baltistan to as far as Gilgit Agency, Chitral, and Ladakh.Around the year 1500, Maqpon Bokha was crowned ruler and founded the city of Skardu as his capital. Skardu Fort was established around this time. During his reign, Makpon Bokha imported craftsmen to Skardu from Kashmir and Chilas to help develop the area's economy. While nearby Gilgit fell out of the orbit of Tibetan influence, Skardu's Baltistan region remained connected due to its close proximity to Ladakh, the region against which Skardu and neighbouring Khaplu routinely fought. Sikhs traditionally believe that Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, visited Skardu during his second udasi journey between 1510 and 1515. Gurudwara Chota Nana Kiana, locally known as Asthan Nanak Peer, is believed to be the place where the Guru stayed in Skardu.
File:Indus at Skardu.jpg|thumb|Skardu was founded around the year 1500 along the Indus River where it enters a broad valley at its confluence with the Shigar River
Medieval History
Following the dissolution of Tibetan suzerainty over Baltistan in the 9th–10th century CE, Baltistan came under control of the local Maqpon dynasty, which, according to local tradition, is said to have been founded after a migrant from Kashmir named Ibrahim Shah married a local princess.In the 14th century, Muslim scholars from Kashmir crossed Baltistan's mountains 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.
Around the year 1500, Maqpon Bokha was crowned ruler, and founded the city of Skardu as his capital. The Skardu Fort was established around this time. During his reign, King Makpon Bokha imported craftsmen from Kashmir and Chilas to help develop the area's economy. While nearby Gilgit fell out of the orbit of Tibetan influence, Baltistan region remained connected due to its close proximity to Ladakh, the region which the dynasty routinely fought against.
In the early 1500s, Sultan Said Khan of the Timurid Yarkent Khanate in what is now Xinjiang province of China, raided Baltistan. Given the threat illustrated by Sultan Said's invasion, Mughal attention was roused, prompting the 1586 conquest of Baltistan by the Mughal Emperor Akbar. The local Maqpon rulers pledged allegiance, and from that point onwards, beginning with Ali Sher Khan Anchan, the kings of Skardu were mentioned as rulers of Little Tibet in the historiography of the Mughal Empire.
In 1580, Ali Sher Khan Anchan became the Maqpon king. He expanded the borders of the kingdom from Gilgit to Ladakh. When the Raja of Laddakh, Jamyang Namgyal, attacked the principalities in the district of Purik, annihilating the Skardu garrison at Kharbu and putting to sword a number of petty Muslim rulers in the Muslim principalities in Purik, Ali Sher Khan Anchan left with a strong army by way of Marol and, bypassing the Laddakhi army, occupied Leh, the capital of Laddakh. It appears that the Balti conquest of Laddakh took place in about 1594 A.D. The Raja of Laddakh was ultimately taken prisoner. Then Ali Sher Khan Anchan went to march on Gilgit with an army, and conquered Astore, Gilgit, Hunza, Nagar, and Chilas. From Gilgit he advanced to, and conquered, Chitral and Kafiristan.
Decline
In 1839, Dogra commander Zorawar Singh Kahluria defeated Balti forces in battles at Wanko Pass and the Thano Kun plains, clearing his path for the invasion of the Skardu valley. He seized Skardu Fort on behalf of the Dogra dynasty based in Jammu, under the suzerainty of the Sikh Empire at that time. Singh's forces massacred a large number of the garrison's defenders, and publicly tortured Kahlon Rahim Khan of Chigtan in front of a crowd of local Baltis and their chiefs. In 1845, the region was completely subjugated by the Dogra rulers of Kashmir. and the last Maqpon King was taken as prisoner.Rulers
Genealogy of Maqpon rulers:- 1190–1220 Ibrahim
- 1220–1250 Astak Sange
- 1250–1280 Zak Sange
- 1280–1310 Bardak Sange
- 1310–1340 Sek Sange
- 1340–1370 Tam Gori Tham
- 1370–1400 Sa Gori Tham
- 1400–1437 Khohkor Sange
- 1437–1464 Ghota Cho Sange
- 1464–1490 Bahram Cho
- 1490–1515 Bo Kha
- 1515–1540 Sher Shah
- 1540–1565 Ali Khan
- 1565–1590 Ghazi Mir
- 1580–1624 Ali Sher Khan Anchan
- 1624–1636 Abdal Khan
- 1636–1655 Adam Khan
- 1655–1670 Murad Khan
- 1670–1678 Sher Khan
- 1678–1680 Muhammad Rafi Khan
- 1680–1710 Shir Khan
- 1710–1745 Mohammad Rafi
- 1745–1780 Sultan Murad
- 1780–1785 Azam Khan
- 1785–1787 Mohammad Zafar Khan
- 1787–1811 Ali Shir Khan
- 1811–1840 Ahmed Shah
Mughal period
Mughal forces again incurred into the region during the reign of Shah Jahan in 1634-6 under the forces of Zafar Khan, to settle a dispute over the throne between Adam Khan and his elder brother Abdul Khan. It was only after this point in the rule of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb, that Skardu's ruling family was firmly under Mughal control. The ability of the Mughal crown to fund expeditions to territories of marginal value, such as Baltistan, emphasises the wealth of the Mughal coffers.
Dogra rule
In 1839, Dogra commander Zorawar Singh Kahluria defeated Balti forces in battles at Wanko Pass and the Thano Kun plains, clearing his path to invade the Skardu valley. He seized Skardu Fort on behalf of the Dogra fiefdom of Jammu in the Sikh Empire. Singh's forces massacred a large number of the garrison's defenders, and publicly tortured Kahlon Rahim Khan of Chigtan in front of a crowd of local Baltis and their chiefs.Dogra forces failed in their 1841 attempt to conquer Tibet. Following their defeat, Ladakhis rebelled against Dogra rule. Baltis under the leadership of Raja Ahmed Shah soon also rebelled against the Dogras, so Maharaja Gulab Singh dispatched his commander Wazir Lakhpat to recapture Skardu. His forces were able to convince a guard to betray the garrison by leaving a gate unlocked, thereby allowing Dogra forces to recapture the fort and massacre its Balti defenders. The raja of the Baltis was forced to pay an annual tribute to the Dogra maharaja in Jammu, and also to supply the fort's provisions.
Following the Dogra victory, Muhammad Shah was crowned Raja of Skardu in return for his loyalty to the Jammu crown during the rebellion, and was able to exercise some power under the Dogra administration. Military commanders held real governing power in the area until 1851, when Kedaru Thanedar was installed as a civilian administrator of Baltistan. During this time, Skardu and Kargil were governed as a single district. Ladakh would later be joined to the district, while Skardu would serve as the district's winter capital, with Leh as the summer capital, up until 1947.
Under the administration of Mehta Mangal between 1875 and 1885, Skardu's Ranbirgarh was built as his headquarters and residence, as well as a cantonment and various other government buildings. Sikhs from Punjab were also encouraged to migrate to Skardu to set up commercial enterprises during this period. The Sikh population prospered, and continued to grow, eventually also settling in nearby Shigar and Khaplu.