Gilgit

Gilgit (/ˈɡɪlɡɪt/; Shina: ‫ ;گلٗی ت‬Urdu: ‫ گلگت‬IPA: [ˈɡɪlɡɪt]) is a city in Pakistani-administered Gilgit–
Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region.[1] It is the capital of the Gilgit-Baltistan region. The city is
located in a broad valley near the confluence of the Gilgit and the Hunza rivers. It is a major tourist
destination in Pakistan, serving as a hub for trekking and mountaineering expeditions in the
Karakoram mountain range.

Gilgit was once a major centre for Buddhism; it was an important stop on the ancient Silk Road, and
today serves as a major junction along the Karakoram Highway with road connections to China as
well as the Pakistani cities of Skardu, Chitral, Peshawar, and Islamabad. Currently, it serves as a
frontier station for the local tribal areas. The city's economic activity is mainly focused on
agriculture, with wheat, maize, and barley as the main produced crops.[4]

Etymology

The city's ancient name was Sargin, later to be known as Gilit, and it is still referred to as Gilit or
Sargin-Gilit by the local people. The native Khowar and Wakhi-speaking people refer to the city as
Gilt, and in Burushaski, it is called Geelt.[5]

History

Early history

Brokpas trace their settlement from Gilgit into the fertile villages of Ladakh through a rich corpus of
hymns, songs, and folklore that have been passed down through generations.[6] The Dards and
Shinas appear in many of the old Pauranic lists of people who lived in the region, with the former
also mentioned in Ptolemy's accounts of the region.[6]

Buddhist era

Gilgit was an important city on the Silk Road, along which Buddhism spread from South Asia to the
rest of Asia. It is considered a Buddhism corridor, along which many Chinese monks came to
Kashmir, to learn and to preach Buddhism.[7] Two famous Chinese Buddhist pilgrims, Faxian and
Xuanzang, traversed Gilgit, according to their accounts.
 Gilgit
Shina: ‫ گلٗی ت‬Urdu: ‫گلگت‬
City administered by Pakistan

Enthroned Buddha of the Patola

Shahis, Gilgit Kingdom, circa 600
CE.[8]

The Kargah Buddha outside of Gilgit

dates from around 700 C.E. From top:
City of Gilgit, Central Imaamia Mosque, Gilgit
River, Rakaposhi Mountain (South View)

The Hanzal stupa dates from the

Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Buddhist era.
Interactive map of Gilgit
According to Chinese records, in the 600s and
700s, the city was governed by a Buddhist
dynasty referred to as Little Balur or Lesser Bolü
(Chinese: 小勃律).[9] They are believed to have
been the Patola Shahis dynasty mentioned in a
Brahmi inscription,[10] and are devout adherents
of Vajrayana Buddhism.[11]

In mid-600s, Gilgit came under Chinese suzerainty

after the fall of the Western Turkic Khaganate to
the Tang military campaigns in the region. In the
late 600s CE, the rising Tibetan Empire wrested A map showing Pakistan-administered Gilgit-
Baltistan shaded in sage in the disputed
control of the region from the Chinese. However, Kashmir region[1]
faced with growing influence of the Umayyad Coordinates: 35°55′15″N 74°18′30″E (https://g
Caliphate and then the Abbasid Caliphate to the eohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename
=Gilgit&params=35_55_15_N_74_18_30_E_typ
west, the Tibetans were forced to ally themselves e:city(216760)_region:PK-GB)
with the Islamic caliphates. The region was then
Administering Pakistan
contested by the Chinese and Tibetan forces, and country
their respective vassal states, until the mid-700s.
Adm. Unit Gilgit–Baltistan
Chinese records of the region continue until late
District Gilgit District
the 700s, at which time the Tangs' western
military campaign was weakened due to the An Government

Lushan Rebellion.[12] • Type Divisional

Administration
Control of the region was left to the Tibetan • Commissioner Najeeb Alam (PAS)
Empire. They referred to the region as Bruzha, a
• Deputy Inspector Hassan Raza Khan
toponym that is consistent with the ethnonym General (DIG) (PSP)
"Burusho" used today. Tibetan control of the
Elevation[2] 1,500 m (4,900 ft)
[13]
region lasted until the late 800s CE.
Population (1998)
Gilgit manuscripts
• Total 216,760

This corpus of manuscripts was discovered in Demographics

1931 in Gilgit, containing many Buddhist texts
• Language(s) Urdu, Balti, Shina
such as four sutras from the Buddhist canon,
Time zone UTC+5:00 (PST)
including the famous Lotus Sutra. The
manuscripts were written on birch bark in the Postal code 1571 – 1xx[3]

Buddhist form of Sanskrit in the Sharada script. Area code +92

They cover a wide range of themes such as
iconometry, folk tales, philosophy, medicine and
several related areas of life and general
knowledge.[14]

The Gilgit manuscripts[15] are included in the

UNESCO Memory of the World register.[16] They
are among the oldest manuscripts in the world,
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
and the oldest manuscript collection surviving in
Pakistan,[15] having major significance in Buddhist
studies and the evolution of Asian and Sanskrit literature. The manuscripts are believed to have
been written in the 5th to 6th centuries AD, though more manuscripts were discovered from the
succeeding centuries, which were also classified as Gilgit manuscripts.

Many of the original manuscripts from Gilgit can be found in the National Archives of India and the
Pratap Singh Museum in Srinigar. Two manuscripts collected by the orientalist Sir Aurel Stein are in
the British Library in London.[17] They include a rare paper version of the Lotus Sutra.

As of 6 October 2014, one source claims that the part of the collection deposited at the Sri Pratap
Singh Museum in Srinagar was irrecoverably destroyed during the 2014 India–Pakistan floods.[18]

Gilgit manuscripts

Buddhas, devotees with Buddhist deities on the painted cover from Manuscript 3, Saṃghāṭa Sūtra, with a sample page,
commissioned by Devaśirikā and Atthocasiṃgha, 627-628 CE. Gilgit.[19][20]
Pre-Trakhàn

Devotee in Central Asian

dress with a Sanskrit name,
venerating a Buddhist stupa,
Thalpan-Ziyarat, circa 7th
century CE.[21]

The former rulers had the title of Ra, and there is a reason to suppose that they
were at one time Hindus, but for the last five centuries and a half they have been
Moslems. The names of the Hindu Ras have been lost, with the exception of the last
of their number, Shri Ba'dut. Tradition relates that he was killed by a Mohammedan
adventurer, who married his daughter and founded a new dynasty, since called
Trakhàn, from a celebrated Ra named Trakhan, who reigned about the
commencement of the fourteenth century. The previous rulers—of whom Shri
Ba'dut was the last—were called Shahreis.[22]

Trakhàn Dynasty

A Dance at Gilgit by G. W. Leitner, 1893

Gilgit was ruled for centuries by the local Trakhàn Dynasty, which ended about 1810 with the death
of Raja Abas, the last Trakhàn Raja.[7] The rulers of Hunza and Nager also claim origin with the
Trakhàn dynasty. They claim descent from a heroic Kayani Prince of Persia, Azur Jamshid (also
known as Shamsher), who secretly married the daughter of the king Shri Badat.

She conspired with him to overthrow her cannibal father. Sri Badat's faith is theorised as Hindu by
some[23][24] and Buddhist by others.[25][26]

Prince Azur Jamshid succeeded in overthrowing King Badat who was known as the Adam Khor
(literally "man-eater"),[27][28] often demanding a child a day from his subjects, his demise is still
celebrated to this very day by locals in traditional annual celebrations.[29] In the beginning of the new
year, where a Juniper procession walks along the river, in memory of chasing the cannibal king Sri
Badat away.[30]

Azur Jamshid abdicated after 16 years of rule in favour of his wife Nur Bakht Khatùn until their son
and heir Garg, grew of age and assumed the title of Raja and ruled, for 55 years. The dynasty
flourished under the name of the Kayani dynasty until 1421 when Raja Torra Khan assumed
rulership. He ruled as a memorable king until 1475. He distinguished his family line from his
stepbrother Shah Rais Khan (who fled to the king of Badakshan, and with whose help he gained
Chitral from Raja Torra Khan), as the now-known dynastic name of Trakhàn. The descendants of
Shah Rais Khan were known as the Ra'issiya Dynasty.[31]

1800s

The period of greatest prosperity was probably under the Shin Ras, whose rule
seems to have been peaceable and settled. The whole population, from the Ra to the
poorest subject lived by agriculture. According to tradition, Shri Buddutt's rule
extended over Chitral, Yassin, Tangir, Darel, Chilas, Gor, Astor, Hunza, Nagar and
Haramosh all of which were held by tributary princes of the same family.[22]

The area had been a flourishing tract but prosperity was destroyed by warfare over the next fifty
years, and by the great flood of 1841 in which the river Indus was blocked by a landslip below the
Hatu Pir and the valley was turned into a lake.[32] After the death of Abas, Sulaiman Shah, Raja of
Yasin, conquered Gilgit. Then, Azad Khan, Raja of Punial, killed Sulaiman Shah, taking Gilgit; then
Tahir Shah, Raja of Buroshall (Nagar), took Gilgit and killed Azad Khan.
Tair Shah's son Shah Sakandar inherited, only to be killed by Gohar Aman, ethnic Kho Raja of Yasin
of the Khushwakhte Dynasty when he took Gilgit. Then in 1842, Shah Sakandar's brother, Karim
Khan, expelled Yasin rulers with the support of a Sikh army from Kashmir. The Sikh general, Nathu
Shah, left garrison troops and Karim Khan ruled until Gilgit was ceded to Gulab Singh of Jammu and
Kashmir in 1846 by the Treaty of Amritsar,[7] and Dogra troops replaced the Sikh in Gilgit.

Nathu Shah and Karim Khan both transferred their allegiance to Gulab Singh, continuing local
administration. When Hunza attacked in 1848, both of them were killed. Gilgit fell to the Hunza and
their Yasin and Punial allies but was soon reconquered by Gulab Singh's Dogra troops. With the
support of Raja Gohar Aman, Gilgit's inhabitants drove their new rulers out in an uprising in 1852.
Raja Gohar Aman then ruled Gilgit until his death in 1860, just before new Dogra forces from Ranbir
Singh, son of Gulab Singh, captured the fort and town.[7]

In the 1870s Chitral was threatened by Afghans, Maharaja Ranbir Singh was firm in protecting
Chitral from Afghans, the Mehtar of Chitral asked for help. In 1876 Chitral accepted the authority of
Jammu Clan and in reverse get the protection from the Dogras who have in the past took part in
many victories over Afghans during the time of Gulab Singh Dogra.[33]

British Raj

In 1877, in order to guard against the advance of Russia, the British India Government, acting as the
suzerain power of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, established the Gilgit Agency. The
Agency was re-established under control of the British Resident in Jammu and Kashmir. It
comprised the Gilgit Wazarat; the State of Hunza and Nagar; the Punial Jagir; the Governorships of
Yasin, Kuh-Ghizr and Ishkoman, and Chilas.

The Tajiks of Xinjiang sometimes enslaved the Gilgiti and Kunjuti Hunza.[34]

British Westland Wapitis based in

Gilgit around 1930

In 1935, the British India government demanded from the Jammu and Kashmir state to lease them
Gilgit town plus most of the Gilgit Agency and the hill-states Hunza, Nagar, Yasin and Ishkoman for
60 years.[35]

Abdullah Sahib was an Arain and belonged to Chimkor Sahib village of Ambala district Punjab,
British India. Abdullah Sahib was the first Muslim governor of the Gilgit in British time period and
was close associate of Maharaja Partap Singh.

Khan Bahadur Kalay Khan, a Mohammed Zai Pathan, was the Governor of Gilgit Hunza and Kashmir
before partition.

1947 Kashmir war

On 26 October 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir, faced with a tribal invasion by
Pakistan due to Masscre of Muslims in Jammu by Hindus and Sikh mobs, signed the Instrument of
Accession, joining India. It is to be noted that the tribal invasion by Pakistan was not simply a tribal
invasion. Pakistani Major General Akbar Khan has given account of the invasion in his book Raiders
in Kashmir. General Akbar Khan, then serving as a colonel in the Pakistan army, has described at
least four meetings with Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan to discuss the planning and conduct of the
operations. Justice Muhammad Yusuf Saraf, at the time a Muslim Conference activist, has pointed
out that such a major operation could not have been launched without Jinnah's knowledge and
approval. The 'Azad Forces' that were part of the so-called tribal invasion were led by Pakistan army
officers, and the UNCIP report records Pakistan's admission that they were under Pakistan's 'tactical
command'.[36]

Gilgit's military leaders did not favour the State's accession to India.[37] However, there was also
written evidence of Gilgit troop leaders wanting to set up an independent Islamic state. Major
William Brown in his book Gilgit Rebellion describes the Gilgit troop leaders stating, "We know of
course that you are loyal to Pakistan-all Britishers are-but it is not our intention to join Pakistan. We
intend to set up an independent Islamic State called the United States of Gilgit, and although we shall
keep the friendliest relation with Pakistan we shall in no way owe allegiance to that dominion."[38] The
military leaders of the Frontier Districts Province (modern day Gilgit-Baltistan) wanted to join
Pakistan.[39] Sensing their discontent, Major William Brown, the Maharaja's commander of the Gilgit
Scouts, mutinied on 1 November 1947, overthrowing the Governor Ghansara Singh.[40] The
bloodless coup d'etat was planned by Brown to the last detail under the code name "Datta Khel",
which was also joined by a rebellious section of the Jammu and Kashmir 6th Infantry under Mirza
Hassan Khan. Brown ensured that the treasury was secured and minorities were protected. A
provisional government (Aburi Hakoomat) was established by the Gilgit locals with Raja Shah Rais
Khan as the president and Mirza Hassan Khan as the commander-in-chief. However, Major Brown
had already telegraphed Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan asking Pakistan to take over. The Pakistani
political agent, Khan Mohammad Alam Khan, arrived on 16 November and took over the
administration of Gilgit.[41][42] Brown outmaneuvered the pro-Independence group and secured the
approval of the mirs and rajas for accession to Pakistan. Browns's actions surprised the British
Government.[43]

The provisional government lasted 16 days. The provisional government lacked sway over the
population. The Gilgit rebellion did not have civilian involvement and was solely the work of military
leaders, not all of whom had been in favor of joining Pakistan, at least in the short term. Historian
Ahmed Hasan Dani mentions that although there was lack of public participation in the rebellion,
sentiments were intense in the civilian population and their anti-Kashmiri sentiments were also
clear.[42] According to various scholars, the people of Gilgit as well as those of Chilas, Koh Ghizr,
Ishkoman, Yasin, Punial, Hunza and Nagar joined Pakistan by choice.[42][44][45][46]

Geography

Gilgit is situated amongst some of the

world's most dramatic mountain
scenery

CAA Park Gilgit

 Jama Mosque located in Raja Bazar
Road Gilgit

Gilgit is situated in a valley formed by the confluence of the Indus River, Hunza River and Gilgit River.

Climate

Gilgit experiences a cold desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWk). Weather conditions for
Gilgit are dominated by its geographical location, a valley in a mountainous area, southwest of
Karakoram range. The prevalent season of Gilgit is winter, occupying the valley eight to nine months
a year.

Gilgit lacks significant rainfall, averaging in 120 to 240 mm (4.7 to 9.4 in) annually, as monsoon
breaks against the southern range of Himalayas. Irrigation for land cultivation is obtained from the
rivers, abundant with melting snow water from higher altitudes.

The summer season is brief and hot, with daily high temperatures occasionally peaking at over
40 °C (104 °F). As a result of this extremity in the weather, landslides and avalanches are frequent in
the area.[47]
 Climate data for Gilgit [hide]
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
17.5 22.0 29.4 37.2 41.5 43.5 46.3 43.8 41.6 36.0 28.0 24.5 46.3
Record high °C (°F)
(63.5) (71.6) (84.9) (99.0) (106.7) (110.3) (115.3) (110.8) (106.9) (96.8) (82.4) (76.1) (115.3)
Mean daily 9.6 12.6 18.4 24.2 29.0 34.2 36.2 35.3 31.8 25.6 18.4 11.6 23.9
maximum °C (°F) (49.3) (54.7) (65.1) (75.6) (84.2) (93.6) (97.2) (95.5) (89.2) (78.1) (65.1) (52.9) (75.0)
Mean daily −2.7 0.4 5.4 9.2 11.8 14.9 18.2 17.5 12.4 6.3 0.4 −2.3 7.6
minimum °C (°F) (27.1) (32.7) (41.7) (48.6) (53.2) (58.8) (64.8) (63.5) (54.3) (43.3) (32.7) (27.9) (45.7)
−10.0 −8.9 −3.0 1.1 3.9 5.1 10.0 9.8 3.0 −2.5 −8.5 −11.1 −11.1
Record low °C (°F)
(14.0) (16.0) (26.6) (34.0) (39.0) (41.2) (50.0) (49.6) (37.4) (27.5) (16.7) (12.0) (12.0)
Average rainfall 4.6 6.7 11.8 24.4 25.1 8.9 14.6 14.9 8.1 6.3 2.4 5.1 107.8
mm (inches) (0.18) (0.26) (0.46) (0.96) (0.99) (0.35) (0.57) (0.59) (0.32) (0.25) (0.09) (0.20) (4.24)
Average relative
humidity (%) 51.3 34.6 26.7 27.6 26.6 23.7 29.8 36.8 36.7 42.2 49.1 55.0 36.7
(at 17:00 PST)
Source: Pakistan Meteorological Department[48]

Climate Change Effects

Climate change has adversely effected this region with more rains every year. On 26 August 2022,
most villages in Ghizer district and Hunza were severely effected by the ongoing flooding displacing
many people.

Administration

The city of Gilgit constitutes a tehsil within Gilgit District. Gilgit District itself is the part of the larger
Gilgit Division which is headed by a Commissioner of BPS-20 belonging to Pakistan Administrative
service.[49] The Current Commissioner Gilgit Division is Mr Najeem Alam (PAS).

Transportation

ATR 42-500 at Gilgit Airport

 "Jeep" used to be the widely used
vehicle in the region till late 2000s

Air

Gilgit is served by the nearby Gilgit Airport, with direct flights to Islamabad. Pakistan International
Airlines (PIA) is the only airline operating in Gilgit. The Government of Pakistan is planning to build a
new international standard airport in Gilgit to meet the requirements of international tourists and
demand from domestic investors.[50]

Road

National Highway N-15 has abrupt

direction changes which is a
challenge for drivers who use this
route to reach Gilgit

Gilgit is located approximately 10 km (6.2 mi) from the Karakoram Highway (KKH). The roadway is
being upgraded as part of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor. The KKH connects Gilgit to
Chilas, Dasu, Besham, Mansehra, Abbottabad and Islamabad in the south. Gilgit is connected to
Karimabad (Hunza) and Sust in the north, with further connections to the Chinese cities of
Tashkurgan, Upal and Kashgar in Xinjiang. Gilgit is also linked to Chitral in the west, and Skardu to
the east. The road to Skardu will be upgraded to a 4-lane road at a cost of $475 million.[51]

Transport companies such as the Silk Route Transport Pvt, Masherbrum Transport Pvt and Northern
Areas Transport Corporation (NATCO (https://www.natco.gov.pk/) ), offer passenger road
transport between Islamabad, Gilgit, Sust, and Kashgar and Tashkurgan in China.
The Astore-Burzil Pass Road, linking Gilgit to Srinagar was closed in 1978.[52]

Rail

Gilgit is not served by any rail connections. Long-term plans for the China–Pakistan Economic
Corridor call for construction of the 682 km (424 mi) long Khunjerab Railway, which is expected to
be completed in 2030,[53] that would also serve Gilgit.

Route of the Karakoram Highway Tunnels are common in Gilgit

Education

One of the most renowned institutes

in the GB Region, Public Schools and
Colleges Jutial Gilgit

Karakoram International University Gilgit

Basic facilities

Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited

Plant in Gilgit

Gilgit has not received a gas pipeline infrastructure since Pakistan's independence, unlike other
cities. Through the importation of gas cylinders from other provinces, many private gas contractors
offer gas cylinders. The LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) Air Mix Plant project by Sui Northern Gas
Pipelines Limited was unveiled in 2020, with the goal of bringing the gas facility to Gilgit. This will
significantly reduce deforestation, as the public now uses wood from trees for heating and lighting
purpose. The first head office has been built in Gilgit.[54]

Sister cities

Skardu, Baltistan

Kashgar, China (since May 2009)

This statue is made to show the I Love Gilgit sign made to show
spirit of the Polo Sport. It is patriotism towards the region
located at Jutial. Polo is played
every year in the valley Shandoor.

Dumplingsm a.k.a. manto, are a

widely eaten dish in the region

See also

Chamogarh

Gilgit District

Karakoram Highway

References

Citations
1. 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 (d), 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 (f) through (h) below, "held" is also considered politicized
usage, as is the term "occupied," (see (i) below).
(a) Kashmir, region Indian subcontinent (https://www.britannica.com/place/Kashmir-region-Indian-subconti
nent) , Encyclopaedia Britannica, retrieved 15 August 2019 (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) Pletcher, Kenneth, Aksai Chin, Plateau Region, Asia (https://www.britannica.com/place/Aksai-Chin) ,
Encyclopaedia Britannica, retrieved 16 August 2019 (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) "Kashmir", Encyclopedia Americana (https://books.google.com/books?id=l_cWAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA32
8) , Scholastic Library Publishing, 2006, p. 328, ISBN 978-0-7172-0139-6 C. E Bosworth, University of
Manchester Quote: "KASHMIR, kash'mer, the northernmost region of the Indian subcontinent,
administered partlv 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) Osmańczyk, Edmund Jan (2003), Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements: G to
M (https://books.google.com/books?id=fSIMXHMdfkkC&pg=PA1191) , Taylor & Francis, pp. 1191–,
ISBN 978-0-415-93922-5 Quote: "Jammu and Kashmir: Territory in northwestern India, subject to a dispute
betw een India and Pakistan. It has borders with Pakistan and China."
(e) Talbot, Ian (2016), A History of Modern South Asia: Politics, States, Diasporas (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=eNg_CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA28) , Yale University Press, pp. 28–29, ISBN 978-0-300-19694-8
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) Kashmir, region Indian subcontinent (https://www.britannica.com/place/Kashmir-region-Indian-subconti
nent) , Encyclopaedia Britannica, retrieved 15 August 2019 (subscription required) Quote: "... 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.";
(g) Bose, Sumantra (2009), Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace (https://books.google.com/books?id
=3ACMe9WBdNAC&pg=PA294) , Harvard University Press, pp. 294, 291, 293, ISBN 978-0-674-02855-5
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. AJK has six districts: Muzaffarabad, Mirpur,
Bagh, Kodi, Rawalakot, and Poonch. Its capital is the town of Muzaffarabad. AJK has its own institutions,
 but its political life is heavily controlled by Pakistani authorities, especially the military), 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."
(h) Fisher, Michael H. (2018), An Environmental History of India: From Earliest Times to the Twenty-First
Century (https://books.google.com/books?id=kZVuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA166) , Cambridge University
Press, p. 166, ISBN 978-1-107-11162-2 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.";
(i) Snedden, Christopher (2015), Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris (https://books.google.com/books?i
d=5amKCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA10) , Oxford University Press, p. 10, ISBN 978-1-84904-621-3 Quote:"Some
politicised terms also are used to describe parts of J&K. These terms include the words 'occupied' and
'held'."

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29. [1] (http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/jneelis/dissertation/Chapter1.pdf)

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38. Brown 2014.

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41. Schofield 2003, pp. 63–64.

42. Bangash 2010.

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General sources
Bangash, Yaqoob Khan (2010). "Three Forgotten Accessions: Gilgit, Hunza and Nagar". The
Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History. 38 (1): 117–143.
 doi:10.1080/03086530903538269 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F03086530903538269) .
S2CID 159652497 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:159652497) .

Bhan, Mona (11 September 2013). Counterinsurgency, Democracy, and the Politics of Identity in
India: From Warfare to Welfare? (https://books.google.com/books?id=wZTDAAAAQBAJ) .
Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-50983-6.

Brown, William (30 November 2014). Gilgit Rebelion: The Major Who Mutinied Over Partition of
India (https://books.google.com/books?id=_l9tBQAAQBAJ) . Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-
4738-2187-3.

Schofield, Victoria (2003) [First published in 2000], Kashmir in Conflict (https://books.google.com/

books?id=rkTetMfI6QkC) , London and New York: I. B. Taurus & Co, ISBN 1860648983

External links

Official Website (https://web.archive.org/web/201801251634 Wikisource has the text

06/http://www.visitgilgitbaltistan.gov.pk/) of the Gilgit- of the 1911 Encyclopædia
Britannica article "Gilgit".
Baltistan Tourism Department
Wikimedia Commons has
Official Website of the Government of Gilgit Baltistan (https:// media related to Gilgit
(city).
web.archive.org/web/20100831072645/http://gilgitbaltistan.
gov.pk/)

Gilgit Nomination (http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090629041618/http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/fil

es/22450/1151397961157_India_Gilgit.doc/57%2BIndia%2BGilgit.doc) , UNESCO, the Memory
of the World Register entry document

Britannica Gilgit (https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/233661/Gilgit)

Gilgit travel guide from Wikivoyage