Gilgit
1:500,000
Sheet NI-43/NW 1st Edtn (1986)

Also shows Babasur Pass, Nanga Parbat and & Rakaposhi

hi!
i am very interested in hunza culture and location as well.
in this post i have attached two map overlays with a short description from wikipedia.

Gilgit is a region in the Northern Areas of Pakistan, bordering the Chinese region of Xinjiang. Gilgit town is the chief town of the Northern Areas which is a major hub on the Karakoram Highway for almost all mountaineering expeditions in Northern Areas from Karakoram range to Himalaya range. Gilgit has an area of 14,680 mi� (38,021 km�). The region is significantly mountainous, lying on the foothills of the Karakoram mountains, and has an average altitude of 1,500 m (5,000 ft). It is drained by the Indus river, which rises in the neighbouring regions of Ladakh and Baltistan. WIKI-PAGE.



best regards!
waiting for replies with more studies...
thx:
g

another map overlay from northern pakistan.
hunza nagar map with a quite large description.

HUNZA (also known as KANJUT) and NAGAR, two small states on the North-west frontier of Kashmir, formerly under the administration of the Gilgit agency. The two states, which are divided by a river which runs in a bed 600 ft. wide between cliffs 300 ft. high, are inhabited generally by people of the same stock, speaking the same language, professing the same form of the Mahommedan religion, and ruled by princes sprung from the same family. Nevertheless they have been for centuries persistent rivals, and frequently at war with each other. Formerly Hunza was the more prominent of the two, because it held possession of the passes leading to the Pamirs, and could plunder the caravans on their way between Turkestan and India. But they are both shut up in a recess of the mountains, ...

...and were of no importance until about 1889, when the advance of Russia up to the frontiers of Afghanistan, and the great development of her military sources in Asia, increased the necessity for strengthening the British line of defence. This led to the establishment of the Gilgit agency, the occupation of Chitral, and the Hunza expedition of 1891, which asserted British authority over Hunza and Nagar. The country is inhabited by a Dard race of the Yeshkun caste speaking Burishki. For a description of the people see GILGIT. The Hunza-Nagar Expedition of 1891, under Colonel A. Durand, was due to the defiant attitude of the Hunza and Nagar chiefs towards the British agent at Gilgit. The fort at Nilt was stormed, and after a fortnight's delay the cliffs (1000 ft. high) beyond it were also carried by assault. Hunza and Nagar were occupied, the chief of Nagar was reinstated on making his submission, and the half-brother of the raja of Hunza was installed as chief in the place of his brother. web page HERE.
regards
g

I've just downloaded this overlay. I recall Baltit being on the left side of the river, looking north, not the right side. The supplied text has some inaccuracies. The Hunzukuts are Ismaili while the folk of Nagar are Shia. It's said the Hunzukuts were converted by an Ismaili missionary from Badakshan (Afghanistan).

It's worth noting that the Wakhan corridor, the rightmost finger of northern Afghanistan pointing in the general direction of China, was the creation of Colonel Algernon Durand when he was responsible for the Gilgit Agency in the 1890s, and this border is called the Durand Line. His memoir of five years in NWFP is a fascinating read.

Google Earth's resolution is insufficient in this region to show the 14th century palace fortress of Hunza. If anyone has its location, it would be a welcome addition.

Salutations, Adrian

While it's some time since I was last in Gilgit & Hunza, I assume the transportation options are about the same.

Pindi to Gilgit: PIA has direct flights. When I made this journey, small planes were used, and if there was any cloud, the flights were cancelled. PTDC (Pakistan Tourist Development Corporation) provided surface connections by ten-seaters, and with frequent problems en route it was realistic to allow at least 18 hours for the journey. At the time, the PTDC vehicles departed from Flashman's Hotel in Pindi.

Several Hunzukuts entrepreneurs provided road transport between Gilgit & Hunza. It was a three-hour journey on the Chinese-built road to get from Gilgit to Hunza.

Salutations, Adrian

hi adrian!

you are absolutely right!

this topographical map i have attached (988 KB) shows clear the exact location of Baltit

Thanks for posting! keep up the good work.

g

Thanks for the overlay. The place legends correspond to my recollection of the valley.

Immediately to the right of the uppermost portion of the overlay, there's a big ravine running north-south. On its right-hand side, just after it enters the Hunza valley, there's the fourteenth-century palace-fortress, built as a wedding present by craftsmen from Baltistan when one of their princesses married the Mir of Hunza. It would be nice to have its location marked exactly, if you should encounter its location.

Adrian

maybe this is what we are talking about?

Baltit Fort in Karimabad, with Ultar Peak in the background. The fort's about 700 years old and was in ruins few years ago. It's been restored over the last six years with money from the Aga Khan Foundation and gives great views out over the Hunza valley and Rakaposhi (7788m).

cheers!
g

Hello Syzygy

Given its commanding location, Baltit fort is an impressive site.

Every time I view Hunza, I'm impressed anew at the diligence of its inhabitants. All of the green, the terraces, the waterworks, are manmade. It takes really skilled engineering to construct watercourses from the outlets of glaciers to the land to be irrigated.

Lahul is another of my interests. If you're able to find overlays for the Chenab, from its start at the confluence of the Chandra and Bhaga, all the way to Kishtwar, I'd be greatly obliged. Udaipur, on the northern bank, has a remarkable 13th century temple, the Mirkula, and Triloknath, on a crest to the south of the Chenab, some four miles before Udaipur, has remarkable 12th century and 16th century images of Avalokiteshvara, the expression of the Buddha's compassion Tibetan: Chenresig). There's another remarkable temple at Gandhola, high on the mountainside above the confluence of Chandra & Bhaga, across from Tandi.

Salutations, Adrian

hi!
i have found nearly nothing. just a pic of Chenab river a LINK FOR YOU and some wiki-infos:

The Chenab River is formed by the confluence of the Chandra and Bhaga rivers at Tandi located in the upper Himalayas, in the Lahaul district of Himachal Pradesh, India. In its upper reaches it is also known as the Chandrabhaga. It flows through the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir into the plains of the Punjab, forming the boundary between the Rechna and Jech interfluves (Doabs in Farsi). It is joined by the Jhelum River at Trimmu, and then by the Ravi River. It then merges with the Sutlej River at Uch Sharif to form the Panjnad ('Five Rivers'), which joins the Indus at Mithankot. The total length of the Chenab is approximately 960 kilometres. The waters of the Chenab are allocated to Pakistan under the terms of the Indus Waters Treaty.

The river was known to Indians in Vedic period as Asikani or Iskmati and as Acesines to the Ancient Greeks. In 325 BC, Alexander the Great allegedly founded the town of Alexandria on Indus (present day Uch Sharif or Mithankot or Chacharan) at the confluence of the Indus and the combined stream of Punjab rivers (currently known as the Panjnad River).

The Chenab has the same place in the consciousness of the people of the Punjab, as, say the Rhine holds for the Germans, or the Danube for the Austrians and the Hungarians. It is the iconic river around which Punjabi consciousness revolves, and plays a prominent part in the tale of Heer Ranjha, the Punjabi national epic. wikipage

cheers
g