Skardu
A map showing Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan shaded in sage green in the disputed Kashmir region[1]
Coordinates: 35°17′25″N 75°38′40″E
Administering country Pakistan
Adm. Unit Gilgit–Baltistan
District Skardu
Government
• Type Divisional Administration
• Commissioner Shuja Alam (PAS)
• Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Cap. (R) Liaquat Ali Malik (PSP)
Skardu (Balti: ས ྐ
; Urdu: ودرﮑﺳ, romanized: skardū, pronounced [skərduː]) is a city located in Pakistani-administered Gilgit Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region.[1] Skardu serves as the capital of Skardu District and the Baltistan Division. It is situated at an elevation of nearly 2,500 metres (8,202 feet) in the Skardu Valley, at the confluence of the Indus and Shigar Rivers [3] The city is an important gateway to the eight-thousanders of the nearby Karakoram mountain range The Indus River running through the region separates the Karakoram from the Ladakh Range [4]
Etymology[edit]
The name "Skardu" is believed to be derived from the Balti word meaning "a lowland between two high places "[5] The two referenced "high places" are Shigar city, and the high-altitude Satpara Lake[5] Local people might tend to write the name as ས ྐར་དོ་ according to how they pronounce it But the meaning of which as it said above, corresponds to the Tibetan word མདོ
In the course of the history of Balti, bilabial sound /m/ as a prefix has lost, and the vowel /o/ has turned into /u/, same as many other dialects of Tibetan.
The first mention of Skardu dates to the first half of the 16th century. Mirza Haidar (1499–1551) described Askardu in the 16th-century text Tarikh-i-Rashidi Baltistan as a district of the area
The first mention of Skardu in European literature was made by Frenchman François Bernier (1625–1688), who mentions the city by the name of Eskerdou After his mention, Skardu was quickly drawn into Asian maps produced in Europe, and was first mentioned as Eskerdow the map "Indiae orientalis nec non insularum adiacentium nova descriptio" publisbed by the Dutch engraver Nicolaes Visscher II between 1680 and 1700 [6]
Map including Skardu (DMA, 1986)
The Skardu Valley, at the confluence of the Indus and Shigar Rivers, is 10 kilometres (6 miles) wide by 40 kilometres (25 miles) long. Active erosion in the nearby Karakoram Mountains has resulted in enormous deposits of sediment throughout the Skardu valley.[7] Glaciers from the Indus and Shigar valleys broadened the Skardu valley between 3.2 million years ago up to the Holocene approximately 11,700 years ago.[7] History
At an average elevation of 4,114 metres (13,497 ft),[8] the nearby Deosai Plains form the world's second highest alpine plain
The Skardu region was part of the cultural sphere of Buddhist Tibet as early as the founding of the Tibetan Empire under Songtsen Gampo in the mid 7th-century CE [5] Tibetan tantric scriptures were found all over Baltistan until about the 9th century.[5] Given the region's close proximity, Skardu remained in contact with tribes near Kashgar, in what is now China's westernmost province of Xinjiang [9]
Following the dissolution of Tibetan suzerainty over Baltistan around the 9th–10th century CE, Baltistan came under the control of the local Maqpon Dynasty, a dynasty of Turkic extraction,[5] which according to local tradition, is said to have been founded after a migrant from Kashmir named Ibrahim Shah married a local princess.[5]
The Manthal Buddha Rock dates from the era when the region's population was Buddhist
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Maqpon kingdom
1190–1840
Map of Kashmir region Maqpon Kingdom existed in north in Gilgit Baltistan
History
• Established 1190
• Disestablished 1840 Preced ed by Succeeded by Tibe tan Em pire
Dogra dynasty under the Sikh Empire Jammu and Kashmir (princel y state) Today part of Pakistan
The Maqpon kingdom (Balti: དམག་པོན་རྒྱལ་པོ
) was located in Baltistan. The Maqpon dynasty, a Balti royal house based in Skardu, ruled over the region for around 700 years [10] The kings of the Maqpon dynasty extended the frontiers of Baltistan to as far as Gilgit Agency,[11] Chitral, and Ladakh.[12]
Around the year 1500, Maqpon Bokha was crowned ruler and founded the city of Skardu as his capital [5] Skardu Fort was established around this time [5] During his reign, Makpon Bokha imported craftsmen to Skardu from Kashmir and Chilas to help develop the area's economy.[5] While nearby Gilgit fell out of the orbit of Tibetan influence, Skardu's Baltistan region remained connected due to its close proximity to Ladakh,[13] the region against which Skardu and neighbouring Khaplu routinely fought [9] Sikhs traditionally believe that Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, visited Skardu during his second udasi journey between 1510 and 1515 [14]
Gurudwara Chota Nanakiana, locally known as Asthan Nanak Peer, is believed to be the place where the Guru stayed in Skardu
Skardu was founded around the year 1500 along the Indus River where it enters a broad valley at its confluence with the Shigar River
Following the dissolution of Tibetan suzerainty over Baltistan in the 9th–10th century CE, Baltistan came under control of the local Maqpon dynasty, which, according to local tradition, is said to have been founded after a migrant from Kashmir named Ibrahim Shah married a local princess.[5]
In the 14th century, Muslim scholars from Kashmir crossed Baltistan's mountains to spread Islam [15] The Noorbakshia Sufi order further propagated the faith in Baltistan, and Islam became dominant by the end of the 17th century With the passage of time a large number also converted to Shia Islam and a few converted to Sunni Islam [16]
Around the year 1500, Maqpon Bokha was crowned ruler, and founded the city of Skardu as his capital.[5] The Skardu Fort was established around this time.[5] During his reign, King Makpon Bokha imported craftsmen from Kashmir and Chilas to help develop the area's economy[5] While nearby Gilgit fell out of the orbit of Tibetan influence, Baltistan region remained connected due to its close proximity to Ladakh,[13] the region which the dynasty routinely fought against [9]
In the early 1500s, Sultan Said Khan of the Timurid Yarkent Khanate in what is now Xinjiang province of China, raided Baltistan [17] Given the threat illustrated by the Sultan Said's invasion, Mughal attention was roused, prompting the 1586 conquest of Baltistan by the Mughal Emperor Akbar [9] The local Maqpon rulers pledged allegiance, and from that point onwards, beginning with Ali Sher Khan Anchan, the kings of Skardu were mentioned as rulers of Little Tibet in the historiography of the Mughal Empire [18][unreliable source?]
Ahmed Shah, the last Maqpon king before the 1840 Dogra invasion
In 1580, Ali Sher Khan Anchan became the Maqpon king. He expanded the borders of the kingdom from Gilgit to Ladakh When the Raja of Laddakh, Jamyang Namgyal, attacked the principalities in the district of Purik (Kargil), annihilating the Skardu garrison at Kharbu and putting to sword a number of petty Muslim rulers in the Muslim principalities in Purik (Kargil), Ali Sher Khan Anchan left with a strong army by way of Marol and, bypassing the Laddakhi army, occupied Leh, the capital of Laddakh. It appears that the Balti conquest of Laddakh took place in about 1594 A.D. The Raja of Laddakh was ultimately taken prisoner.[19][20][21] Then Ali Sher Khan Anchan went to march on Gilgit with an army,[22] and conquered Astore, Gilgit, Hunza, Nagar, and Chilas From Gilgit he advanced to, and conquered, Chitral and Kafiristan
Decline[edit]
In 1839, Dogra commander Zorawar Singh Kahluria defeated Balti forces in battles at Wanko Pass and the Thano Kun plains, clearing his path for the invasion of the Skardu valley[23] He seized Skardu Fort on behalf of the Dogra dynasty based in Jammu, under the suzerainty of the
Sikh Empire at that time [3] Singh's forces massacred a large number of the garrison's defenders, and publicly tortured Kahlon Rahim Khan of Chigtan in front of a crowd of local Baltis and their chiefs [24] In 1845, the region was completely subjugated by the Dogra rulers of Kashmir.[25][26] and the last Maqpon King was taken as prisoner.
Rulers[edit]
Genealogy of Maqpon rulers:[27]
● 1190–1220 Ibrahim
● 1220–1250 Astak Sange
● 1250–1280 Zak Sange
● 1280–1310 Bardak Sange
● 1310–1340 Sek Sange
● 1340–1370 Tam Gori Tham
● 1370–1400 Sa Gori Tham
● 1400–1437 Khohkor Sange
● 1437–1464 Ghota Cho Sange
● 1464–1490 Bahram Cho
● 1490–1515 Bo Kha
● 1515–1540 Sher Shah
● 1540–1565 Ali Khan
● 1565–1590 Ghazi Mir
● 1580–1624 Ali Sher Khan Anchan
● 1624–1636 Abdal Khan
● 1636–1655 Adam Khan
● 1655–1670 Murad Khan
● 1670–1678 Sher Khan
● 1678–1680 Muhammad Rafi Khan
● 1680–1710 Shir Khan
● 1710–1745 Mohammad Rafi
● 1745–1780 Sultan Murad
● 1780–1785 Azam Khan
● 1785–1787 Mohammad Zafar Khan
● 1787–1811 Ali Shir Khan
● 1811–1840 Ahmed Shah
(May 1840 Dogra invasion)
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