Gilgit (Urdu: گلگت) is the capital city of Northern Areas, Pakistan. It is the headquarter of Gilgit District. Gilgit city is one of the two major hubs on the Northern Areas for all mountaineering expeditions of Karakoram to Himalaya peaks, the other hub being Skardu.

Gilgit has an area of 14,680 mi² (38,021 km²). The region is significantly mountainous, lying on the foothills of the Karakoram mountains, and has an average altitude of 1,500 m (5,000 ft). It is drained by the Indus River, which rises in the neighbouring regions of Ladakh and Baltistan.

History

Gilgit was an important city on the Silk Road through which Buddhism was spread from India to the rest of Asia. A large number of Buddhist Sanskrit texts, included the long version of the Heart Sutra have been unearthed in Gilgit. The Dards and Cizinas also appear in many of the old Pauranic lists of peoples with the former finding mention in Ptolemy's accounts of the region. Two famous travellers, Faxian, and Hsuan Tsang are known to have traversed Gilgit as per their accounts. Gilgit was ruled for centuries by the local Trakane Dynasty, which came to an end in about 1810. The area descended into internecine turmoil before being occupied by the Sikhs in 1842. It was ceded to Jammu in 1846. Gilgit's inhabitants drove their new rulers out in an uprising in 1852. The Khushwakhte Dynasty of Yasin led the people of Gilgit to drive out the Dogras. After Yasin was conquered by the Katur Dynasty of Chitral the power of the Khushwakhte was crushed. The rule of Jammu was restored in 1860 but was never fully secured. Gilgit came under British rule in 1889, when it was unified with neighboring Nagar and Hunza in the Gilgit Agency. When British rule came to an end in 1947, the region was handed over to Kashmir and it has been subsequently claimed by Pakistan. India still considers it as a part of the disputed region of Kashmir, but the issue remains unresolved.

Geography

Only a part of the basin of the river Gilgit is included within its political boundaries. There is an intervening width of mountainous country, represented chiefly by glaciers and ice-fields, and intersected by narrow sterile valleys, measuring some ioo to 150 m. in width, to the north and north-east, which separates the province of Gilgit from the Chinese frontier beyond the Muztagh and Karakoram.

Tourism and transport

Gilgit city is one of the two major hubs for all mountaineering expeditions in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Almost all tourists headed for treks in Karakoram or Himalaya ranges arrive at Gilgit first. Many tourists choose to travel to Gilgit by air since the road travel between Islamabad and Gilgit by Karakoram Highway takes nearly 24 hours, whereas the air travel takes a mere 45-50 minutes.

Road transport

Gilgit lies about 10 km off the Karakoram Highway. The KKH connects it to Chilas, Dasu, Besham, Mansehra, Abbottabad and Islamabad on the South. In the North it is connected to Karimabad (Hunza) and Sust in the Northern Areas and to the Chinese cities of Tashkurgan, Upal and Kashgar in Xinjiang.

Northern Areas Transport Corporation (NATCO) offers passenger road service between Islamabad, Gilgit, Sost and Tashkurgan, and road service between Kashgar and Gilgit (via Tashkurgan and Sust) starts in summer 2006. However, the border crossing between China and Pakistan at Khunjerab Pass (the highest border of the world) is open only between May 1 and October 15 of every year. During winter, the roads are blocked by snow. Even during the Monsoon season in summer, the roads are often blocked due to landslides. The best time to travel on Karakoram Highway is Spring or early Summer.

Air transport

Pakistan International Airlines flies a Fokker F27 5-7 times weekly between Gilgit Airport and Islamabad International Airport and the flight is one of the most scenic flights of the world as its route passes over Nanga Parbat and the mountain's peak is higher than the aircraft's cruising altitude. These flights, however, are subject to the clearance of weather and in winters, flights are often delayed by several days. As of December 2006, the flights are operated by the Pakistan Air Force using the military C-130 aircraft.

Hospitals

There are two major hospitals in Gilgit proper. The first is the DHQ or District Head Quarters which is the general hospital for the city. The Gilgit Eye Hospital is the other major hospital. It was started in 1995 by several foreign families. It is generally considered the best eye hospital in the entire Northern Areas.

References

• "The Gilgit Game" by John Keay (1985) ISBN 0-19-577466-3
• Drew, Frederic. Date unknown. The Northern Barrier of India: a popular account of the Jammoo and Kashmir Territories with Illustrations. Reprint: Light & Life Publishers, Jammu. 1971.
• Jettmar, Karl, 1980. Bolor & Dardistan. National Institute of Folk Heritage, Islamabad.
• Knight, E. F. 1893. Where Three Empires Meet: A Narrative of Recent Travel in: Kashmir, Western Tibet, Gilgit, and the adjoining countries. Longmans, Green, and Co., London. Reprint: Ch'eng Wen Publishing Company, Taipei. 1971.
• Leitner, G. W. 1893. Dardistan in 1866, 1886 and 1893: Being An Account of the History, Religions, Customs, Legends, Fables and Songs of Gilgit, Chilas, Kandia (Gabrial) Yasin, Chitral, Hunza, Nagyr and other parts of the Hindukush, as also a supplement to the second edition of The Hunza and Nagyr Handbook. And An Epitome of Part III of the author's “The Languages and Races of Dardistan. First Reprint 1978. Manjusri Publishing House, New Delhi.
• Muhammad, Gulam. 1980. Festivals and Folklore of Gilgit. National Institute of Folk Heritage, Islamabad.
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

See also

• Gilgit Airport
• Karakoram Highway
• Northern Areas

Notables people

• Shaheed Agha Syed Zia-ud-din Rizvi
• Agha Syed Rahat Hussain Al-Hussaini
• Malik Nasim Ul Haq - AIG CID Police
• Dr Shah Farman Heart Specialist
• Dr Muhammad Imran Classified Surgeon
• Muhammad Saeed Ul haque
• Sher Jehan Mir-CEO & President Karakurum bank gilgit

External links

• Blankonthemap The Northern Kashmir WebSite
• Pakistan's Northern Areas dilemma
• Gilgit Map
• Silk Road Seattle (The Silk Road Seattle website contains many useful resources including a number of full-text historical works)
• Gilgit Eye Hospital
• Northern Areas Development Gateway
• The Mountain Areas Conservancy Project
• Balawristan Ka Muqaddama

Coordinates: 35°55′N 74°18′E