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Gilgit Baltistan

Gilgit Baltistan is the home to many cultural sites and monuments including Kharpocho Fort, Shigar Fort, Altit Fortt, Khaplu Fort, Buddist Complex, Chaqchan Mosque, Wakhi Museum and Baltit Fort


Gilgit-Baltistan covers an area of 72,971 km² (28,174 mi²) and is highly mountainous. The administrative centre of 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, including 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 and Gulapure led the people of Gilgit to drive out the Dogra rulers. 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. Gilgit came under British rule in 1889, when it was unified with neighbouring Hunza and Nagar in the Gilgit Agency. When British rule came to an end in 1947 and British India was granted independence and divided into India and Pakistan. However, the British failed to negotiate the freedom of independent states, who signed a treaty with the British, like Jammu and Kashmir, Hyderabad, Junagadh, Swat, Balochistan etc. So, Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, Hari Singh reigned over the region and claimed it to be independent of the two nations. In 1947, a tribal uprising which led to Indo-Pakistan war of 1947 took place and Hari Singh joined the Indian Union. However, following the tribal uprising the state of Jammu and Kashmir was divided and the region came under Pakistani control. The region is claimed both by India and Pakistan and is termed as the Kashmir conflict.



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