Baltistan
Baltistan or Baltiyul (Balti: སྦལཏི་ཡུལ།), also known as Nang-Kod (ནང་ཀོང) by the Tibetans and Tibet-i-Khurd (Little Tibet) by the Mughals, is a historical region in northeastern Pakistan. It borders Xinjiang Autonomous Region and Tibet of China. It lies in the Karakoram mountains just to the south of K2, the world's second highest mountain. It is an extremely mountainous region, with an average altitude of over 3,350 m (11,000 ft). It is inhabited principally by Balti Tibetan people following Islam.
Baltistan has always been divided into many sovereign kingdoms and states ruled by different dynasties, like the Khaplu Kingdom ruled by the Yabgo dynasty and the Shigar Kingdom ruled by the Amacha dynasty. It was united under a single empire "Makpon Empire" by Gyalpo Ali Senge Anchan. In 1840 after the decline of Makpon Kingdom, Baltistan came under the Dogra rule, but the principalities of Shigar and Khaplu continued their nominal rule.
Karakorum Highway and Indus.
Map of the disputed region.
Dark blue Skardu, Ghanche, Shigar and Kharmang; Light blue Kargil.
Baltistan Media
Baltistan division, in dark green, Gilgit Baltistan
Skardu, capital of Baltistan
skardu is old and was the capital of maqpon emperors
Ahmed Shah, the last Maqpon king before the 1840 Dogra invasion
machulu valley of ghanche district baltistan
Baltoro Glacier; at 62 km (39 mi) in length, it is one of the longest Alpine glaciers on earth.[source?]
Laila Peak, in the Hushe Valley
K2 August 2006
- Gasherbrum
Broad Peak (seen from Concordia place)
Related pages
Other websites
- The Changing Northern Areas Archived 2004-10-09 at the Wayback Machine
- Pakistan's Northern Areas dilemma
- Tourism Northeran Areas
- Pakistan's Northern Areas Archived 2004-01-07 at the Wayback Machine
