Gilgit-Baltistan (; ), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory and consists of the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and between India and China since 1959.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary sources (a) through (e), reflecting due weight in the coverage. Although "controlled" and "held" are also applied neutrally to the names of the disputants or to the regions administered by them, as evidenced in sources (h) through (i) below, "held" is also considered politicised usage, as is the term "occupied," (see (j) below).
(a) (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcontinent ... 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 and comprise three areas: Azad Kashmir, Gilgit, and Baltistan, the last two being part of a territory called the Northern Areas. Administered by India are the southern and southeastern portions, which constitute the state of Jammu and Kashmir but are slated to be split into two union territories.";
(b) (subscription required) Quote: "Aksai Chin, Chinese (Pinyin) Aksayqin, portion of the Kashmir region, at the northernmost extent of the Indian subcontinent in south-central Asia. It constitutes nearly all the territory of the Chinese-administered sector of Kashmir that is claimed by India to be part of the Ladakh area of Jammu and Kashmir state.";
(c) C. E Bosworth, University of Manchester Quote: "KASHMIR, kash'mer, the northernmost region of the Indian subcontinent, administered partly by India, partly by Pakistan, and partly by China. The region has been the subject of a bitter dispute between India and Pakistan since they became independent in 1947";
(d) Quote: "Jammu and Kashmir: Territory in northwestern India, subject to a dispute between India and Pakistan. It has borders with Pakistan and China."
(e) Quote: "We move from a disputed international border to a dotted line on the map that represents a military border not recognized in international law. The line of control separates the Indian and Pakistani administered areas of the former Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir.";
(f)
(g)
(h) Quote: "J&K: Jammu and Kashmir. The former princely state that is the subject of the Kashmir dispute. Besides IJK (Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir. The larger and more populous part of the former princely state. It has a population of slightly over 10 million, and comprises three regions: Kashmir Valley, Jammu, and Ladakh.) and AJK ('Azad" (Free) Jammu and Kashmir. The more populous part of Pakistani-controlled J&K, with a population of approximately 2.5 million.), it includes the sparsely populated "Northern Areas" of Gilgit and Baltistan, remote mountainous regions which are directly administered, unlike AJK, by the Pakistani central authorities, and some high-altitude uninhabitable tracts under Chinese control."
(i) Quote: "Kashmir's identity remains hotly disputed with a UN-supervised "Line of Control" still separating Pakistani-held Azad ("Free") Kashmir from Indian-held Kashmir.";
(j) Quote:"Some politicised terms also are used to describe parts of J&K. These terms include the words 'occupied' and 'held'." It borders Azad Kashmir to the south, the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, the Wakhan District of Afghanistan to the north, the Xinjiang region of China to the east and northeast, and the Indian-administered union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to the southeast.
The territory encompassing present-day Gilgit-Baltistan became a single administrative unit as Federally Administered Northern Areas in 1972. In 2009, the region was renamed as Gilgit-Baltistan and provincial institutions were created; the current administrative set-up is according to the Gilgit-Baltistan Order of 2018. Much of the population of Gilgit-Baltistan reportedly wants the territory to become integrated with Pakistan proper as a fifth province, and opposes integration with the rest of the Kashmir region. The Pakistani government has rejected calls from the territory for provincial status on the grounds that granting such a request would jeopardise Pakistan's demands for the entire Kashmir conflict to be resolved according to all related United Nations resolutions.
Gilgit-Baltistan covers an area of 72,496 km2 (27,911 sq mi) and has a population of 1.7 million people according to the 2023 national census, which is linguistically and ethnically diverse. Gilgit is its capital as well as the most populous city, followed by Skardu and Chilas. Over two-thirds of Gilgit-Baltistan consist of glaciers, mountains and lakes; the region is home to five of the 14 eight-thousanders, including K2, and has more than fifty mountain peaks above 7,000 metres (23,000 ft). The economy is dominated by agriculture and the tourism industry. The main tourism activities are trekking and mountaineering, and this industry has been growing in importance throughout the region.
Name
Gilgit-Baltistan is named after the two former agencies, Gilgit and Baltistan, which were merged in 1972 to form Northern Areas. The closest to a historical name for the entire region is Bolor or Boloristan, documented in the medieval Islamic and Chinese sources, in which Gilgit Valley is generally described as Little Bolor and Baltistan as Great Bolor; the name likely derives from the early medieval Patola dynasty. Other names dating from medieval period include Burushal for Gilgit Valley, Little Tibet for Baltistan, and Shinaki for Shina-speaking areas, with none being comprehensive for all areas.
Before the renaming of Northern Areas, a variety of names were suggested. In December 2008, a name-finding commission appointed by Northern Areas Legislative Assembly found a consensus in the name of Gilgit-Baltistan, which was followed by the federal government.
The region, together with Azad Kashmir in the southwest, is grouped and referred to by the United Nations and other international organisations as "Pakistan-administered Kashmir". Gilgit-Baltistan is six times larger than Azad Kashmir in terms of geographical area.
History
Early history
The rock carvings found in various places in Gilgit-Baltistan, especially in the Passu village of Hunza, suggest a human presence since 2000 BC. Within the next few centuries of human settlement on the Tibetan Plateau, this region became inhabited by Tibetic people, who preceded the Balti people of Baltistan. Today Baltistan bears similarity to Ladakh ethnically and culturally (although not in religion). Indo-Aryan peoples (sometimes described as Dards) settled mainly in the western areas. These people are the Shina-speaking peoples of Gilgit, Chilas, Astore and Diamir, while in Hunza and the northern regions, Burushaski (a language isolate) and Khowar (another Indo-Aryan language) speakers predominate. The Dards find mention in the works of Herodotus, Nearchus, Megasthenes, Pliny, Ptolemy, and the geographical lists of the Puranas. In the 1st century, the people of these regions were followers of the Bon religion while in the 2nd century, they practised Buddhism.
Between 399 and 414, the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Faxian visited Gilgit-Baltistan. In the 6th century Somana Palola (greater Gilgit-Chilas) was ruled by an unknown king. Between 627 and 645, the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang travelled through this region on his pilgrimage to India.
According to Chinese records from the Tang dynasty, between the 600s and the 700s, the region was governed by a Buddhist dynasty referred to as Bolü (), also transliterated as Palola, Patola, Balur. They are believed to have been the Patola Shahi dynasty mentioned in a Brahmi inscription, and devout adherents of Vajrayana Buddhism. At the time, Little Palola () was used to refer to Gilgit, while Great Palola () was used to refer to Baltistan. However, the records do not consistently disambiguate the two.
In mid-600s, Gilgit came under Chinese suzerainty after the fall of the Western Turkic Khaganate to Tang military campaigns in the region. In the late 600s CE, the rising Tibetan Empire wrestled control of the region from the Chinese. However, faced with growing influence of the Umayyad Caliphate and then the Abbasid Caliphate to the west, the Tibetans were forced to ally themselves with the Islamic caliphates. The region was then contested by Chinese and Tibetan forces, and their respective vassal states, until the mid-700s. Rulers of Gilgit formed an alliance with the Tang Chinese, and held back the Arabs with their help.
Between 644 and 655, Navasurendrāditya-nandin became king of the Palola Sāhi dynasty in Gilgit. Numerous Sanskrit inscriptions, including the Danyor Rock Inscriptions, are discovered to be from his reign. In the late 600s and early 700s, Jayamaṅgalavikramāditya-nandin was king of Gilgit.
According to Chinese court records, in 717 and 719 respectively, delegations of a ruler of Great Palola (Baltistan) named Su-fu-she-li-ji-li-ni () reached the Chinese imperial court. By at least 719/720, Ladakh (Mard) became part of the Tibetan Empire. By that time, Buddhism was practised in Baltistan, and Sanskrit was the written language.
In 720, the delegation of Surendrāditya () reached the Chinese imperial court. He was referred to in Chinese records as the king of Great Palola; however, it is unknown if Baltistan was under Gilgit rule at the time. By 721/722, Baltistan had come under the influence of the Tibetan Empire.
In 721–722, the Tibetan army attempted but failed to capture Gilgit or Bruzha (Yasin Valley). By this time, according to Chinese records, the king of Little Palola was Mo-ching-mang (). He had visited the Tang court requesting military assistance against the Tibetans. Between 723 and 728, the Korean Buddhist pilgrim Hyecho passed through this area. In 737/738, Tibetan troops under the leadership of Minister Bel Kyesang Dongtsab of Emperor Me Agtsom took control of Little Palola. By 747, the Chinese army under the leadership of the ethnic-Korean commander Gao Xianzhi had recaptured Little Palola. Great Palola was subsequently captured by the Chinese army in 753 under military Governor Feng Changqing. However, by 755, due to the An Lushan rebellion, the Tang Chinese forces withdrew and were no longer able to exert influence in Central Asia or in the regions around Gilgit-Baltistan. The control of the region was left to the Tibetan Empire. They referred to the region as Bruzha, a toponym that is consistent with the ethnonym "Burusho" used today. Tibetan control of the region lasted until late-800s CE.
Medieval history After the decline of Tibetan Empire, the region disintegrated into a number of small principalities, each controlling little more than a single river valley. In the 14th century Sufi Muslim preachers from Persia and Central Asia introduced Islam in Baltistan, notably Muhammad Nurbakhsh and Shamsuddin Araqi, while in the Gilgit Valley Islam entered in the same century through the Trakhān dynasty. Traditionally believed to have come to power in the 8th century CE, it is named after Raja Torrā Khan I (1241–75). The branches of Trakhān dynasty ruled the neighbouring Hunza Valley as well. A Hunza prince fled to Shigar by crossing Hispar Pass in the 10th century and founded Amacha dynasty. The westernmost valleys of Yasin, Ishkoman and Ghizer came under control of Khushwaqt dynasty, a branch of Kator dynasty of Chitral, after the 16th century.