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. Administered under the Baltistan Division, it is located southwest of the Karakoram and borders Gilgit and Diamer divisions to the west, Xinjiang of China 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 .
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 or district, Ladakh 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. Rebel groups later took the entire region for Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948. The region is inhabited primarily by the Balti people, a predominantly 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 The name Baltistan is composed of the ethnonym Balti and the suffix -stan, literally "the land of", hence "the land of the Baltis". One source gives the meaning of the word Balti as "valley", with Baltistan being translated as "the land of valleys". The Balti people themselves call their homeland as Baltiyul (lit. 'the land of the Baltis'). In the 2nd century CE, Greco-Roman geographer Ptolemy referred to the region as Byaltae. The first recorded mention of the term Baltistan is from 1715 CE.
History Origins
Today, the people of Kharmang and Chorbat Valley have Tibetan features while those in Skardu, Shigar and the western villages of Khaplu have Dardic.Where Indus is Young 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.Tarekh e jammu, molvi hashmatullahHussainabadi, Muhammad Yousuf: Baltistan per Aik Nazar 1984
For centuries, Baltistan consisted of small, independent valley states connected by the blood relationships of its rulers (rajas), 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 ("red country").Yousaf Hussain Abadi, A view on Baltistan
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 Noorbakhshia 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.
The Maqpon dynasty is traditionally believed to have been founded in Skardu during the 12th century. This royal family ruled over Baltistan for next seven centuries. The kings of the Maqpon dynasty extended the frontiers of Baltistan to Gilgit, 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, although Dani describes her as a Ladakhi princess, Mandok Gyalmo, instead. Around 1595, the Mughal historian Abu'l-Fazl wrote that Kashmir was then importing silkworm eggs (for sericulture) 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 (Kargil). Ali Sher Khan Anchan, raja of Khaplu and Shigar, left with a strong army via Marol. Passing the Ladakhi army, he occupied Leh (the capital of Ladakh) and the raja of Ladakh was taken prisoner.Hussainabadi, Muhammad Yousuf: Tareekh-e-Baltistan 2003 A marital alliance was subsequently established, resulting in Anchan marrying Jamyang's daughter Mandok Gyalmo while Jamyang marrying a Balti princess, Gyal Khatun.
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 International 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 (and rival) 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 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 (about 9.5 kg) was collected per year.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.
In 1840, the region was subjugated by the Dogra rulers of Jammu under the suzerainty of the Sikh Empire.Ali, Manzoom (12 June 2004). Archaeology of Dardistan. In the first Indo-Pakistan War, Baltistan become part of Pakistan following Gilgit Rebellion. On 29 August 2009 the government of Pakistan announced the establishment of Gilgit-Baltistan, an autonomous region with Gilgit as its capital.
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 long Baltoro Glacier, one of the longest glaciers outside of the polar regions, contained between two ridges whose highest peaks to the south are and to the north .
According to the 1908 Imperial Gazetteer, the most important tracts in Baltistan are Skārdu, Shigar, Braldah, Basha, Rondu, Haramosh, Kiris, Khapalu, Chorbat, Parkutta, and Tolti. Farther east lies Kargil, where some of the population are Buddhists, acknowledging the Grand Lama of Lhasa as their spiritual head. 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 village of Chalunkha in Chorbat, 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 Balti Gyalfo Ali Senge Anchan and Ladakhi 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.
The Gilgit Agency and Skardu tehsil, as well as a portion of Kargil tehsil, have been under Pakistani governance since 1947 with the Kashmir Valley as well as Leh tehsil and most of the Kargil tehsil being under Indian governance. The Chorbat Valley, a section of the Shyok River Valley, was divided when its four villages were captured by India during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, and were incorporated into the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state (now in Ladakh).Atul Aneja, A 'battle' in the snowy heights, The Hindu, 11 January 2001.
Administration
The Baltistan is one of three divisions of Gilgit-Baltistan. It is administered under a BPS-20 Commissioner of Pakistan Administrative Service group of Central Superior Services of Pakistan.
Valleys and districts Valley District District Area (km2) Population (2023) CapitalChorbat° Ghanche and Leh8,531 (in Ghanche) 883 (in Leh)157,822 (in Ghanche)Khaplu (in Ghanche) Turtuk (in Leh)Skardu Skardu10,168278,885SkarduShigar Shigar4,17384,608ShigarKharmang Kharmang6,14461,304ToltiTotal29,889582,619 °Although considered part of Baltistan, Chorbat Valley has been divided between Pakistan and India, after territorial exchanges during 1972 Simla treaty.
Tourism