Gilgit-Baltistan is an administrative
territory of Pakistan that borders the
province of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa to
the west, Azad Kashmir to the
southwest, Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan to the northwest,
the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China to the north, and the Indian-administered region of Jammu and Kashmir to the south and south-east.
The early recorded history of the region is
linked with Western Tibet. The region appears to have been part of
the Tibetan Empire, with Buddhism flourishing in the
region by 5th century. Later, Buddhist Patola Shahis ruled the region.
However, by the 13th century, the region came under Islamic influence, notably
under Maqpon Kings.
This resulted in the separation of the Balti people from the Buddhist Ladakhi neighbours. The Baltis
increasingly converted from Buddhism to Islam, resulting in increased
interaction and conflict with their Kashmiri
Muslim neighbours, Muslim rule in the
area ended with the expansion of the Sikh
Empire.
After the British defeat of the Sikhs in the Anglo-Sikh wars, the region was ruled by the Dogras under British paramountcy.
After independence, the region became part of the newly formed state of
Pakistan through Gilgit rebellion in first Kashmir war.
Medieval history
No extant manuscripts pertaining to the
history of the region from premodern times have been located.
Ḥashmatullah Khan's Mukhtaṣar
Tarikh-e Jammun va Kashmir (1939) and Rajah Shah Rais Khan's Tarikh-e-Gilgit (unpublished
manuscript; 1941) remain the chief sources. H. Khan was a Dogra official,
who oversaw the administration of Gilgit-Baltistan and drafted a gazetteer of
the entire region, borrowing from official documents, local clerics, epic
literature, oral folklore, ruins, etc. Notwithstanding the briefness, his
chronologies are internally inconsistent and Dani advises caution in using the
material. Despite, it has become an authoritative reference for local
historians. Rais Khan was a descendant of the Trakhan family and compiled
what was essentially a family history. Dani found it to be heavily biased
towards the Trakhans and severely contemptuous of neighboring powers.
Trakhan Dynasty
Ahmad
Hasan Dani notes
local tradition to mention of a Trakhan Dynasty succeeding to the Patola
Shahis, and ruling uninterruptedly until the 19th century for over a millennia.
He put forward a tentative
reconstruction of the dynasty, deriving from H. Khan and Rais Khan's histories
of the region,Historical evidence—coins, inscriptions etc.—corroborating the
narrative was absent during Dani's time and those which have been since
discovered, reject the presence of any such dynasty.
List of Trakhan rulers
Ruler |
Reign |
Lineage and notes |
Shri Badat |
760s-780 |
Local Buddhist king before Azur Jamshid.
Probably of Turkic origin. |
Azur Jamshid |
780-796 |
Kayani prince of Persia who is said to have
fled here after the Arab conquest of Persia. Existence disputed |
Nur Bakht Khatun |
?-? |
|
Kark (or Gark) |
?-? |
Son of Azur Jamshid. Ruled 55 years |
Rajah Sau Malik |
?-? |
|
Rajah Shah Malik |
?-? |
Son of Rajah Sau Malik. Also known as Glit
Kalika (or Malik), i.e. Malik of Gilgit |
Deng Malik |
?-? |
Son of Glit Kalika (Rajah Shah Malik)
|
Khusraw Khan |
?-997 |
Son of Deng Malik. Married a princess from
Badakhshan. The presence of a Badakhshani princess must have led to the
strengthening of northern influence in the royal house of Gilgit through this
Turkic family which came from the north, by the end of the tenth century. |
Rajah Haydar Khan |
997-1057 |
Had a struggle for reign with his cousin
Shah Hatam (or Shah Tham) who governed the Nager and Hunza valleys. Shah
Hatam was defeated and fled to Baltistan |
Nur Khan |
1057-1127 |
Son of Rajah Haydar Khan[ |
Shah Mirza |
1127-1205 |
Son of Nur Khan |
Tartora Khan |
1205-1236 |
Son of Shah Mirza. Poisoned by his queen
who is a commander of Darel valley. |
the Dareli queen (name unknown) |
1236-1241 |
Tried to kill her stepson Torra but failed.
|
Torra Khan |
1241-1275 |
Formed the name Trakhan for the dynasty
which is known Kayanıs before. |
Shah Ra’is Khan |
1275 |
Shah Ra’is Khan refuged to Badakhshani
ruler Tajdar-i Moghul. Tajdar-i Moghul invaded Gilgit, dethroned Torra Khan
and placed Shah Ra’is Khan to the throne. This was the beginning of the
Ra’isiyya dynasty.[ |
Sau Malik II |
1276-1345 |
Son of Torra Khan |
Chilis Khan |
1345-1359 |
Married Malika Hashim Begam, a daughter of
Shah Ra’is Khan |
Rajah Firdaws Khan |
1359-1397 |
He had the Qilca-yi Firdawsiyya built in
Gilgit. |
Khusraw Khan II |
1397-1422 |
He added a tower to his father’s fort at
Gilgit, which was known as KhusrawKhan-i Shikar. |
Rajah Malik Shah |
1422-1449 |
Son of Khusraw Khan II |
Torra Khan II |
1449-1479 |
Son of Rajah Malik Shah |
a quick succession of rulers |
1479-? |
|
Shah Ra’is Azam |
?-1561 |
|
? |
1561-1821 |
Trakhan dynasty lasted with a series of
unknown local rulers until 1821 |
Early history (Ancient)
There are more than 50,000 pieces of rock art
(petroglyphs) and inscriptions all along
the Karakoram Highway in Gilgit Baltistan,
concentrated at ten major sites between Hunza Nagar and Shatial. The carvings were left by various
invaders, traders, and pilgrims who passed along the
trade route, as well as by locals. The earliest date back to between 5000 and
1000 BCE, showing single animals,
triangular men and hunting scenes in which the animals are larger than the
hunters. These carvings were pecked into the
rock with stone tools and are covered with a thick patina that proves their
age.
The ethnologist Karl Jettmar has
pieced together the history of the area from various inscriptions and recorded
his findings in Rock Carvings and Inscriptions in the Northern Areas of
Pakistan and the later released Between Gandhara and the Silk
Roads - Rock Carvings Along the Karakoram Highway.
Rock carvings
Manthal
Buddha Rock in
outskirts of Skardu city
Photograph of Kargah Buddha
The Hanzal stupa
dates from the Buddhist era
"The ancient Stupa
– rock carvings of Buddha, everywhere in the region is a pointer to the firm
hold of the Buddhist rules for such a long time."
The rock carvings found in various places in
Gilgit-Baltistan, especially those found in the Passu village of hunza Nagar, suggest a human presence
since 2000 BC. It is believed that the Burusho people were the indigenous of
the region and were pushed higher into the mountains by the movements
of the Indo-Aryans, who traveled southward sometime around 1800 B.C." Within
the next few centuries of human settlement on the Tibetan plateau, this region became inhabited
by Tibetans, who preceded the Balti people of Baltistan. Today Baltistan bears
similarity to Ladakh physically and culturally
(although not in religion). Dards are found
mainly in the western areas. These people are the Shina-speaking peoples of Gilgit, Chilas, Astore and Diamir, while in Hunza Nagar and the upper
regions, Burushaski and Khowar speakers predominate. The
Dards find mention in the works of Herodotus, Nearchus, Megasthenes, Pliny, Ptolemy. and the geographical
lists of the Puranas. In the 1st century, the
people of these regions were followers of the Bon religion while in the 2nd
century, they followed Buddhism.
Patola Shahis
Enthroned Buddha with
inscription, Gilgit Kingdom, circa
600
CE, Map of Tibetan Empire citing the areas of Gilgit-Baltistan as
part of its kingdom in 780–790 CE
Between 399 and 414, the Chinese Buddhist
pilgrim Faxian visited
Gilgit-Baltistan, while in the 6th century Somana Patola (greater
Gilgit-Chilas) was ruled by an unknown king. Between 627 and 645, the Chinese
Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang travelled
through this region on his pilgrimage to India.
According to Chinese records from the Tang
dynasty, between the 600s and the 700s, the region was governed by a Buddhist
dynasty referred to as Bolü (Chinese: 勃律; pinyin: bólǜ), also
transliterated as Palola, Patola, Balur. They
are believed to be the Patola Sāhi
dynasty mentioned in a Brahmi inscription, and are devout
adherents of Vajrayana
Buddhism. At the time, Little Palola (Chinese: 小勃律) was used to refer to Gilgit, while Great
Palola (Chinese: 大勃律) was used to refer to Baltistan. However,
the records do not consistently disambiguate the two.
In mid-600s, Gilgit came under Chinese
suzerainty after the fall of Western
Turkic Khaganate due to Tang military campaigns in the region. In the late 600s CE, the
rising Tibetan Empire wrestled control of
the region from the Chinese. However, faced with growing influence of the Umayyad Caliphate and then the Abbasid Caliphate to the west, the
Tibetans were forced to ally themselves with the Islamic caliphates. The region
was then contested by Chinese and Tibetan forces, and their respective vassal
states, until the mid-700s. Rulers of Gilgit formed an alliance with the
Tang Chinese and held back the Arabs with their help.
Between 644 and 655, Navasurendrāditya-nandin became
king of Palola Sāhi dynasty in Gilgit. Numerous Sanskrit inscriptions, including
the Danyor
Rock Inscriptions, were discovered to be from his reign. In the
late 600s and early 700s, Jayamaṅgalavikramāditya-nandin was king of Gilgit.
According to Chinese court records, in 717
and 719 respectively, delegations of a ruler of Great Palola (Baltistan) named
Su-fu-she-li-ji-li-ni (Chinese: 蘇弗舍利支離泥; pinyin: sūfúshèlìzhīlíní)
reached the Chinese imperial court. By at least 719/720, Ladakh (Mard) became part of
the Tibetan Empire. By that time, Buddhism was practiced
in Baltistan, and Sanskrit was the written
language. Buddhism became firmly established in the region. Great monasteries
were established, with education in Sanskrit language regarding Indian
religions and philosophy. Trade expanded between Ladakh in India and
Gilgit-Baltistan. The rulers of Leh in Ladakh, India became increasingly
influential in Balti culture and customs, and the chiefs of the region became
vassals to the Ladakhis and Tibetan paramountcy.
In 720, the delegation of Surendrāditya (Chinese: 蘇麟陀逸之; pinyin: sūlíntuóyìzhī)
reached the Chinese imperial court. He was referred to by the Chinese records
as the king of Great Palola; however, it is unknown if Baltistan was under
Gilgit rule at the time. The Chinese emperor also granted the ruler of
Cashmere, Chandrāpīḍa ("Tchen-fo-lo-pi-li"), the title of "King
of Cashmere". By 721/722, Baltistan had come under the influence of the
Tibetan Empire.
In 721–722, Tibetan army attempted but failed
to capture Gilgit or Bruzha (Yasin valley). By this time, according to Chinese
records, the king of Little Palola was Mo-ching-mang (Chinese: 沒謹忙; pinyin: méijǐnmáng).
He had visited Tang court requesting military assistance against the
Tibetans. Between 723 and 728, the Korean Buddhist pilgrim Hyecho passed through this area. In
737/738, Tibetan troops under the leadership of Minister Bel Kyesang
Dongtsab of Emperor Me
Agtsom took
control of Little Palola. By 747, the Chinese army under the leadership of the
ethnic-Korean commander Gao Xianzhi had
recaptured Little Palola.
Great Palola was subsequently captured by the
Chinese army in 753 under the military Governor Feng Changqing. However, by 755, due to
the An
Lushan rebellion, the Tang Chinese forces withdrew and was no longer able
to exert influence in Central Asia and in the regions
around Gilgit-Baltistan. The control of the region was left to the Tibetan
Empire. They referred to the region as Bruzha, a toponym that is consistent
with the ethnonym "Burusho"
used today. Tibetan control of the region lasted until late-800s CE.
Maqpon Dynasty
Skardu Fort was seat of power of Maqpon Dynasty
In the 14th century, Sufi Muslim preachers
from Persia and Central Asia introduced Islam in Baltistan. Famous amongst them
was Mir
Sayyid Ali Hamadani who came via Kashmir while in the Gilgit
region Islam entered in the same century through Turkic Tarkhan rulers.
Gilgit-Baltistan was ruled by many local rulers, amongst whom the Maqpon dynasty of Skardu and the Rajas of Hunza were
famous. The Maqpons of Skardu unified Gilgit-Baltistan with Chitral and Ladakh, especially in the era of Ali
Sher Khan Anchan who had friendly relations with the Mughal
court. Anchan reign brought prosperity and entertained art, sport, and
variety in architecture. He introduced polo to the Gilgit region and from
Chitral, he sent a group of musicians to Delhi to learn Indian music; the Mughal
architecture influenced the architecture of the region as well,Later
Anchan in his successors Abdal Khan had great influence though in the popular
literature of Baltistan he is still alive as a dark figure by the nickname
"Mizos" "man-eater". The last Maqpons Raja, Ahmed Shah,
ruled all of Baltistan between 1811 and 1840. The areas of Gilgit, Chitral and
Hunza had already become independent of the Maqpons.
Hunza State
Hunza was a principality
established in 1200s. It later became a princely
state in
a subsidiary
alliance with British India from 1892 to August
1947, for three months was unaligned, and then from November 1947 until 1974
was a princely
state of Pakistan.
Altit Fort was state capital of Hunza Kingdom.
Nagar State
Nagar was another princely salute state in the northern part
of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. Established in 14th
century, it was in a subsidiary
alliance with British India until August 1947.
Modern history
Princely State of Kashmir
It took a long time for the Maharajahs Ghulab
Singh and Ranbir Singh to extend their writ over Gilgit, Hunza and Nagar, and
not until 1870 did they assert their authority over Gilgit town. The grip of
the Jammu and Kashmir government over this area was tenuous. One of the first
British officials to visit the region was G. T. Vinge. The region was
practically independent of British influence. However, Vinge secured the
confidence of the local duke of Baltistan, and received valuable antiquity and
manuscripts during his mission.
The Indian government undertook
administrative reforms in 1885 and created Gilgit Agency in 1889 as a way for
the British to secure the region as a buffer from the Russians. As a result of
this Great Game, with British fear of Russian activities in Chinese Sinkiang
increasing, in 1935 the Gilgit Agency was expanded by the Maharajah Hari Singh
leasing the Gilgit Wazarat to the government of India for a period of sixty
years and for an amount of 75,000Rs. This gave the British political agent
complete control of defence, communications and foreign relations while the
Kashmiri state retained civil administration and the British retained control of
defence and foreign affairs.
After World
War II British
influence started declining. British despite decline in its rule, handled the
situation cleverly and gave two options to the states in British Raj under their rule to
join any of the two emerging states, India and Pakistan. In 1947, Mountbatten
decided to terminate the lease of Gilgit by Kashmir to the British. Scholar
Yaqoob Khan Bangash opines that the motive for this is unclear.
The people of Gilgit thought themselves to be
ethnically different from the Kashmiris and resented being under Kashmir state
rule. Gilgit was also one of the most backward areas of the Kashmir state.
Major William Brown, the Maharaja's commander of the Gilgit Scouts, believed that the British
handover of Gilgit to Kashmir was a huge mistake.
Brown recounts that when he
met the scouts ''they indirectly made it clear how they despised and hated
Kashmir and everything connected with it, how happy and content they had been
under the British rule, and how they considered they had been betrayed by the
British in the unconditional handing over of their country to Kashmir''.
Taking advantage of the situation the
populace of Gilgit-Baltistan started revolting, the people of Ghizer were first
to raise the flag of revolution, and gradually the masses of entire region
stood up against the rule of Maharaja, again British played an important role
in war of independence of Gilgit-Baltistan.
End of the princely state
On 26 October 1947, Maharaja
Hari Singh of
Jammu and Kashmir, faced with an invasion from tribal fighters coming from
Pakistan due to 1947
Jammu Massacre along
with 1947
Poonch rebellion, signed the Instrument
of Accession,
joining India. Gilgit's population did not favour the State's accession to
India.[40] According to
Muzzaffar Bangash, the Raja orderly in Chilas, represented the views of the
region's people when he said:
The whole of Gilgit Agency
is pro-Pakistan ... we could never swear allegiance to Hindustan. Apart from
religion, the Gilgit Agency is really a part of the NWFP and is therefore a
part of Pakistan. If Kashmir remains independent, well and good .... But if the
Maharaja through pig headedness and bad advice, political pressure or
attractive remunerations accedes to Hindustan, then there will be trouble here!
The local populace of Gilgit supported the
tribal fighters as they were eager to force the Dogras rule out of Gilgit-Baltistan. According
to Scholar Yaqoob Khan Bangash:
"By the middle of 1947
news of communal tensions had reached Gilgit and in a place where Hindu Dogras
were despised for their heavy-handedness during the conflicts to subdue Gilgit,
stories of Muslims being slaughtered by Hindus and Sikhs in the Punjab inflamed
passions against the small minorities of Hindus and Sikhs in Gilgit.
Major Brown was well aware of the
anti-maharaja sentiments among the people in Gilgit. Sensing their discontent,
Brown mutinied on 1 November 1947, overthrowing the Governor Ghansara Singh.
The bloodless coup d'etat was planned by Brown to the last
detail under the code name Datta Khel. Major Brown is also credited
to have saved Hindu population in Gilgit from being harmed.
Major Brown acted to prevent bloodshed and took some personal risk in doing so.
On the morning of 2 November 1947, after the
Pakistan flag had been raised in scout lines, a provisional government (Aburi
Hakoomat) was established with Shah Rais Khan as president, Mirza Hassan khan
as commander in chief and Major Brown as the chief military advisor. 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. On 18 November 1947, the provisional
government requested to see the political agent asserting that he should take
all decisions in consultation with them. They demanded that both British
officers be relieved of their duties and they should be appointed in their
place. According to Brown,
Alam replied, "you are
a crowd of fools led astray by a madman. I shall not tolerate this nonsense for
one instance...And when the Indian Army starts invading you there will be no
use screaming to Pakistan for help, because you won't get it."... The
provisional government faded away after this encounter with Alam Khan, clearly
reflecting the flimsy and opportunistic nature of its basis and support.
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. Dani mentions that although there was lack of public participation
in the rebellion, pro-Pakistan sentiments were intense in the civilian
population and their anti-Kashmiri sentiments were also clear. Scholar
Yaqoob Khan Bangash states that the people of Gilgit as well as those of
Chilas, Koh Ghizr, Ishkoman, Yasin, Punial, Hunza and Nagar joined Pakistan by
choice.
After taking control of Gilgit, the Gilgit
Scouts (a paramilitary force comprising trained Muslim locals but commanded by
British officers) along with Azad irregulars moved towards Baltistan and Ladakh and captured Skardu by May 1948. They successfully
blocked the Indian reinforcements and subsequently captured Dras and Kargill as well, cutting off the
Indian communications to Leh in Ladakh.
The Indian forces mounted an offensive in Autumn 1948 and recaptured all
of Kargil district. Baltistan region, however, came under
Gilgit control.
On 1 January 1948, India took the issue of
Jammu and Kashmir to the United Nations Security Council. In April 1948, the
Council passed a resolution calling for Pakistan to withdraw from all of Jammu
and Kashmir and then India was to reduce its forces to the minimum level,
following which a plebiscite would be held to ascertain the people's wishes. However,
no withdrawal was ever carried out, India insisting that Pakistan had to
withdraw first and Pakistan contending that there was no guarantee that India
would withdraw afterwards. Gilgit-Baltistan and a western portion of the
state called Azad
Jammu and Kashmir) have remained under the control of Pakistan since then.[53] Sudheendra Kulkarni,
who served as an aide to India's former Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee, states that in all the discussions held by Indian
leadership including Vallabhbhai Patel regarding plebiscite
in Jammu and Kashmir, hardly ever talked about holding plebiscite in Gilgit
Baltistan.
The decision of Gilgit to join Pakistan on
November 2, along with the accession by the Mirs of Hunza and Nagar to Pakistan
the following day was not challenged by any Indian leaders like Vallabhbhai Patel or Jawaharlal Nehru. V. P. Menon in his book states
that 'accession of Gilgit to India would have provoked adverse reactions in
Gilgit and certain areas contiguous to Pakistan.'
Narendra Singh Sarila, former aide de camp to
Lord Louis Mountbatten and former ambassador
to France, states in his book that "Lord Mountbatten was eager to have the
Kashmir dispute resolved before he resigned from the governor-generalship in
June 1948. At his request, V. P. Menon and Sir N.
Gopalaswami Ayyangar, drew up a plan for partition of the state, complete
with maps (which left Gilgit to Pakistan). On 23 July 1948, V.P. Menon told the
chargé d'affaires of the US embassy in Delhi that the Indian government will
accept settlement based on accession of Mirpur, Poonch, Muzaffarabad and Gilgit
to Pakistan."
Part of Pakistan
1947 to 1970 Government of Pakistan
established Gilgit Agency and Baltistan Agency. In 1970 Northern areas council
established by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Gilgit Baltistan was directly
administered by federal government and it was called FANA(Federally
Administered Northern Areas). In 1963, Pakistan gave up claim on a part of
Hunza-Gilgit called Raskam and
the Shaksgam Valley of Baltistan region, which resulted
in Pak
China border agreement 1963, pending settlement of the dispute over
Kashmir. This area is also known as the Trans-Karakoram
Tract.
The Pakistani
parts of Kashmir to the north and west of the cease-fire line
established at the end of the Indo-Pakistani
War of 1947,
or the Line of Control as it later came to
be called, were divided into the Northern Areas (72,971 km2) in the north and the
Pakistani state of Azad Kashmir (13,297 km2) in the south. The name
"Northern Areas" was first used by the United Nations to refer to the
northern areas of Kashmir.
Gilgit Baltistan, which was most recently
known as the Northern Areas, presently consists of ten districts, has a
population approaching two million, has an area of approximately 28,000 square
miles (73,000 km2), and shares borders with
China, Afghanistan, and India. The local Northern
Light Infantry is
the army unit that participated in the 1999 Kargil conflict. More than 500 soldiers
were believed to have been killed and buried in the Northern Areas in that
action.[ Lalak Jan, a soldier from Yasin Valley, was awarded Pakistan's most
prestigious medal, the Nishan-e-Haider, for his courageous
actions during the Kargil conflict.
Self-governing status and present-day Gilgit
Baltistan
On 29 August 2009, the Gilgit
Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order, 2009, was passed by the
Pakistani cabinet and later signed by the President
of Pakistan.
The order granted self-rule to the people of the former Northern Areas, now
renamed Gilgit Baltistan, by creating, among other things, an
elected legislative assembly.
There has been an uplift in the
self-identification of this territory's inhabitants through the name change but
it has still left the region's constitutional status within Pakistan undefined.
People of Gilgit-Baltistan have Pakistani passports and identity cards, yet are
not represented in the Parliament
of Pakistan.
Similarly, Gilgit-Baltistan is a member of neither the cCI nor the NFC
constitutional bodies.
However, the Supreme
Court of Pakistan has time and again asked for determination of the
constitutional status of Gilgit-Baltistan. In this regard the 1999 Supreme
Court judgement is a landmark decision, declaring people of Northern Areas as
Pakistani citizens with all fundamental rights. A seven-member bench of
the Supreme Court of Pakistan was told in November 2018 that the Federal
Government has had appointed a high-level committee to examine the
constitutional reforms of Gilgit-Baltistan. According to Antia Mato
Bouzas, the 2009 Governance Order was the Pakistani government's compromise
between its official stand on Kashmir and the demands of a territory where the
majority of people may have pro-Pakistan sentiments.
There has been some criticism and opposition
to this move in India and Gilgit Baltistan region of Pakistan.
Gilgit Baltistan United Movement while
rejecting the new package demanded that an independent and autonomous
legislative assembly for Gilgit Baltistan should be formed with the
installation of local authoritative government as per the UNCIP resolutions,
where the people of Gilgit Baltistan will elect their president and the prime
minister.
In early September 2009, Pakistan signed an agreement
with the People's
Republic of China for a mega energy project in Gilgit–Baltistan which
includes the construction of a 7,000-megawatt dam at Bunji in the Astore District. This also resulted
in protest from India, although Indian concerns were immediately
rejected by Pakistan, which claimed that the Government
of India has
no locus standi in the matter,
effectively ignoring the validity of the princely state's Instrument of Accession on October 26, 1947.
On 29 September 2009, the Prime Minister,
while addressing a huge gathering in Gilgit–Baltistan, announced a
multi-billion rupee development package aimed at the socio-economic uplifting
of people in the area. Development projects will include the areas of
education, health, agriculture, tourism and the basic needs of life.
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