Gilgit-Baltistan History & Culture

 Introduction

The newly established province Gilgit-Baltistan lies in the Northern Areas of Pakistan, with the border belts of  India, China and Afghanistan.It ranges from Hindukush to the Karakorum in the North-East with the Western Himalaya in the South and the Pamirs in the extreme North. These important mountain ranges rendezvous with each other. With an expanse of about 27,188 square miles, Gilgit-Baltistan, geographically, climatically and biologically presents primarily a land of trans- Himalayan character, where Himalayan features, monsoon rains and seasons.

            The land lies amidst towering mountains,  snow-clad  peaks and  narrow valleys with  heights varying  between  3000  feet  and  28750  feet  above  sea  level. In the regional  geographical set up, the Karakorum, the Hindukush, and the N.W. Himalaya emanate from the Pamir mass lying on the north, from where the majority of the mountain ranges of Central-Asia branch off to east and west. The second highest peak of the world, K2 or Chogori with an elevation of  8611mt and the third highest peak, Nanga Parbat with an elevation of  8125mt has always increased the eminence of this part of Pakistan in the world (Hussainabadi, 2003: 202-213). Gilgit Baltistan holds twelve out of thirty top peaks of the world with elevations over 7500mt. Therefore, this region is considered to be the crown of Pakistan.The geology of the rocky mountains of Northern Areas is very ancient, with some of the world’s oldest rocks forming the highly stratified Precambrian peak groups such as:-

Gasherbrum, Mashabrum, Baltoro, Rakaposhi, Ultar, Diran, Broadpeak, Muztagh towers, Trango Towers, Batura, Saltoro Kangri and countless others (Trench, 1992: 31). The region also contains some of the largest glaciers outside the polar region. Almost 12 percent of the region is shaped by mightiest glaciers i.e, Hispar 61 km long, Biafo 62 km, Baltoro 58 km, Gasherbrun 38 km, Chogo Lungma  38 km, Passu 32 km, Batura 58 km, Rupal 29 km, Nabandi 32 km, Baraldu 30 km, Snow lake sim glacier 20 km, Siachen 62 km along with hundreds of other glaciers (Stein, 1987: 74). An American study denotes that only Karakorum's are 23 - 25 percent under ice. It will not be out of place to mention that Tirich Mir located in Chitral with an elevation of 7736 mt, the highest peak in the Hindukush system, is also adjacent to Gilgit-Baltistan region (Waters, 1978: 71). The mountain ranges of the area form the headwaters of major rivers, including the mighty Indus. The Shyok river and the Indus river come through occupied Kashmir but inside Northern Areas, hundreds of their tributaries offer some of the finest spots for fishing, navigation and water sports. But except for rare places such as Skardu and Chilas, living along the Indus banks, has so far been difficult for agricultural production and, therefore, people have stuck to smaller valleys and mountain slopes where glacial water is easy at hand for drinking and irrigation. However, it is only the Indus river and its tributaries that dominate the landscape of Northern Areas by running through the chain of famous mountain systems.