About Gilgit

Gilgit is the administrative capital of Northern Area Pakistan, consisted of six districts namely Ghezir, Gilgit, Diamar, Astore, Baltistan (Skardu) and Ghanche. It is accessible by road and air from Islamabad. It 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).

Gilgit has spectacular scenic beauty. The peak tourist season is from May to mid-October though the tourist season is round the year. The maximum temperature in May is 33 C and minimum 16 C In September.

Gilgit is the gateway to China and Central Asia. Gilgit is also the hub of various valleys to the North Hunza and China. To the South, Diamar, Kohistan and Swat. To the East Skardu and Kashmir, and to the West Ghezir and Chitral.


Local currency is Pak Rupee but foreign currencies are also accepted by the hotels and gift shops. Exchange facilities are available with all banks and local moneychangers. Shina is the language mainly spoken and understood in Gilgit Northern Area of Pakistan. Beside Shina people can speak and understand Urdu and English.

Gilgit is called the capital and heart of Northern area of Pakistan because it is hub of economic activities. A commercial route opened with the China has boosted multidimensional economic opportunities. Gilgit is the only town in northern area of Pakistan which facilities traffic to different valleys and to the capital area of Pakistan Islamabad. Gilgit is well connected by air with Islamabad. You can take a flight to Gilgit from the capital of the country and reach Gilgit. The airport at Gilgit is just a mile away from the main bazaar and you can take mini-vans or some other vehicle to reach Gilgit town.

Tourism And Transport In Gilgit

Gilgit city is one of the two major hubs for all mountaineering expeditions in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Almost all tourists headed for treks in Karakoram or Himalaya ranges arrive at Gilgit first. Many tourists choose to travel Gilgit by air since the road travel between Islamabad and Gilgit by Karakoram Highway takes nearly 18 hours, whereas the air travel takes a mere 45-50 minutes.

Places Of Interests In Gilgit

Just 10 kms from the town of Gilgit, is a Buddha carved into a stone face. Buddha is a victory monument of Taj Mughal, built 700 years ago. The beautiful valley of Naltar in the south eastern side of Gilgit is 35 km away from the main town. It's lush green pastures and green carpeted ground make it a jewel of the Gilgit. It is a forested (pine) village known for its wildlife and magnificent mountain scenery.
Gilgit Buddah

Naltar Valley Gilgit

Hunza region 113 km, from Gilgit. It takes tow or three hours to reach Hunza from Gilgit. It is the one of good place in Gilgit region. It offers historical view of Altit Fort, Baltit Fort, Ganish Fort and skyscraper mountains. It's covered by high peaks namely Rakaposhi (7,788 m), Ladyfinger (6,000 m) and Darmyani Peak (6,090 m) and Lady Finger mountains. In Hunza Three major languages are spoken, Shina in Lower Hunza, Burushaski in Central Hunza , Wakhi in Upper Hunza and Burushaski Nagar..

Nager Valley is very famous for hunting animals such as Marco Polo sheep, brown bears, show tigers etc. Gulmet, Faker and Bar are the popular tourist attraction places in Nagar. Golden peak Rakahposhi is situated in the Nagar Valley.

Modern Hunza

Hunza River Valley was improved in the mid-1950s to accommodate Mir Jamal Khan's newly acquired used Jeep. John Clark traveled on foot and horseback during his visit in 1950 and 1951. Dr. Allen E. Banik travel via Jeep during his visit in 1958 as did others thereafter.

The dangerous road was improved over the years to become the Karakorum Highway. This picture is overlooking the village of Ganesh near the capitol of Baltit. The road winds down the side of the valley as it traverses the terraced fields. Rock slides in other areas continue to require constant attention in order to keep the road open.

Hunza is a common destination for tourists traveling to Pakistan because of all of the past hype about the longevity and exceeding good health of the residents. The contrast between the spectacular Himalayan mountain peaks and the lush terraced gardens makes Hunza the photographers' paradise.

A fruit tree in the foreground can be seen in full bloom with a glimpse of the Hunza river in the top left. The tall and narrow Lombard poplar trees have been grown here for centuries because they are fast growing, provide good firewood and don't shade the vegetable gardens.

Hunza exports people. The valley will not support the growing population. Many young adults leave Hunza to other areas of Pakistan for employment. They send money and goods back to their families in Hunza. The farm can be passed to a son but is to small to divide between more than one son.

Tourism provides another source of income. Exports and natural resources are severely limited. Without an export a country or area does not have the money to purchase imports. This economic truth has kept Hunza from progressing.

Summary.

Mir Muhammed Jamal Khan enjoyed a good show of deception. His visit with Dr. Allen E. Banik in 1958 was a good example. The Mir invited Dr. Banik to witness a mock trial in the Old Palace (Fort) that had been built centuries before high on the side of the valley in Baltit. As they left the Mir's new Palace the Mir said "to start without him, as he wanted a little time to dress for the occasion." Dr. Banik and his photographer struggled up the long, steep climb to the Old Palace and rested for a couple of minutes before entering. They were shocked to find the Mir of Hunza seated on his throne beautifully attired in his ceremonial robes, plumed cap and ancient sword. Dr. Banik had a 15 minute head start, but the Mir sat cool and comfortable, with no sign of fatigue. Dr. Banik ask if the Mir had come by horseback. He replied laughingly, "Why, of course not! I walked - it was just a short jaunt." Naturally, the Mir has ridden a horse. This was a show of deception attempting to trick Dr. Banik into believing the people of Hunza were super-human. Dr. Banik believed the trick by convincing himself and the readers that it was possible because the Mir had a longer stride. See Dr. Banik's book page 107. The scientific fact is that having a longer stride does not reduce the work required to hike the hill. Short-legged people do very well climbing mountains. Dr. Banik must have failed his college physics class.

We really shouldn't fault the Mir for deceiving people about Hunza. It is always a strong temptation to play with the minds of the gullible. He did a first-class act on them. The Mir also said there were Abominable Snowmen in the mountains around Hunza, and Dr. Banik apparently believed that as well.

The Scientific American Mind magazine in the July 25, 2005 issue ran a front page story titled, The Joy of Telling Lies - Everybody Does It - Because It Works. Deception runs like a red thread throughout all of human history. The Hunzakuts were no different. The Hunzakuts excelled in falsehoods about their ages, state of health and happiness because they benefited. The Mir encouraged the deception because he thought the people would be happier. The Mir prevented John Clark from taking two students to the United States for further education because the Mir feared the boys would be dissatisfied in Hunza after their return. He was shielding his people from the world.

Hunza was not a democracy as falsely reported. The Mir (King) was a strong dictator. His meetings with the ministers from each village was called a Durbar where the ministers brought up concerns and problems. The Mir ask for their opinion but in the end they were simply "yes" men. The Mir had such control over the subjects of Hunza that a farmer refrained from correcting the river channel when the river had begun eroding his farm land. The farmer had to get permission from the Mir before trying to save his farm.

The Hunza people did not enjoy exceptionally long life as falsely claimed. It is doubtful that anyone in Hunza ever lived to be 100 year of age. The ages claimed by the Hunzakuts were simply lies. They considered age to be a matter of wisdom and achievement, not calendar years. They kept no written records and did not know their calendar age.

This picture was taken in 1961. Queen Rani is on the left. Mir Jamal Khan is third from the left. His age was accurately known because he was royalty. He was born on September 23, 1912 and died in Gilgit, Pakistan on March 18, 1976. He was only 49 when this picture was taken but looks much older. He only lived to age 64. He certainly was not a symbol of longevity.

The Hunza people were not healthy or free from disease. They suffered greatly from a multitude of disease. They had poor dental health and infections. They lived in a very unsanitary environment. The one benefit was the extreme isolation that reduced the number of contagious diseases. Cancer and heart disease may have been rare, but it is unknown for certain because the dead were never examined by a professional.

The Hunza diet was not the perfect diet as claimed. Diet deficiencies abound. The diet was seriously deficient in iodine, omega-3 fatty acids and amino acids from proteins. Many of the diseases treated by John Clark were the result of the a nutritional deficiency.

Tuberculosis is a good example of a disease that causes death for those with a protein deficiency. The Hunzakuts suffered and died from tuberculosis as reported by John Clark. The immune system is made entirely from amino acids derived from eating protein. Meat is the best source for amino acids. The Hunzakuts developed tuberculosis and died as a result of protein deficiency. Dr. Weston E. Price in the 1920s and Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson in the 1910s discovered that Eskimos who developed tuberculosis while living in the white mans' settlements and eating carbohydrates were cured after being transferred to live with the natives on their traditional all-meat diet. Moving the sick Eskimos out of the settlements to return to the native way was a proven cure for diseases.

The Hunzakuts were not a wonderfully happy people as claimed. The women in Hunza were treated harshly. They were not allowed an education and were highly restricted in public. The women endured hard labor in smoky dwellings and suicide was not uncommon. They would either eat the poison pits from the bitter apricot or jump from a convenient cliff.

The grains did not mature faster in Hunza than other places as false reported by Dr. Allen E. Banik. The vegetation and trees in Hunza showed signs of nutritional deficiency as reported by John Clark. Hunza is an artificial environment that depends on hard manual labor to keep the terraced gardens watered and fertilized. The silt used to make the gardens is not organic soil. It is ground rock that originates from the grinding of the glacier as it moves down the high mountain valley above. The silt contains many minerals but lacks phosphates and organic matter. Fertilization with animal dung and human excrement is required several times during the growing season to keep the plants and trees healthy. Even so, the growing conditions are not ideal. Luckily the glacial milk does not contain harmful minerals or metals in sufficient quantities to cause health problems for the vegetation, animals or humans. No two glacial milks are the same. Glacial water from other areas of the earth are each different from one another. The content depend completely on the composition of the rock over which they flow.

The Hunza people were no different from other people who lived in isolated high mountain communities. Most of the books written about the Hunzakuts are simply fiction and myths flamed on by the imagination into believing the Hunza River Valley was a magical Garden of Eden where people never got sick. The people of Hunza recognized a century ago that pretending to be centenarians brought visitors bearing money and gifts. They certainly must have been laughing after retreating to the privacy of their homes. Primitive people the world over have been known to tell tall tales about themselves to strangers visiting their land. Lying about one's age is as old as mankind. The people of Hunza are known for their consistent exaggerations of age in order to gain respect and social status. The social structure of Hunza encouraged lying and cheating as a profitable way to better one's self.

Scientific facts about Hunza have been impossible to obtain. Since the British first entered Hunza the ruling Mir has placed a severe restriction on visitors to the valley. Permission was required from both Pakistan and the State of Hunza. Scientific studies or independent investigations were strictly forbidden. An invitation from the Mir of Hunza was essential to obtain a special-entry permit. As late as 1960 there were no hotels, no restaurants, and no stores to buy food. Chosen visitors were generally guests of the Mir in the capital of Baltit where they were a make-believe story instead of the truth about Hunza.

The Mir of Hunza never provided verification of the longevity of the Hunzakuts and never allowed others to investigate. The Hunzakuts of the past were no older than they appeared and may have actually been younger than they appeared. The longevity was a hoax from the beginning, and the diet did not produce a super-human race. Hunza could best be described as an isolated high mountain kingdom founded on betrayal and struggling for existence by deceiving the world.

Hunza has been mostly ignored by the surrounding nations because it has no strategic importance whatsoever. The valley is simply inconsequential except for the myth that the people had record longevity on a near vegetarian diet. However, the Hunza River Valley did provide many health benefits. The Hunza people of the past were forced to adopt a lifestyle that has been shown to have many healthy features.

• Babies were nursed at the breast for several years. The weak and those that could not nurse simply died.

• Obesity caused by excessive calorie consumption was unknown, although malnutrition was a serious problem.

• Work and physical activity aided in overall well-being.

• Isolation prevented many communicable diseases.

• Dry air at a high elevation reduced the incidence of many communicable diseases.

• Rodents and insects that transmit disease were rare in the isolated high mountain valley.

• Processed and refined foods were non existent.

• Sugar was a very rare commodity in 1950 because of the extremely high cost and unknown earlier.

• Honey was not available.

• Imports were unavailable because of the isolation and the lack of any exportable commodity.

• Everyone struggled equally. There was not an overworked slave class or lazy ruling class in the social structure, both of which tend to reduce life span.

Many people have tried to capitalize on the Hunza myth by writing books and selling diet programs. Many of these people actually believed the Hunza myth themselves and tried to duplicate the diet in their own lives. The result was always failure. Good health was never achieved. A typical fraudulent diet program called the "BioCalendar Health System" was advertised in The Kansas City Times on May 18, 1978, on page 18D by a group calling themselves The American Health Institute, 125 American Health Institute Boulevard, Canton, Ohio, 44767.

The Honesty, Court System and the Social System in Hunza.

The Mir told Renee Taylor that Hunza had no police and no crime. He described Hunza as Perfect Land. This story was also false. The "Durbar" was an open court of ministers lead by the Mir. Each village also had a Durbar led by three judges for the trial of less serious offenses. Hunza had a penal colony at Shimshal Valley where inmates attended to flocks of sheep owned by the Mir. It was a dreadful sentence to be banished to Shimshal. The winters were icy cold and the high winds blew continuously.

To the credit of the Hunza people, the social system made premarital sex a serious taboo. The couple would quickly get married if a girl became pregnant, otherwise couples got married at the same time in December in a great community ceremony. Murder, adultery and homosexuality were much more serious with the death penalty as punishment upon conviction. Therefore, there were no homosexuals or cheating spouses in Hunza and very few murders of fellow Hunzakuts.

A winter feast called the Tumushuling was held following the December Wedding Day. The meal consisted of chapatis (bread), meat, rice and plates of butter. Animals were killed for the winter festival as a special treat and because of the shortage of grain and dried fruit. Only the village chiefs, other prominent men, new bridegrooms and the Mir attended, and a song of the history of Hunza was sung. It lasted for several hours and ended in a food fight with flying pieces of chapatis and gobs of butter.

Hunzakuts were not above murder and theft in past centuries when they continually raided trade caravans traveling through the nearby mountain passes, but that practice was discontinued in the late 1800s.

Honesty was another problem since the social system made dishonesty the best policy. Life in Hunza was highly competitive and unorganized. The people cared only for those in their immediate family. One man could not be trusted to take his neighbor's farm produce to the market in Gilgit. Each farmer had to take his own produce. Since cheating, lying and stealing were the norm, a Hunzakut would lie or tell any fable that would give him an advantage. It is no surprise that many of the people falsely claimed to be over 100 years of age. The crime rate was so bad that John Clark had the shoes stolen off his horse in Mount Ultar Nullah (canyon) by the Mir's own sheepherders, and his personal items were stolen from a locked room in the old palace by one of the Mir's servants who had a key. The village chief stole some of Clark's medicines that were critical for his treating the people. The Mir would do nothing about these incidences. See page 98. The picture is of the Old Palace where John Clark lived and had his school. It was also known as the Fort.

A Hunzakut could not be trusted to pay an agreed amount for a service or material goods to be delivered. Neither could a Hunzakut be trusted to deliver a service or goods if the payment were made in advance. For these reasons the people did not deal much with each other. Most of the dealings were only within family groups where the people were more hesitant to cheat a relative. John Clark assigned one of his students the task of purchasing food from the villagers. The student would only contact his family members and reported that the food item was not available if his family did not have it. He would not seek the food any other place in the village. John Clark gained the trust of the people by his fair and honest dealings. He paid the agreed amount upon completion of the work or delivery of the goods. He also paid well and frequently gave a bonus for good performance.

The unusual practices in the Hunza court or Durbar promoted dishonesty as well. Guilt was not decided by the one who started an incident but by the one throwing the worst insults. The guilty party was fined for minor offenses with half of the fine going to the judges and the other half to the Mir. The innocent party was also expected to pay an equal amount as a gift to the judges. Therefore the guilty and the innocent suffered equally. As a result, few complaints were brought before the authorities.

The Hunza villagers paid taxes to the Mir on their farm produce. They were also required to work part time on the Mir's personal property and projects without pay. Two boys the same age as the Mir's son were assigned as companions to the Crown Prince and were to be servants for life.

Hunza Glacial Milk

Many people jump to the conclusion that the water diverted from glacial runoff was the source of special healing and life extending properties. The gardens were watered with mineral rich glacier water carried by an aqueduct system for a distance of 50 miles (80 m) from the Ultar Glacier on the 25,550 foot (7789 m) high Mount Rakaposhi.

The wooden aqueduct trough was hung from the sheer cliffs by steel nails hammered into the rock walls. Rocks beneath the glacier were ground into a fine powder or silt by the pressure and weight to give the water a slight milky color, thus it was described as "Glacial Milk."

There are those who claim the Hunza water is rich in cesium and potassium thereby making it rich with caustically (alkaline) active metals that prevent and cure cancer. Some modern doctors are giving cesium therapy treatments to cure cancer, but cesium does not cure cancer.

The glacier water used to flood the garden plots did provide many minerals or trace metals. The minerals were in the ground rock and not in the colloidal form as many claim. The following link gives a chemical composition of the glacial milk of Hunza. It may or may not be correct. Most of the other information on the following link is false.

Hunza Apricot Pit

The Hunza people did grow apricots and eat the apricot kernel of the apricot pit. The apricot kernel does indeed contain vitamin B-17, and the people may have had a low incidence of cancer, but the apricot had nothing to do with the cancer rate in the Hunza people. Vitamin B-17 has never been shown to prevent or cure cancer. The dead Hunzakuts were never examined by anyone to verify the cause of death. It was never proven that they had a low incidence of cancer.

Hunza Vegetarian Myth

The Hunza people were never vegetarians or even close to it. They refrained from eating many of their animals in summer because animals were the main source of food in the remaining 10 months of the year. They ate a high-fat diet all year long, especially in winter when the consumption of animal fats increased. The butter, yogurt and cheese made from the goat, sheep and Yak milk was very high in fat, especially saturated fats. The Hunza people were somewhat vegetarian for two or three months during the summer.

The diet that vegetarian authors claim was eaten by the Hunza people can be found in other modern and primitive societies. The present people in Southern India are strict vegetarians by religious conviction, but they have the shortest life span on earth as scientifically proven. They are ravaged by disease, diet deficiencies and suffer from frail body structures. The children exhibit a failure to thrive, and the childhood mortality is very high.

The ancient people of Egypt in the days of the Pharaohs ate a diet almost identical to that claimed for the Hunza people by present day vegetarian authors, but the health of the Egyptians was a disaster. The Egyptians had a written language that described diseases such as tooth decay, obesity and heart disease. They lived on the fertile flood plain of the Nile River delta. Life was easy, and grains, fruits and vegetables were grown in an overwhelming abundance. The Bible tells of the abundance in Egypt while surrounding peoples were suffering drought and famine. The Egyptians mummified hundreds of thousands of people whose preserved remains are available for study today. The bodies can be examined today to identify diseases and diet deficiencies. Even though they had a abundance of food they suffered terribly from rotten teeth, osteoporosis, diabetes and heart disease. Soft tissue diseases such as cancer are more difficult to trace in the mummies. Heart disease would have not been identified had it not been for the Egyptian writings. The cause for the poor health of the Egyptians was the abundance of carbohydrate foods not unlike the abundance found in supermarkets today.

The Hunza Longevity Myth

John Clark did not make any mention whatsoever about the Hunza people living to an especially old age. The British general who first visited Hunza in the 1870s said there were old people but gave no indication as to the ages. At that time in history a person beyond 50 years of age was considered to be well beyond the average life expectancy.

This picture shows old Hunza men who proclaim to a visitor that they are more than 100 years of age. They appear to be 70 to 80 years of age which would be more accurate. Because this is a recent picture taken by tourists, these gentlemen were probably never born or raised in Hunza. They most likely arrived from other areas of Pakistan, drawn to the opportunity of collecting a gratuity from the unsuspecting traveler for the privilege of taking their picture.

Hunzakuts are known for their folklore and story telling as are most primitive people. After switching from being a warrior people to a peaceful people the Hunzakuts developed a highly over-inflated opinion of themselves. They thought the British soldiers had come to surrender to their leadership. They viewed themselves as living in the land of perfect, and they claimed theirs was the perfect society. They were and continue to be very much in denial of their true situation. This attitude is not uncommon among primitive peoples. Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson reported a very similar attitude among the primitive Eskimos who had never seen a white man. The Eskimos bragged that their Shaman (religious leader) could kill a bear on the other side of the mountain with a bow and arrow, and that he could travel to the Moon, converse with the people living there and return. The Eskimo considered themselves to be far superior to the white man who admitted to having never been to the moon. This was in 1910 before white man did travel to the Moon, walk on the surface and return, although not finding the people whom the Eskimo claimed lived there.

Exaggerations of the longevity of the Hunza people have exploded because the British General reported that the Hunza people lived to a healthy old age. Some claims are now being made that the Hunzakuts lived 150 to 200 years of age. These claims are pure nonsense. The claim that the people lived to 110 years of age is also false. The thought of a Garden of Eden has many imaginations running wild. The following is a typical example of the myths being propagated wildly.

"The Hunza of the title is a valley in the Himalayan foothills of northern Pakistan. The Hunza people are best known for their healthy diet and lifestyle that supposedly result in people living to the age of 150 and having an active sex life until the age of 200 — or something like that."

The health of the present day Hunza is known for certain. The following is a present day observation.

"As someone who has lived and worked in the Hunza and Baltistan region of northern Pakistan for a decade, it is important to first debunk the myth that the Burushushki, Wakhi and Shina people of the Hunza region are blessed with the lives of Methusula. This was actually a myth which gained momentum when it was written up by Dr. Alexander Leaf, in the January 1973 issue of National Geographic magazine. There is absolutely no scientific validity to his claim. People of the Hunza suffer from malnutrition and nutrition deficiencies just as much as any other remote mountain region in SE Asia. Although the predominantly Ismaeli faith (branch of Shi-ite muslims) are progressive and relatively better off than most of their neighbours in nearby regions, they will all tell any visitor, that their life expectancy is around 50 - 60 years, just like any other region of northern Pakistan."

The lack of resources left the Hunza people in a constant struggle to obtain their food, and the mountain farming on the sides of the steep rocky valley required a lot of hard work. The caloric intake was naturally low and never in abundance. This combination of factors prevented the Hunza people from becoming obese and lead to the avoidance of diseases caused by a diet with an abundance of carbohydrates.

The Mir gave Renee Taylor the secret to the longevity claim of the Hunzakuts, but she totally missed the implication. He said,

"Age has nothing to do with the calendar." See page 51.

Taylor confirmed that the people did not look to be as old as they claimed.

"He looked about fifty, but he told me that he was about eighty." See page 60.

The Hunzakuts had developed the practice of equating age with wisdom, experience and achievement. A wise farmer of 50 years of age who had accumulated much more than the average farmer could rightly claim to be 120 years of age instead of his truly 50 calendar years. Taylor said she saw a man playing and jumping at a game of volleyball who said he was 145 years old but looked to be only 50 or maybe 60. See page 63. Taylor ties to lead the reader into believing these men were very old. In fact they were not. It is doubtful that they were even 50 or 60. The dry, dusty air of Hunza and the nutritional deficiencies more likely made the people look much older than they really were. This man was probably between 40 and 50 years of age but claimed to be 145 years old.

Renee Taylor made no attempt assemble the descendants of any of the older people in order to gain some confirmation as to age. It certainly would have made a point if she had taken a picture, but it was impossible to take a picture of eight living generations because the man's age was a big lie. She could have easily taken such a picture if "nobody ever gets sick in Hunza." The picture would have been interesting and looked something like this.

• Man claiming to be 145 years of age jumping and playing volley ball.

• Son of 125 years of age.

• Grandson of 105 years of age.

• Great grandson of 85 years of age.

• Great great grandson of 65 years of age.

• Great great great grandson of 45 years of age.

• Great great great great grandson of 25 years of age.

• Great great great great great grandson of 5 years of age.

Many pictures have been taken in Hunza of family groups by visitors showing babies with their father and grandfather. These grandfathers are unlikely to be any older than they appear. They are perhaps 50 years of age as is common for a grandfather, not 120 years of age as some books falsely claim.

Hunza Winter Diet.

The Hunza people sun dried fruit in the summer and stored grain for winter consumption. They also had some meat. They consumed all parts of the animals, not just the flesh. They ate the animal's brain, lungs, heart, liver, tripe, flesh and everything else except the hide, wind-pipe and genitalia. They cleaned bones to a polish and broke them to eat the marrow. The fat was highly favored for cooking, and a stew was made by boiling meat and grains.

Mountain Karakoram as seen from Aliabad village

The Yaks, goats and sheep were bred each year for the meat and to keep the milk production flowing. The females were kept for breeding and milk production until reaching a non productive age when they were also slaughtered for food. Any lame animal was slaughtered to prevent the loss of meat. The food supply was critical and springtime starvation was always a concern for hungry children.

The Hunzakuts had a major flaw in their method of raising animals. They kept equal numbers of male and female, which reduced the productivity. If a Hunza farmer had six sheep he would have three ewes and three rams. The ewes would have three lambs each spring. The production could have been increased to five lambs each spring if they had kept five ewes and one ram. The rams also ate more fodder but produced no milk. The same was true for goats. This faulty farming practice reduced the amount milk, meat and number of offspring each year.

During the winter a major part of the diet consisted of milk, buttermilk, yogurt, butter and cheese. The diet was a high-fat diet throughout the year contrary to false claims that their diet was low-fat. The milk was more than 50 percent fat on a calorie basis and nothing was wasted.

The spring starvation was a difficult period for the Hunzakuts. The children were extremely thin and malnourished. Diseases abound and many died. The "healthy Hunza" claim made in many books and websites is strictly false.

The Original Hunza Summer Diet

The British General and soldiers arrived in the summer during the 1870s as did everyone who traveling to Hunza. This was the harvest season for the grains, fruits and vegetables from the gardens, and much of the food was consumed raw. Because fuel for cooking was saved to be used in winter for boiling meat and providing some heat for the stone dwellings, very little meat was consumed in summer and vegetable were eaten raw.

Curious visitors who followed the British soldiers to Hunza Valley years later naturally arrived in summer also, and the summer diet of the people led visitors to assume they were mainly vegetarian and ate very little meat. This was typical of the summer harvest season. Many primitive cultures including cavemen lived in a similar manner, gorging themselves on available fruit during the short season and eating mostly meat for the rest of the year. The people of Hunza differed in that they never had an abundance of anything except rocks. They did not have enough animals to provide abundant meat during the winter because of the lack of fodder. They did not want to kill female animals that were milk producers unless the animal was old or lame.

The Hunzakuts are said to have cultivated plants included barley, millet, wheat, buckwheat, turnips, carrots, dried beans, peas, pumpkins, melons, onions, garlic, cabbage, cauliflower, apricots, mulberries, walnuts, almonds, apples, plums, peaches, cherries, pears and pomegranates. John Clark did not find green beans, wax beans, beets, endive, lettuce, radishes, turnips, spinach, yellow pear tomatoes, Brussel sprouts or parsley. Cherry tomatoes and potatoes are thought to have been brought in by the British. The long list of currently grown plant varieties should not be a consideration when discussing the longevity of the Hunzakuts and their past diet.

Apricot trees were very popular, and the fruit was eaten raw in season and sun dried for winter. The pits were cracked to obtain the kernel that was crushed to obtain the oil for cooking and lamps. The hard shell was kept for a fire fuel. The kernel and oil could be eaten from the variety of apricots with a sweet kernel, but the bitter kernel variety had an oil containing poisonous prussic acid. Click the picture to see an enlargement.

The apricot trees were allowed to grow very large in order to obtain the maximum yield. Picking the maximum amount of fruit was more important than the difficulty in picking. The children would scamper to the higher branches to pick or shake off the fruit. Planting new trees required several years of growth before any fruit was produced. The special garden silt or glacial milk did not contribute to the age or size of the trees as is commonly claimed. Our modern orchards are not managed that way because we have abundant space and picking is expensive. Our trees are cut when the size makes them difficult to harvest, not because they fail to live as long as those in Hunza.

Mulberries, which resemble blackberries in size and shape, are a favorite fruit. When fully ripe, their flavor is sweet-sour but somewhat bland. The variety grown in Hunza was most likely a golden color.

A large variety of indigenous wildlife including markhors sheep, Marco Polo sheep, geese, ducks, pheasants and partridge provided the early Hunza hunters with meat in addition to their sheep, goats and domesticated Yaks. Chickens were also raised for meat and eggs until sometime in the 1950s when they were banned by the Mir.

The Queen and her children traveled on Yaks while the King and other men rode horses. The Yak is a strong wild animal which they domesticated for for traveling in the mountains as a beast of burden pack animal. In addition to Yaks, which provided milk and meat, the Hunzakuts also had goats, sheep, cows and horses. However, there were very few cows or horses in Hunza in 1950 because they consumed a lot of fodder compared to goats and sheep. The Yaks, goats and sheep were herded in the summer to areas just below the snow line for feeding on sparse grasses and plants. They were milked by the herders who made butter that was delivered back to the people in the villages below. The herders had plenty of milk to drink that valley people lacked. The Yaks were also milked. Cows and horses could not be herded to the higher elevation because the vegetation there was simply to sparse.

The picture is of the Cathedral Peaks as viewed from the village of Ghulmit 23 miles (37 km) upriver from Baltit near the northern end of Hunza. Summer grains are seen growing in the foreground. The Mir's main Palace was in Baltit, but since firewood was more abundant in Ghulmit, he chose this location for his winter residence. Click the picture to see an enlargement.

A great celebration was held to commemorate the barley harvest, the first harvest of the early summer to break the spring starvation period. The barley was ground, mixed with water and fried to make a pancake style bread called chapatis, and hot stones were used for cooking the bread prior to the availability of steel plate or cast iron griddles. The bread recipe would change to whatever grain was available. Wheat was harvested later in the summer. The Hunza bread recipe found in books and on websites is nothing whatsoever like the various breads of the Hunzakuts. The primitive Hunzakuts ground grains between two rocks much like the North American Indians. They had constructed a water wheel powered stone grinder by the time John Clark had arrived, but many people still ground the grain by hand.

To their credit, the Hunzakuts did developed a double-crop farming method. Barley was the first crop harvested, then replaced by millet. Wheat was harvested later in the summer followed by winter buckwheat. The double-crop planting method was done to make the maximum use of the valuable land, not because grains matured faster in Hunza as often claimed.

In summer meat was conserved for very special occasions and festivals. Livestock were much too valuable to be killed indiscriminately, so animals became a major source of food only during the cold winter when other foods ran out.

The Primary Books Written About Hunza

John Clark (1909 - 1994) earned his doctorate in geology at Princeton University in 1935. As an officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Clark explored nine thousand miles of roads and trails in Kansu and Sinkiang, China. Clark decided to help the people of Hunza because of his wide geological experience and some medical expertise. He went to Hunza in 1950 and 1951 and wrote the book, Hunza - Lost Kingdom of the Himalayas, in 1957. University in 1935. He traveled by horseback over the rugged and dangerous trail for 70 miles from Gilgit and found the people to be strong, intelligent and proud of their independence. In his 20 month stay, he got to know the Hunza people on a personal level, and with his 20 years experience in first aid as a field geologist, he ran a free dispensary where he treated 5,684 patients with sulphas, penicillin, paludrines, atabrine, undecylenic acid and other drugs. His reference medical books were Cutting's Manual of Therapeutics, the Merck Manual, Gardiner's Handbook of Skin Diseases and Medical Council practice papers. See page 75 in the 1957 first edition of the book. The pages in the pdf file below do not match the pages in the book.

Clark traveled to investigate the geology of the entire region searching for natural resources such as minerals or metals. He brought in new vegetable seeds and taught basic carpentry and crafts to a school of boys. Clark's book is exciting reading and describes the Hunza people in great detail. It is an excellent resource.

This picture shows the Hunza River in winter near Aliabad with Mountain Rakaposhi in the background. The stream and canyon entering the valley from the left is Hasanabad Nullah. This is one of the many ravines that Clark explored. The valley does not get much snow in winter even though temperature falls below zero degrees Fahrenheit (-10 C). Click on the picture to see an enlargement.

On his first trip through Hunza Clark reported he acquired almost all of the same misconceptions as others: "the healthy Hunza, the Democratic Court and the land where there are no poor." He soon found the actual situation to be much different.

Dr. Allen E. Banik and Renee Taylor wrote the book, Hunza Land, in 1960. They describe Hunza on the front inside of the dust jacket. "They have no money, no poverty, no disease, no police and no jails." All of these claims are false. Their money was the Pakistan rupee as they were a part of Pakistan. They had poverty. Those who could not grow their own food simply starved to death. Family groups were staunhly independent and did not help others as Dr. Banik claims. They had considerable disease and often flooded into John Clark's dispensary for treatment. They had a ruling organization in each village with men serving in security positions. The Mir had armed body guards that kept out of sight of the visitors. They had a penal colony at Shimshal Valley in the north end of the valley where inmates attended to flocks of sheep owned by the Mir. It was a dreadful sentence to be banished to Shimshal. The winters were icy cold and the high winds blew continuously. The claims in this book about the diet, health, longevity, and honesty of the Hunza people are false.

Renee Taylor, a lecturer, linguist and world traveler, wrote the book, Hunza Health Secrets For Long Life and Happiness, in 1964. She traveled to Hunza during the summer of 1960 over a Jeep road that had just been built a few years previously. Taylor lived a couple of months as a guest of the Mir at his palace in the Hunza capital of Baltit. She traveled very little and did not get the opportunity to develop any close personal relationships with the common Hunzakut. Taylor heard only filtered information presented by the Mir, his staff and selected individuals. Unfortunately Taylor did not learn the truth while in Hunza. She never ventured out alone to live with the people and learn the truth behind this facade. Her movements were strictly controlled by the Mir, and she was presented an orchestrated view of Hunza that the Mir wanted her to pass on to the world.

Scarcely two consecutive sentences in Taylor's book can be read without finding errors, distortions and blatant untruth. The Hunza people certainly did a good job of deceiving her. Renee Taylor appears to have ventured to Hunza with an agenda to proclaim the Hunzakuts to be the most healthy and long-lived people on the earth while subsisting on a low-fat, mostly vegetarian diet. These claims are false.

The Original Hunza People

The story of Hunza is thought to have begun with Alexander III or Alexander the Great (July 356 BC to June 10, 323 BC), son of King Philip of Macedon (Ancient Macedonia west of Greece). Alexander was a brilliant warrior, more capable than his father. After his father's murder, Alexander set out toward the east to conquer neighboring kingdoms. He conquered Greece in short fashion and continued toward Persia where he eventually burned the capital and the national library in a great defeat of the Persians.

Three generals in Alexander's army are said to have married Persian women. The generals betrayed Alexander by giving the Persians his plans. When Alexander heard of the betrayal he sought to take revenge, but the generals, wives and a band of many soldiers fled. The valley of Hunza is thought to have been their valley of refuge because of its remote and secure location.

It is likely that the Hunza valley was already sparsely inhabited when the Macedon generals arrived. Certainly these tough fighting warriors made quick work of slaughtering the ancient inhabitants of Hunza. Though this is purely speculation, it is highly probable. The desolate rocky valley could not have supported the Macedonians unless some farms had been slowly built by others over the preceding centuries.

Hunza became an independent kingdom with a monarchy. The King used the title of Mir. The British disrupted the ruling organization of the Hunza people.

"The Mir, or ruler, of Hunza believed his tiny kingdom to be the equal of China, and likened himself to Alexander the Great from whom he claimed descent. When the British turned up in the 1870s he took them for petitioners seeking to make Queen Victoria his vassal. Not wishing to waste time arguing, the colonial officials had him deposed, replacing him with an amenable brother whom the Mir had carelessly neglected to murder on his way to the throne."

A Kind of Kingdom in Paradise.

The British reported a population of about 8,000 people who were in good health and lived long lives, although their ages could not be verified since the Hunza people had no written records. The people were relatively healthy, especially when compared to the citizens in England where obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart disease ravaged the British due of their high carbohydrate diet of grains, bread, sugar, honey, fruit and potatoes. The Hunza people were slender, healthy and athletic in comparison to relatives of the British solders at home in England who were fat and sickly.

The Hunza tribesmen are shown in the picture. Click the picture to see an enlargement.

The Hunzakuts had lighter skin than the neighboring tribes and appeared to be of Caucasian origin. John Clark reported in 1950 seeing children with black, brown and blond hair and an occasional redhead. They probably chose the Hunza River Valley because of its sheer isolation, but the men took wives from neighboring peoples. Hunza women were said to have been beautiful. This is highly probably since the Persian women taken as captives were likely the best looking. See John Clark's book page 69.

The Hunza people were land poor since there was never enough space to provide plenty. Shortage was always present and people lived in fear of the springtime starvation when food ran desperately low.

Hunza had no soil as such. The river and glacial silt that formed the terraced gardens was simply ground rock. All of the animal manure was spread on the gardens to fertilize the crops and trees. The people defecated directly on the garden, and the soil was deficient in lime and phosphates causing the trees and plants to suffer. The garden yield was considerably less than in the United States and elsewhere where good soil is available. The nitrate fertilizer from animal and human excrement was quickly flushed from the silt by the weekly flooding with glacial water.

The Hunzakuts called this "the land of just enough." The truth is Hunza was always a land of never enough, and everything was in short supply including the usable land which was limited to five acres (20,000 sq. m) per family. Animals were limited because of the lack of grazing pastures in the lower valley. The goats, sheep and Yaks were moved to the higher mountains in summer in search of the sparse vegetation. The herdsmen had an excess of milk while the people in the valley suffered a shortage. This is the reason summer visitors to Hunza see a people eating a low-fat, near-vegetarian diet. The winter diet was vastly different.

Hunza River Valley

the Hunza River Valley in the 1870s. Hunza was a tiny kingdom located in a remote valley 100 miles (160 km) long and only one mile (1.6 km) wide, situated at an elevation of 8,500 feet (2590 m) and completely enclosed by mountain peaks. These peaks soar to a height of 25,550 feet (7788 m) and belong to the Karakoram Range, broadly known in the West as "the Himalayas." Hunza is now part of Pakistan in the northern section bordering on Afghanistan, Russia, China, Kashmir and India. The Kilik Pass leads to Russia and the Mintaka Pass to China.

The pass to reach Hunza from Gilgit, Pakistan was 13,700 feet (4176 m) high, a difficult and treacherous trail. Upon entering the valley the British found the steep, rocky sides of the valley lined with terraced garden plots, fruit trees and animals being raised for meat and milk.

The gardens were watered with mineral rich glacier water carried by an aqueduct system running a distance of 50 miles (80 km) from the Ultar Glacier on the 25,550 foot (7788 m) high Mount Rakaposhi. The wooden aqueduct trough was hung from the sheer cliffs by steel nails hammered into the rock walls. Silt from the river below was carried up the side of the valley to form and replenish the terraced gardens. The average annual precipitation in Hunza is less than two inches.

Ultar Peak rising above Baltit, the capital of Hunza, is spectacular. The Old Palace is on the hill above the village. Click the picture to see an enlargement.

The difficult trail into Hunza kept the people isolated. As late as 1950 most of the children of Hunza had never seen a wheel or a Jeep even though airplanes were landing at the airport in Gilgit, Pakistan only 70 miles (112 km) away. John Clark reported in his book, Hunza - Lost Kingdom of the Himalayas, that he could see three peaks above 25,000 feet and eleven glaciers all at once from Shishpar Glacier Nullah (canyon) overlooking the Hunza valley. See John Clark's book listed below on page 92.

The Hunzakuts, as they are called, had signed a peace treaty with their neighboring communities about 10 years prior to the arrival of the British. They had been a warrior community preying upon the Chinese trading caravans as they traveled the high mountain passes between Sin kiang and Kashmir. The Hunzakuts profited for a time by their thievery, plunder and murder, but they were hated by their neighbors. According to Hunzakut folklore, a peace treaty was signed because the Mir's son convinced his father to end their murderous ways.

Burushaski, the language of the Hunzakuts, is much different from other languages of the region and appears to be a mixture of the languages of Ancient Macedonian and the Hellenistic Persian Empire. However, the people also learned to speak the written Urdu language of Pakistan and other languages of the region.

The terraced gardens were extensive with up to 50 cascading levels. The people lived in communities below. It was a considerable distance to walk for working in the fields. They had no roads or wheeled carts. All the grain and other produce was transported to the homes on the backs of men and animals. Click the picture to see an enlargement.

Everything in Hunza valley was always in short supply except crumbling rocks. Fuel for heating and cooking was severely limited, and fodder for feeding the animals was precious. Animal dung was used for garden fertilizer rather than fuel for fires as was done elsewhere. Supplies from outside of the valley were limited by the difficulty in bring goods over the high mountain pass. Highly prized goods brought in from the outside included guns, knifes, tools, metal pots, stoves, lamps, cotton cloth, silk cloth, thread, needles, matches, mirrors, glassware and some construction metals such as bolts, rods, sheet and plate. As late as 1951 these items had to be carried on the backs of men or animals. In past centuries traditional dress and bedding were made from sheepskins and other animal hides.

The original valley was mostly bare rock with a very limited amount of indigenous plant life. The sudden appearance of the vegetation in contrast to the surrounding barren rock earned the valley the description of being Shangri-La or the Garden of Eden. Given the hard work required to tend the gardens and animals, the description of Garden of Eden certainly did not apply to the Hunza River Valley.

Mir Muhammed Ghazan Khan I ruled from 1864 to 1886. Folklore stories say he sent his brother a gift of a cloak impregnated with smallpox and murdered his uncle and other brothers, but the facts are rather unknown. He was murdered in 1886 by Safdar Ali Khan who became the new ruler of Hunza. Mir Safdar Ali Khan is shown in the picture at the left. Click the picture to see an enlargement. In 1891 an expedition of 5,000 men lead by British Colonel Algernon Durand was attacked by the Hunzakut leader, Mir Safdar Ali Khan. The Mir fled to China and was replaced by his half-brother, Muhammed Nazim Klan. Mir Nazim Klan died in 1938 of mysterious causes, and it is highly suspect that his son, Muhammed Ghazan Khan II, was involved in his death. He died in 1946 and was replaced by his son, Muhammed Jamal Khan. Mir Muhammed Jamal Khan was deposed in 1974 by Pakistan although he maintained his property in Hunza. He died in Gilgit, Pakistan in 1976 were he also had a residence. Mir Muhammed Jamal Khan could also speak perfect English because he had been educated by the British as a boy. His descendents maintain their royal titles but have no ruling authority in Hunza.

BATURA GLACER

Battura Glacier - Shimshal Valley Heli Trip
Range: KARAKORAM
Zone: Open
Duration: 11 Days
Best Time: Mid April - End October

Heli treks combine the thrill of trekking in the glacial surroundings around Biafo/Hispar with the pleasure of flying over the colorful valleys of Shimshal and Hunza in their spring and Autumn glory affording magnificent mountain scenery with glimpses of Latoks, Diran, Paiyu, Kanjurth Sar, Dastagil Sar, Momhill sar, etc. It is for people who want a short holiday in the mountains with its physical and visual pleasures.

Trip Itinerary:

Day 01 Islamabad:
Arrive Islamabad. Transfer to hotel.

Day 02 Skardu/Besham:
a) Fly to Skardu subject to weather. Transfer to Hotel.
b) In case of flight cancellation drive to Besham. Hotel.

Day 03: Free day at Skardu for sightseeing or complete road journey to Gilgit. Hotel.

Day 04 Hunza:
Drive to Hunza. Afternoon sightseeing. Hotel.

Day 05 Battura Glacier/Shimshal Valley:
a) Heli trip over Battura glacier and Shimshal Valley and land at Gulmit. Hotel.
b) In case of cancellation of heli flight due to bad weather then excursion to Khunjerab Pass and back to Gulmit. Hotel.

Day 06 : 2nd spare day for heli flight or excursion to Gulkin Glacier, Borit Lake. Hotel.

Day 07: 3rd spare day for heli flight or drive to Hunza and excursion to Hoper Glacier. Hotel.

Day 08: Drive to Gilgit. Hotel.

Day 09: Fly to Islamabad or drive to Besham. Hotel.

Day 10: Day free at Islamabad or drive to Islamabad. Hotel.

Day 11: Transfer to airport for your homebound flight.

Services Included:

* Airport/road transfers in AC coach and four wheels drive jeep.
* Helicopter expenses as per itinerary on hourly basis.
* Hotel accommodation with all meals.
* Services of English speaking guide.
* Porterage at airport and hotels, toll taxes and parking fee etc.
* Insurance of our guide.

Shimshal Valley

Shimshal Valley is one of the remotest valleys of the Hunza Valley. It was supposed to be a place of exile for theives and dacoits in the earlier times (something like Siberia and Australia) but it is no less beautiful. The jeep track just leaves the KKH just north of Passu for Shimsal which is one of the most wonderful places in Hunza. No thieves or dacoits now! You can also take the much more interesting hiking route to Shimsal. Porters are easily

HUNZA YAK

The yak (Bos grunniens)(Tibetan: Wylie: g.yak) is a long-haired bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia. In addition to a large domestic population, there is a small, vulnerable wild yak population. In Tibetan, the word gyag refers only to the male of the species; a female is a dri or nak. In most languages which borrowed the word, including English, yak is usually used for both sexes.

Yaks are herd animals. Wild male yaks stand about 2 to 2.2 metres (6.6 to 7.2 ft) tall at the shoulder and average 1,000 kg (2,200 lb); the females weigh about one third of this.[2] domesticated yaks are much smaller, males weighing 350 to 580 kg (770 to 1,300 lb) and females 225 to 255 kg (500 to 560 lb).[3] Both types have long shaggy hair to insulate them from the cold. Wild yaks can be brown or black. Domesticated ones can also be white. Both males and females have horns.
Domestic yaks mate in about September; the females may first conceive at about 3–4 years of age, calving April to June about every other or every third year, apparently depending upon food supply. This gestation period is approximately 9 months. In the absence of more data, wild animals are assumed to mirror this reproductive behavior. Calves will be weaned at one year and become independent shortly thereafter. Yaks may live to somewhat more than 20 years.

Chapursan Valley

Yishkuk Lake

We were unable to do the Rakaposhi trek due to cloudy weather to decided to spend the last 2 days in the Chapursun Valley, where few tourists go, but borders Afghanistan. We enjoyed beautiful scenery on the way and best jeep tracked we’d been on, including scary bits for Maggi. We stayed at Pamir Serai which is a Wakhi style home – 1 room around a hole in the ceiling, run by an enterprising local Alam Jan, sadly away in Kabul. Luckily a German Stefan, who had been staying for 2 weeks, who acted as our guide telling us things to do in the area.

We went for a fabulous walk up to the lakes at Yishkuk, which were incredibly clear with beautiful colours, before being invited into a shepherds hut for chai and lassi.

The next day we went for a walk on the Yishkuk glacier, where there are some fantastic blue icebergs at the head – we broke of chunks of ice to drink from that were hard and crystal clear like huge diamonds.

ALTIT FORT

The majestic historical Altit fort is center of attraction due to its architectural design and strategic location. Altit is one of the oldest settlements of Hunza valley. During the time when Hunza was under the central government of Gilgit principality, Altit served as the capital and sitting place of Hunza. Altit is the birth place of the Hunza Kingdom and Altit fort is the first fort of the region. During early period of former Hunza state Altit was the capital. The artisans from Baltistan who accompanied the wife of Mir Ayasho II constructed this fort during 1540s A.D. The fort has been constructed in six different stages by using various natural levels of the rock. The construction has been made right on the edge of a sheer rock cliff that drops 1000 feet straight down to the Hunza River.


In the beginning it was built as a palace, soon after the addition of the watch tower a defensive architectural element it transformed to a fort. There is great possibility that different stages of the fort have been constructed during different times because the actual age of the fort is said to be more than 800 years. However, the date of construction on the fort tower is written as 955 A.H/1548 A.D thus the age is calculated as 458 years. This fort is said to be around 50-100 years older than the Baltit Fort. When the state capital transferred to Altit it remained vacant and occasionally used as a guest house. The fort was in disposal of Raja Amin Khan who donated it to Aga Khan Cultural Services, Pakistan (AKCSP) in 2001. AKCSP after some emergency repairs is now working to preserve this historical heritage.

Ultar Glacie

The Ultar Glacier of Hunza, Pakistan has received interest in this century by both geologists and medical professionals as to the unique association towards unusual health and longevity of the people who consume the glacier stream water. Research has revealed that drinking the glacially pulverized rock flour of the Hunza river, eating a favorable diet, and community participation have been critical factors in achieving renowned longevity, a low rate of heart disease, and exceptionally good to excellent health in this community.




The pure mineral-laden glacial water flows down a naturally created pathway to feed the two oldest Hunza communities, Altit & Baltit. The Hunza communities filter and bottle this pure mineral-laden glacial water at source. HVP abides by strict international standard to ensure that each bottle of ULTARTM Pure Glacial Water meets or exceeds EEC EPA and US EPA published guidelines.

Hunza Mountain

The mountain guides are indispensable for reaching areas that aid workers cannot access. Road assessments by the mountain guides show that many roads are still blocked by landslides and rockfalls, or are too dangerous to negotiate. The guides say that the situation will only worsen with the onset of the rainy season.The fabled Hunza Valley is nestled in the foothills of the Karakoram mountain range and since the 1950s its men have been guiding international climbing expeditions on some of the highest and most technical peaks in the world. The Hunza guides are renowned for their expertise in overseeing expeditions in remote mountain ranges, often involving over 1,000 porters and masses of equipment. The UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is using 25 local mountain guides from the Hunza Valley in northern Pakistan.

Golden Peak

Heights 7027m Duration 30 days Hotels 6 nights (Islamabad, Chilas, Skardu) Season July-August Average walking time 4-5 hours per day Maximum group size 8-10 members Equipments Tents, ice screw, snow bar, rope, ice axe, Harness Subject Objective risks High altitude sickness, crevasses, unfavorable weather Spantik Peak also Known as the Yengutz Peak situated between Nagar Valley near Hunza and Arandu Valley in Baltistan forming the boundry Hunza-Nagar and Baltistan, is known by various names all depicting different aspects of its splendor and opulence. The northwestern face on the Nagar side is called “Ghenish Chhish”, which in Brushaski (local language) means Golden Mountain. Viewed from Hunza-Karimabad, the sun setting on Golden Pillar is a truly remarkable sight Local people also call it Queen Mountain. From the Baltistan side at the head of CHOGOLUNGME GLACIER the mountain is less intimidating and offers a NORMAL ROUTE to the summit . The summit on clear days presents magnificent views of neighboring Rakaposhi, Diran, Malubiting, Ultars, Battura Group, Haramosh, the entire Shimshal Mountains, and K2 far beyond and many more. ITINERARY: Day 1 ISLAMABAD: Arrive Islamabad. Day 2 ISLAMABAD: Briefing at Ministry of Tourism./ Alpine Club Meeting with LO (Liaison Officer). Day 3 SKARDU OR CHILAS: Fly to Skardu or drive to Chilas. Day 4 SKARDU: Day free at Skardu or drive from Chilas to Skardu. Day 5: SKARDU: Free Day at Skardu for final preparation. Day 6 ARANDU : By jeep Skardu to Arandu. Day 7 PUKPUN: 5 to 6 hours trek. Over night camping. Day 8 KHUROMAL: Camping in Willow Grove and 5 to 6 hours trek. Day 9 BOLOCHO: 4 to 5 hours trek. Day 10 SPANTIK BASE CAMP: After trekking 4 to 5 hours we will reach Spantik base camp at 4300m. Over night camping. Day 11 – 25 CLIMBING: Climb Mount Spantik. No. of days depends on weather, fitness, and experience of the climbers. Day 26 – 29 SKARDU: Return back to Skardu via same route or cross Haramosh La towards Sassi. Day 30 ISLAMABAD : Fly to Islamabad or drive to Chilas. Day 31 ISLAMABAD: Day free at Islamabad or drive to Islamabad. Day 32 DE BRIEFING: De-briefing at the Ministry of Tourism Alpine Club. Day 33 ONWARD FLIGHT:

Hunza,geography

Hunza (Urdu: ہنزہ) was a former princely state in the northernmost part of the Northern Areas of Pakistan, which existed until 1974. The state bordered the Gilgit Agency to the south, the former princely state of Nagar to the east, China to the north and Afghanistan to the northwest. The state capital was the town of Baltit (also known as Karimabad). The area of Hunza now forms the Aliabad tehsil of Gilgit District. Hunza along with Nagar, Gilgit and Baltistan are claimed by India as part of the state of Jammu & Kashmir.
History
Enlarge picture
A Hunza Rajah and Tribesmen by E. F. Knight (1891)
Hunza was an independent principality for 900 years. The British gained control of Hunza and the neighbouring valley of Nagar between 1889 and 1892. The Tham (Chief/Mir) of Hunza escaped to China.

The British retained Hunza's status as a 'principality' until 1947. According to Habib R. Sulemani, the people of Hunza were ruled by a local Mir for more than 900 years, which came to an end in 1974.

Although never ruled directly by neighbouring Kashmir, Hunza was a vassal of Kashmir from the time of Maharaja Ranbir Singh of Jammu and Kashmir. The Mirs of Hunza sent an annual tribute to the Kashmir Durbar until 1947, and along with the ruler of Nagar, was considered to be among the most loyal vassals of the Maharaja of Kashmir.
Government
Enlarge picture
Baltit Fort, the former residence of the Mirs of Hunza
The state was governed by hereditary rulers who took the title Mir (ruler) and were assisted by a council of Wazirs or Ministers. Details for early rulers are uncertain with the first definite dates available from 1750 CE onwards.

Reign Mirs of Hunza[1]
Uncertain dates Salim Khan II
Uncertain dates Shah Sultan Khan
1710 - uncertain date Shahbaz Khan
Uncertain dates Shahbeg Khan
~1750 - 1790 Shah Kisro Khan
1790 Mirza Khan
1790 - 1825 Salim Khan III
1825 - 1864 Ghazanfur Khan
1864 - 1886 Mohammad Ghazan Khan I
1886 - 15 September 1892 Safdar Ali Khan
15 September - 22 July 1938 Mohammad Nazim Khan
22 July 1938 - ? 1946 Mohammad Ghazan Khan II
? 1946 - 25 September 1974 Mohammad Jamal Khan
25 September 1974 - State of Hunza Dissolved
Geography

Main article: Hunza Valley

The Hunza valley is situated at an elevation of 2,438 metres (7,999 feet). The former capital Baltit has an elevation of 2477 metres (8129 feet)[2]

For many centuries, Hunza has provided the quickest access to Swat and Gandhara for a person travelling on foot. The route was impassable to baggage animals; only human porters could get through, and then only with permission from the locals.

Hunza was easily defended as the paths were often less than half a metre (about 18") wide. The high mountain paths often crossed bare cliff faces on logs wedged into cracks in the cliff, with stones balanced on top. They were also constantly exposed to regular damage from weather and falling rocks. These were the much feared "hanging passageways" of the early Chinese histories that terrified all, including several famous Chinese Buddhist monks.

The last independent ruler was Mir Safdar Khan, who ruled from 1886 to December 1891 - until the British conquest in December 1891. His younger brother Mir Mohammad Nazim Khan was installed by the British and Maharaja (Raja) of Kashmir in September 1892. (Ref: History of The Northern Areas of Pakistan By Prof. A.H. Dani, Islamabad 1991)
Hunza in North Pakistan
The Northern Areas of Pakistan lie under the great mountain ranges of the Himalayas : Karakorum, Hindu Kush, Hindu Raj and the Pamir, surrounded by high peaks of 6500 to 8600 meters.

Administratively it was divided into five districts, which were run by DC,s, which came under the Chief Secretary based in Gilgit. The chief secretary is controlled by Federal Government Islamabad.

Gilgit the capital of Northern Areas has been inhabited for thousands of years, various waves of invaders arrived over the years. Due to strategic location it was situated in.

The early inhabitants were animist and Zoroastrians brought from in Iran. Which was modified by the Indo Aryans in 1700 BC.

From the 1st century Gilgit was like Kashgar, a major trade centre. From 4th century to 11th century AD, it was under the Buddhism influence of the Sogdiana dynasty. Later Kushans Hindu Shahis and then Islam was introduce in this area.

Northern Area is connected by air and road with other cities of Pakistan including Islamabad (the Capital). There are daily flights to Skardu and Gilgit, which is subject to weather. It’s linked with the Karakorum highway through the Indus valley. 620 Kilometres to Gilgit and 832 Kilometers to Skardu. It’s a two days drive to reach Gilgit & Skardu.

The Northern Areas are a scenic area, which covers thousands of Square Kilometres and has high snow capped mountain, surrounded by green valleys rivers, Glaciers, High meadows and passes. The Northern Area are also frequented by tourists for activities such trekking, climbing and White Water Rafting.

Situated at an elevation of 2,438 meters, Hunza Valley's tourist season is from May to October. The temperature in May is Maximum 27 C and minimum 14 C, in July the max temperature is 30 C. The temperature in October are maximum 10 C and minimum 5 C.

Most of the people of Hunza are Ismaili Muslims, followers of His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan. The local language is Burushiski. English & Urdu are also understood by many people.

Karimabad the capital of Hunza, offers an impressive view of Rakaposhi 7,788 meters and as well as a view of Ulter Peak 1 and 2, Ladyfinger, Diran Peak and Golden Peak. The snow of Rakaposhi glitters in the moonlight.The fairytale like castle of Baltit, above Karimabad, is a Hunza landmark built 800 years ago. Stilted on massive legs, its wooden look out over the valley.
Mountaineering And Hiking
Hunza is ideal for mountaineering, trekking and hiking, special permits are required for mountaineering.
Today's Hunza
Today Hunza is rapidly developing region, investment in education and industries such as agriculture, building construction, tourism and leisure and health programmes.

Development in Hunza really started to take place after 1978, when the Karakorum highway opened between China & Pakistan, this opened up a major trade route between Islamabad and the Sinking province of China. This resulted in rapid changes in the Northern Area of Pakistan. People came into border business with China. The Aga Khan Network with the collaboration of Government of Pakistan brought fruitful result to life of people of Hunza.

There are self-help schools in every second village in the valley and all children male and female attend schools, apparently 100 percent, this is the reason, why Hunza people are different from not only other valleys in Northern Pakistan but also from rest of the country.

The Tourism started in Pakistan in the 1980,s. The flow of tourism was in Hunza valley, till now, which brought the economic revaluation. Hunza has been a tourist destination from a long time.
People of Hunza
Most of the people of Hunza are Ismaili Muslims, followers of His Highness the Aga Khan. The local language is Brushuski, Urdu and English are also understood by a number of people.
See also

* Hunza Valley (main article on Hunza)
* Northern Areas
* Karakoram Highway
* Karakoram Mountains

References
1. ^ Ben Cahoon, WorldStatesmen.org. Pakistan Princely States. Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
2. ^ Falling rain - Location of Baltit
External links

* Government of Northern Areas
* Government of Pakistan
* PIA guide to Northern Areas

The historical regions of Pakistan are former states, provinces and territories which mainly existed between 1947 and 1975 when the current provinces and territories were finally established.
Burushaski (Urdu: بروشسکی - burū́šaskī) is a language isolate spoken by some 87,000 (as of 2000) Burusho people in the Hunza, Nagar, Yasin, and parts of the Gilgit valleys in
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Wakhi}}}
Writing system: Arabic, Cyrillic, Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-1: --
ISO 639-2: --
ISO 639-3: wbl

Wakhi is an Iranian language in the subranch of Southeastern Iranian languages (see Pamir languages).
15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500.
Events

* 1402: Ottoman and Timurid Empires fight at the Battle of Ankara resulting in Timur's capture of Bayezid I.
* 1402: The conquest of the Canary Islands signals the beginning of the Spanish Empire.

September 25 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.
Events


19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1940s 1950s 1960s - 1970s - 1980s 1990s 2000s
1971 1972 1973 - 1974 - 1975 1976 1977

Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV
Chief Commissioners Province of Baluchistan was a former province of British India located in the northern parts of modern Balochistan province.
History
The province was originally formed over the period 1876-1891 by three treaties between Robert Sandeman and the Khan of
East Bengal was the name used during two periods in the 20th century for a territory that roughly corresponded to the modern state of Bangladesh. Both instances involved a violent partition of Bengal.
Federal Capital Territory (FCT) around Karachi was the original capital territory of Pakistan. The FCT was created in 1948 from the city of Karachi and surrounding areas as the location for Pakistan's capital following independence.
North-West Frontier Province is a former province of Pakistan which was established in 1901 and dissolved in 1955. The province covered an area of 70,709 km² including much of the current North-West Frontier Province province but excluding the former princely states of Amb,
Sind is a former province of Pakistan and British India which existed from 1936 to 1955. The province covered an area of 123,080 km² including much of the current Sindh province but excluding the Federal Capital Territory and the former princely state of Khairpur.

West Punjab was a former province of Pakistan which existed from 1947 to 1955. The province covered an area of 160,622 km² including much of the current Punjab province and the Islamabad Capital Territory but excluding the former princely state of Bahawalpur.
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East Pakistan (now independent Bangladesh) was a former province of Pakistan which existed between 1955 and 1971. East Pakistan was partitioned from Bengal based on plebiscite in then British India in 1947.

West Pakistan was the popular and sometimes official (1955–1970) name of the western wing of Pakistan until 1971, when the eastern wing (East Pakistan) became independent as Bangladesh.

Amb was a princely state in what is today the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. The state ceased to exist in 1969, when it was merged with the province of West Pakistan.

The State of Bahawalpur was a princely state of the Punjab in what is now Pakistan, stretching along the southern bank of the Sutlej and Indus Rivers, with its capital city at Bahawalpur. The state was counted amongst the Rajputana states (now Rajasthan) to the southeast.
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State of Chitral, or Chitrāl (Urdu: ریاست چترال), was a former princely state of Pakistan and British India which ceased to exist in 1969.

State of Dir was a small former princely state located in the modern North-West Frontier Province in Pakistan. The state ceased to exist in 1969 when it was incorporated into Pakistan.
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State of Kalat or State of Qalat (Urdu: ریاست قلات) was a princely state located in the centre of the modern province of Balochistan, Pakistan. The state capital was the town of Kalat.
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State of Khayrpur was a princely state on the Indus River in what is now Pakistan, with its capital city at Khayrpur. Together with Bahawalpur to the north-east, the state was counted amongst the Punjab states rather than the neighbouring Rajputana states (now Rajasthan) to the
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State of Kharan was an autonomous princely state of both British India and Pakistan, located in the southwest of modern Pakistan.
History
The state of Kharan was established in about 1697 CE as a vassal state of Kalat, a status which remained until 1940.

State of Las Bela was princely state of Pakistan and British India which existed until 1955. The state occupied an area of 18,254 km² in the extreme southeast of the Balochistan province with an extensive coastline on the Arabian Sea to the south.

The State of Makran was an autonomous princely state of both British India and Pakistan, which ceased to exist in 1955.
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The State of Nagar(Urdu.ریاست نگر) is a former princely state in the northernmost part of the Northern Areas of Pakistan, which existed until 1974.
The State of Phulra was a minor princely state of both Pakistan and British India, located in the modern North-West Frontier Province. It was situated east of the nearby princely State of Amb.

State of Swat (Urdu: ریاست سوات) was a princely state which existed in the north of the modern North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan until it was dissolved in 1969.

Baluchistan States Union existed between 3rd October 1952 and 14th October 1955 in southwest Pakistan. It was formed by the states of Kalat, Kharan, Las Bela and Makran with the capital at the town of Kalat.

Gilgit Agency was the name of most of the area of northern Kashmir which formed a de facto dependency of Pakistan from 1947 to 1970, which was then merged into Northern Areas.

The Trans-Karakoram Tract is an area of nearly 5,800 km² that India claims, was transferred by a border agreement from the Pakistani-administered Northern Areas to China in 1963 with the proviso that the settlement was subject to the final solution of the Kashmir dispute.

The Divisions of Pakistan were previously the third tier of government in Pakistan until they were abolished in 2000. The four provinces of Pakistan had been subdivided into administrative "Divisions", which were further subdivided into districts and tehsils.


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