Gilgit (District)

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Gilgit District
ضلع مستونگ
State : Pakistan Pakistan
Province : Gilgit-Baltistan
Founded : 1970
Seat : Gilgit
Coordinates : 35 ° 55 ′  N , 74 ° 19 ′  E Coordinates: 35 ° 55 ′ 0 ″  N , 74 ° 19 ′ 0 ″  E
Area : 4th 208  km²
 
Residents : 222,000 (2013)
Population density : 53 inhabitants per km²
Time zone : PST ( UTC + 5 )
Map of Pakistan, position of Gilgit district highlighted

The Gilgit District is a district of the autonomous region of Gilgit-Baltistan in northern Pakistan .

It was founded in 1970 when the former Gilgit Agency was restructured to the Pakistani Northern Territories. With the renaming of the northern areas in Gilgit-Baltistan in 2009, another restructuring took place. The northern part of the original Gilgit district was separated as the newly established Hunza-Nagar district and has since been divided into the two districts of Hunza and Nagar . Gilgit District has a federal structure.

location

The original Gilgit district bordered the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan to the north, Xinjiang in China to the northeast and east , the Skardu, Astore and Diamir districts to the south and the Ghizer district to the west. The district is known as the "gateway to China and Central Asia ".

The city of Gilgit is the district capital. It is also the administrative seat of Gilgit-Baltistan. According to a 1998 census, the district then had a population of 243,324 people. The area included Gilgit, Gojal (Upper Hunza), Hunza , Juglot , Naltar , Nomal and Shimshal , as well as numerous small villages such as Minapin and Hispar .

The district now has an area of ​​4208 km². The population was estimated to be 222,000 in 2013.

The Gilgit region is the starting point for trekking and mountaineering in the Karakoram or Himalayas , which tourists can reach via Islamabad by plane in around 50 minutes or via the Karakoram Highway after an 18-hour journey.

geography

Landscape in Gilgit District

Only part of the basin of the Gilgit River or the Gilgit Valley is connected to the political boundaries of the Gilgit District. There is a land connection with the high mountain country, which includes glaciers and ice fields, high mountain valleys in the north and northeast with the province of Gilgit on the border of China from Karakoram. There Mount Rakaposhi reaches a summit height of 7788  m .

The major rivers of Gilgit District are the Kunjirap , which flows south of the Karakoram Highway from the Kunjirap Valley, also known as the Hunza River, which flows south to Sust . The Hunza River flows further south and joins the Gilgit River in the northeast of Gilgit. The Gilgit River reaches the Gilgit District from the west south of the Bichhar Pass in the ( Naltar Valley ) and flows west through the city of Gilgit. The Indus flows into the Gilgit district coming from the Skardu district . The Gilgit River flows into the Indus about 6 kilometers north of Jaglot . The Indus continues to flow along the Karakoram Highway. Other rivers are the Astor , Kunjirap, Shimshal , Hispar , Naltar and Yaheen.

Numerous passes lead into the Gilgit district, such as the Khunjerab Pass , Mintaka Pass , Kilik Pass , Chillinji Pass , Shimshal Pass , Ghujerab Pass , Chapchingal Pass , Chaprot Pass , Naltar Pass and Talmutz Pass .

There are lakes in the Gilgit District, such as Naltar Lakes , Borit Lake , Pathote Lake and Rush Lake on Rush Peak .

administration

The district is governed by both a higher-level and a local government, headed by Minister KA&NA Pakistan. Subordinate to this is the head of the executive , comparable to a prime minister, a locally elected person. The local system of government has a judicial council, the Provincial Assembly , which is elected by the people of the six districts of Gilgit-Baltistan and represented externally by a spokesman. Administration and women members of local governments are determined by a separate selection system.

The chief secretary is the head of government and administrator of all departments who controls all matters of concern. There is an inspector general of the police as the chief police chief with subordinate police superintendents in all six districts of the northern areas.

The Supreme Court is formed by the Chief Justice with two other members elected by the government. Another court, the Supreme Appellate Court , is an essential element of the jurisdiction in the Northern Territories.

society

The best known families in the Gilgit area are the Raja and the Wazir. Both families held the highest offices in this region in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Their influence was based on Gaur Rahman , the eldest son of Mulk Imam, the ruler of Yasin, who ruled from 1841, who banished the Raja from public life to their homes. Later the Dogras ruled from Kashmir , who practiced a government policy of divide and rule in order to hold down the "savages" of this area.

Today, influence is based on family size, power, influence and popularity as practiced by the Gushpurs of Ghizer , Makpuns of Baltistan , Mirss of Hunza and Nagar , Ashraf in Astore , Hajis of Darel-Tangir and Buttae of Chilas etc.

There are two influential tribes that spread through Astore, Gilgit, Ghizer, Baltistan and Diamer, these are the Shins and Yashkuns .

The inhabitants of the land then called Daradadesa, mentioned as Daradas in ancient writings such as the Rajatarangini (mid-12th century), differed in some cultural peculiarities from the population of the Kashmir Valley . They were known for panning for gold in the rivers and had to pay taxes on the gold found, according to a 15th century source. Their habit of consuming large amounts of wine is mentioned elsewhere. The residents of Gilgit continued to make wine, as Karl Jettmar observed in 1971. He also described the rituals associated with drinking wine.

Web links

Commons : Gilgit District  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. a b gilgitbaltistan.gov.pk: Statistical Data (2013); PDF 7.5 MB ( Memento of the original from December 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.gilgitbaltistan.gov.pk
  2. Bakshi, SR (1997) Kashmir: History and People Sarup, New Delhi, ISBN 81-85431-96-5 Available on Google Books. P. 217 , accessed December 18, 2009
  3. Buddha Prakash: Gilgit in Ancient Times. In: Bulletin of Tibetology, VII, 3, 1970, pp. 15-40, here p. 17
  4. ^ Karl Jettmar: Winemaking and wine rituals in the Hindu Kush. In: Kurt Tauchmann (Ed.): Festschrift for Helmut Petri's 65th birthday. Böhlau, Cologne 1973, pp. 191–205