Town or village
Gilgit
Gilgit district · 1,500 m
The administrative capital of Gilgit-Baltistan and the road and air gateway to the whole region, and where our company started.
Gilgit has been an important stop for as long as there has been traffic through these mountains. It was a city on the ancient Silk Route and was once entirely Buddhist. The Chinese pilgrims Faxian and Xuan Zang, who crossed by way of Yasin and Chitral, passed through. From about the 4th to the 11th century, Gilgit and Yasin made up one kingdom, known as Little Bolor.
Kind Town or villageDistrict GilgitElevation 1,500 mPosition 35.921° N, 74.309° E
About Gilgit
The local legend most people know is that of Shiri Badat, the last Buddhist king of Gilgit (some say he was Hindu), and it is told in nearly every house. A Persian prince, Azur Jamshed, married his daughter Miyo Khai in secret. Many people believe Shiri Badat is sleeping under a glacier and will return one day to claim Gilgit, so ask a local to tell it the way their grandparents did.
From the marriage of Azur Jamshed and Miyo Khai came the Tarkhan dynasty, which the book says gave rise to the ruling families of Hunza, Nagar and Chitral. Later, the British set up a political agency at Gilgit in 1877, and a longer lasting one in 1889. In 1935 they leased the agency back from the Maharaja of Kashmir and raised the Gilgit Scouts.
Today Gilgit is a lively market town and the junction for every other valley. A day in the bazaars, at NLI Market and Jamat Khana Bazaar, is a treat. The Buddha carved on a cliff at Napura Baseen, 3 to 5 km from the city, is about 3 m tall and is probably from around the 7th century, and a monastery was found near it in about 1938. The famous Gilgit manuscripts, ancient Buddhist texts in Sanskrit, were found in 1931.
Elsewhere in Gilgit
Swipe along the district, from the valley floor to the summits.
