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 The magic of Hunza is hard to depict. Locked between three icy giants, the
valley changes its colors from emerald to deep green in spring and yellow
to orange in fall due to its poplar trees. The air is tuned with flutes of
shepherds and fragrant with blossoms of peach and apricot. The people of
Hunza have rosy cheeks, bright eyes and often survive to celebrate 100
years of life.
James Hilton has immortalized the magic of Hunza in his famous novel, Lost
Horizon where everybody lives peacefully in Shangri-La.
HISTORY
The early history of Hunza is recorded only in legends. Alexander the
Great is reported to explore the mighty mountains of the Karakoram and
reach Hunza in 325 B.C. Some proofs of ancient history of Hunza are
visible on a huge rock near Ganesh village. It is richly carved and
inscribed in Kharoshthi, Brahmi, Gupta, Sogdian and Tibetan scripts. There
is a portrait of Gondophares, the Kushan king of Gandhara in the first
century A.D. The portrait is labeled with his name and the date. Another
inscription reads, 'Chandra Vikramaditya conquers, 419 AD.' Then, there
are Tibetan inscriptions depicting hunters and Ibex. Bactrian writings
indicate the invasion of Sassanians from Central Asia. A Chinese
inscription depicts the passage of a royal ambassador, Ta Wei. Similarly,
Buddhist stupas and horsemen tell their own stories. In fact, the rock
served as a guestbook for ancient travelers.
Hunza appears in Tibetan history as a part of Gilgit. Tibetans called it
Bruza and the people of the area were called Burushos. In 11th century
A.D., the invading Shinas drove them to the valleys of Hunza and Yasin
where they set up Altit, Baltit and Ganesh villages. These were the only
villages until the 18th century, when new techniques of cultivation caused
the colony to expand.
In the 15th century, Hunza was a part of Nagar kingdom. The kingdom broke
away in the 15th century. It was divided into Nagar and Hunza valleys
between two warring brothers because of religious conflict. The conflict
exists even today. The people of Nagar are Shiite Muslims and followers of
Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran. Hunzakuts, on the other hand, follow Agha
Khani creed. The slopes of Hunza face south to the warming sun. Thus, the
people are warm and open in nature. Nagar faces frozen Rakaposhi, so they
are cold and unfriendly.
For a long time, Hunza remained under Chinese influence. The Hunzakuts
paid tribute to Xingjian and enjoyed internal autonomy. They earned their
livelihood by taxing the caravans passing through the famous Silk Route.
They even made frequent raids and plundered the rich caravans. They used
to bury food at different places in their route in order to survive and
wait for the caravans to pass for weeks together. They earned loads of
silks and jewels in this way and sold young hostages as slaves in Kashgar.
Hunza had always enjoyed close proximity with China, Afghanistan and
Russia. However, the Russians were the first to realize its strategic
importance. They signed a deal with Hunza in 1888 and set up a post in
return of weapons and military training. The British realized the danger.
The next year, they sent Francis Young husband with some offers to
negotiate with the ruler of Hunza. However, Hunzakuts calculated that the
Russian offer was more profitable. They refused the British who, in
return, decided to capture the valley by force. On November 30, 1891, the
ruler of Hunza declared a state of emergency. All night, drum was beaten
in the royal fort summoning the people to defend the kingdom. Young men
received weapons, set up their posts and put a heroic resistance. However,
the British penetrated the kingdom and seized the state. They installed
Mir Nazim Khan as the new ruler and enjoyed free passage to Kashgar. In
1895, they made a border agreement with Russia and declared Wakhan as the
boundary between the two empires. Thus, the British consolidated
themselves in Hunza. After partition, Hunza became a legal part of
Pakistan in 1947. There started some clashes over boundary line between
China and Pakistan. However, the conflict ended at a reasonable agreement
in 1963.
HISTORICAL SITES IN HUNZA
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Baltit Fort
Baltit Fort breaks the monotony of mud-rock houses of Hunzakuts. It is
situated on the top of a hill from where it overlooks the whole valley.
The fort was built some 600 years ago. It is entirely made of stones,
supported by timber beams and plastered over with sun-dried mud. Elders of
Hunza tell that a Balti princess was married with the Mir of Hunza. She
brought Balti masons and artisans to build this fort as a dowry item. The
fort remained the palace and family home of the Mirs until 1960 when a
witch came to reside in it. The royal family shifted to a new granite
palace. The fort has been well kept. It maintains a museum, library and a
nice restaurant. The credit goes to the Agha Khan Trust for Culture.
Baltit Fort is three-storey building with 53 rooms. The main gate opens
into a dark hall or corridor on the ground floor. There are guest rooms,
kitchens, storerooms, prisons and living rooms attached to this corridor.
A wooden staircase goes up through a square opening in the floor above.
The second floor has family apartments, reception rooms, royal court, arms
depot and guards' chambers. A balcony presents a fascinating view of the
valley. Another ladder takes to the roof. This is the best spot to view
the famous peak of Rakaposhi that rises straight out of cultivated fields
and reaches 7788 meters in the sky. Behind the fort, the Karakorum rises
in a series of needle-sharp peaks. The most famous of them is lady's
finger. Locals also call it Bulbuli's peak, after a legendary Hunza
princess. The peak is so steep that even snow cannot sustain on its top.
Thus, the black peak stands in contrast with its snow covered neighbors.
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Altit Fort
Altit Fort hovers on a rocky cliff with a 300 meters deep plunge into the
Hunza River. The fort resembles Baltit Fort in its construction. The main
entrance leads to the ground floor. It has a few storerooms, dark and
sinister. A trapdoor leads to basement. Here a former Mir murdered his
brothers to capture the throne. The basement was also used to keep
prisoners who were later thrown out into the river. The second floor
consists of family apartments and royal court, kitchen and bathroom. A
staircase leads to the roof. There stands a watchtower with beautifully
carved doors and windows. The tower was made in 1503 A.D. To the right of
the tower is an ammunition depot and to the left is a small mosque. The
fort has mysterious and awful environment.
A similar compound of a fort, watchtower and mosque is situated in Ganesh
village. Its history is not known. Another worth visiting site is the
sacred rock of Ganesh.
LIFE IN HUNZA
Hunzakuts are photogenic and look very attractive in their traditional
dresses. Men wear baggy shalwar and qameez with a typical rolled woolen
cap called pattu. A long coat or blanket is worn in winter. Women wear
bright clothes: a long shirt over baggy trousers and an embroidered hat,
over which they drape a shawl. They do not observe veil and work as equals
in fields and homes. Hunzakuts get a little time for entertainment as they
spend more time at work. Nevertheless, they celebrate many festivals of
harvesting and sowing. They like to sing and dance at weddings. Their
local orchestra consists of a big drum, kettle drums and pipes.
Hunzakuts are simple and contented. They still believe in fairies and
supernatural powers. Their folk tales and songs are based on accounts of
fairies. They are humble and hardworking. Fear, fatigue and crime are not
known to them. Christine Osborne relates a very interesting incident to
show the simplicity of life in Hunza,
"Out for a stroll, I passed an elderly woman struggling uphill with tins
of sloshing water. Instinctively I took them, motioning her to lead as she
hopped from rock to rock like a tiny ibex. Her small house stood on a
cliff in upper Karimabad. It was clean, but lacked any comforts. She had a
roof over her head, but with only a bedroll, a plate and mug, she owned
little more than a nomad. Squatting on the dirt floor, she spoke through
the usual boy interpreter. She lived alone, never wore shoes. And her age?
'Three hundred and ten', he said in perfectly accented English!"
Though exaggerated, longevity of the Hunzakuts is proverbial. In Hunza,
one may come across many old people at the peak of their health. When
asked their ages, they will not set it below ninety. One hundred is not a
rare figure. However, according to the research of Dr. Muller Stellrecht,
tales of people living great ages are not true. Some may survive to live
seventy and even ninety years but tales of centenarians are false.
Somehow, Hunzakuts are healthy and strong. It is largely due to their
vegetarian diet of cereals and fruits. They do suffer from goiter,
tuberculosis and bronchitis but mostly meet their natural deaths.
Hunzakuts live in gray mud-rock houses. Most of the houses have two or
three stories. The people live in lower storey in winter and upper storey
in summer. Usually, they do not keep windows or ventilators but a skylight
in the roof. Houses face west with their backs to cold Ultar Glacier.
Verandas and roofs are used for drying apricot and maize.
Cattle breeding and farming are popular professions in Hunza. Sheep,
goats, yak and horses are domestic animals. Hunzakuts use sheep wool and
goat hair to spin a rough cloth. This is used to weave caps and long
coats. Traditions are still intact. Men spin goat hair and women only
sheep's wool. Despite brief summer, industrious people of Hunza cultivate
two crops a year. They work in terraced fields, which rise from the foot
of hills to the top. Each terrace is walled with stones. Hunzakuts work
long hours in their fields moving from one terrace to the other. One can
count as many as thirty terraces in a single field.
Before the British occupation, a reasonable arms industry also existed in
Hunza. Skillful craftsmen used to manufacture old muzzle-loading rifles.
However, the profession is dying out slowly. Christine Osborne cites
General Hamid's interesting description of the old rifles in these words:
"There is nothing like it in the rest of the world…The trigger is fixed
somewhere near the end of the butt. When it is pulled, it brings down a
big semi-circular hammer. The trigger and hammer are so situated that an
inexperienced man using the gun might have his nose caught between the
hammer and the butt… The owner of the gun has to carry such additional
items required in connection with the firing… a pouch for the gunpowder,
pieces of iron or garnets to be used as pellets, a piece of flint, an iron
edge tightly secured in a wooden handle, cotton wool for wicks etc… A wick
impregnated with a little powder is tied to the cocked hammer of the
gun…When the trigger is pulled the dangling wick descends. When it
correctly falls into the upper recess containing some powder, spark is
produced which, traveling inward into the barrel, fires off the main
charge. It will thus be seen that several conditions must get fulfilled
before the gun can be made to fire… any bird or animal which allows itself
to be shot with this gun deserves death… the animal must be either asleep,
deaf…and requested to keep still for a few minutes while the whole process
of shooting is gone through."
GENERAL INFORMATION
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Geography : Hunza is guarded on all sides by Mount Rakaposhi, Ultar
and Distagil glaciers. The valley is situated to the north of Gilgit and
beyond small villages and fields, the valley leads to China in the east.
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Altitude : 2,400 meters (8,000 feet)
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Access :
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The best way to reach Hunza is from Gilgit. Jeeps and wagons leave Jamat
Khana Bazaar in Gilgit for Karimabad, the best place in Hunza. Karimabad
is also known as 'the rooftop of Pakistan'.
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NATCO (Northern Areas Transport Company) buses drop at Aliabad and Ganesh
on their way to Sost, but it is not advisable. Travelers have to hike up
some two kilometers or take an expensive jeep ride to Karimabad.
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Climate : Summer is brief and warm. The temperature rises up to
25°C. However, it is cool in shade. Winter is snowy and harsh. The
temperature falls below 0°C. Spring is mild and very enjoyable.
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