Chilas ( ur, ) is a city and is the divisional capital of
Diamer District located in
Gilgit-Baltistan,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, on the
Indus River
The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmi ...
. It is part of the
Silk Road connected by the
Karakoram Highway
The Karakoram Highway ( ur, , translit=śāhirāh qarāquram; known by its initials KKH, also known as N-35 or National Highway 35 ( ur, ) or the China-Pakistan Friendship Highway) is a national highway which extends from Hasan Abdal in ...
and
N-90 National Highway, which link it to
Islamabad
Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...
and
Peshawar
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
in the southwest, via
Hazara and
Malakand Divisions of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...
. In the north, Chilas is connected to the
Chinese cities of
Tashkurgan
Tashkurgan ( ug, تاشقورغان بازىرى; zh, s=塔什库尔干镇, p=Tǎshíkù'ěrgān Zhèn; ) is a town in the far northwest of China, close to the country's border with Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. It is the principal to ...
and
Kashgar in
Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwes ...
, via
Gilgit
Gilgit (; Shina: ; ur, ) is the capital city of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. The city is located in a broad valley near the confluence of the Gilgit River and the Hunza River. It is a major tourist destination in Pakistan, serving as a ...
,
Aliabad,
Sust, and the
Khunjerab Pass.
Chilas comes under Gilgit-Baltistan. It is the Headquarters of District Diamir.1(Pamir Times August 2, 2012.) The weather is hot and dry in the summer and dry and cold in the winter. It can be reached through the Karakoram highway and also from the Kaghan valley passing over the Babusar Pass. Chilas is situated on the left bank of the mighty Indus River. The beautiful
fairy meadows
Fairy Meadows ( ur, ), named by German climbers ( German ''Märchenwiese'', “fairy tale meadows”) and locally known as Joot, is a grassland near one of the base camp sites of the Nanga Parbat, located in Diamer District, Gilgit-Baltistan, P ...
and
Nanga Parbat, the ninth highest peak in the world, is also located in Chilas
Recently,
Karakoram International University has opened its sub-campus in Chilas to educate the students
History
Even after Kashmiri-British rule was imposed a century ago, the Indus Valley west of Chilas was a hornet’s nest of tiny republics; there was one in almost every side valley, each loosely guided by a jirga (council of tribal elders) but effectively leaderless, all at war with one another and feuding internally. Though administratively lumped with Gilgit, Chilas and its neighbours are temperamentally more like Indus Kohistan, probably owing to a similarly hostile environment and the same Sunni Muslim orthodoxy. Their ancestors were converted to Islam by a Sufi Muslim, he was from the
Kaghan valley, Syed Noor Shah, known as Ghazi Baba, was the first man who started preaching Islam in Thak and built the first mosque which is still there (though some changes have been made). Ghazi Baba belonged to the Syed family of Kaghan. In Tangir and Darel, Islam came from the Swat direction. (, whereas hardly anyone north of Chilas in the Gilgit-Baltistan province is Sunni.
The large
Chilas Fort was first garrisoned to protect British supply lines over the Babusar Pass, and beefed up after local tribes nearly overran it in 1893. Now a police post, it has put a lid on Chilas, though not on the Darel and Tangir Valleys to the west.
The Chilasis are Shina speakers, with some
Pashtun
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically r ...
settlers speaking
Pashto
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ().
Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...
.
and some
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
are also spoken.
Climate
Chilas has a
cold semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi ...
(
Köppen: ''BSk''). The average temperature is in July and in January.
Ancient petroglyphs
There are more than 50,000 pieces of Buddhist rock art (
petroglyphs) and inscriptions all along the
Karakoram Highway
The Karakoram Highway ( ur, , translit=śāhirāh qarāquram; known by its initials KKH, also known as N-35 or National Highway 35 ( ur, ) or the China-Pakistan Friendship Highway) is a national highway which extends from Hasan Abdal in ...
in
Gilgit-Baltistan of
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
that are concentrated at ten major sites between
Hunza and
Shatial, more have been found in the area of Skardu and Shigar (in Shigar even the remains of a Buddhist monastery were found in 1984 by Jettmar and Thewalt). The carvings were left by various invaders, traders and
pilgrim
A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the adherent of ...
s who passed along the trade route, as well as by locals. The earliest date back to between 5000 and 1000
BC, showing single animals, triangular men and hunting scenes in which the animals sometimes are larger than the hunters. These
carvings
Carving is the act of using tools to shape something from a material by scraping away portions of that material. The technique can be applied to any material that is solid enough to hold a form even when pieces have been removed from it, and ...
were pecked into the rocks with stone tools and are covered with a thick
patina that proves their age. Later — mostly Buddhist — carvings were sometimes executed with a sharp chisel.
The ethnologist
Karl Jettmar Karl may refer to:
People
* Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name
* Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne
* Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer
* Karl of Austria, last Austrian ...
has tried to piece together the history of the area from various inscriptions and recorded his findings in "Rockcarvings and Inscriptions in the Northern Areas of Pakistan" and the later released "Between Gandhara and the Silk Roads: Rock carvings along the Karakoram Highway".
The Kharoshthi term "Kaboa" (or Kamboa) appears in a short commemorative
Kharosthi inscription found from Chilas as reported by the Archaeological Department of
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. The inscription has been transcribed, translated and interpreted by
Ahmad Hasan Dani, a Pakistani archaeologist, historian, and linguist, who was among the foremost authorities on South Asian
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsc ...
and history. According to Dani, Kaboa or Kamboa of the inscription is a Kharoshthised form of
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
Kamboja. Thus, it seems likely that Chilas also formed part of an ancient Kamboja kingdom.
File:Rama Krishna at Chilas.jpg, up (Bala)rama and Krishna
Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is on ...
at Chilas. The Kharoshthi inscription nearby reads ''Rama ri��a''. 1st century CE.
File:Chilas petroglyphs, Buddhist stupa circa 300-350 CE.jpg, Buddhist stupa
A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation.
In Buddhism, circum ...
, circa 300-350 CE based on paleography.[Dated "between A.D. 300-350 based on Kharosthi, Brahmi, and Sodian inscriptions written before and after the drawing was completed (fig.3) In the center of the triptych, a spectacular stupa with a relatively small dome nda a chattravali with seven disks, columns, banners, and multiple bells illustrates a trend towards decorative profusion." ]
Donor with Sanskrit name venerating a stupa, Thalpan-Ziyarat, northern Pakistan, circa 7th century CE.jpg, Donor in Central Asian dress with Sanskrit name venerating a stupa, Thalpan-Ziyarat, northern Pakistan, circa 7th century CE.
Notable persons
*
Muhammad Bilal Khan, journalist (1997 - 2019)
Hussain Ahmad Journalist
1995 - Till
See also
*
Karakoram Highway
The Karakoram Highway ( ur, , translit=śāhirāh qarāquram; known by its initials KKH, also known as N-35 or National Highway 35 ( ur, ) or the China-Pakistan Friendship Highway) is a national highway which extends from Hasan Abdal in ...
*
Parri Bangla
{{Infobox settlement
, name = Parri Bangla{{nq, پڑی بنگلہ
, settlement_type = Village
, total_type =
, image_flag =
, image_shield =
, image_map =View_from_Gilgit_August_3,_2002.jpg
, subdivision_type = ...
*
Gilgit-Baltistan
*
Chilas Airport
Notes
References
* Jettmar, Karl & Thewalt, Volker (1985): ''Zwischen Gandhāra und den Seidenstraßen: Felsbilder am Karakorum Highway: Entdeckungen deutsch-pakistanischer Expeditionen 1979-1984''. 1985. Mainz am Rhein, Philipp von Zabern.
* Jettmar, Karl (1980): ''Bolor & Dardistan''. Karl Jettmar. Islamabad, National Institute of Folk Heritage.
* Leitner, G. W. (1893): ''Dardistan in 1866, 1886 and 1893: Being An Account of the History, Religions, Customs, Legends, Fables and Songs of Gilgit, Chilas, Kandia (Gabrial) Yasin, Chitral, Hunza, Nagyr and other parts of the Hindukush, as also a supplement to the second edition of The Hunza and Nagyr Handbook. And An Epitome of Part III of the author's "The Languages and Races of Dardistan."'' First Reprint 1978. Manjusri Publishing House, New Delhi.
* Rod MacNeil: ''The Fight at Chilas'' (1893). ''Soldiers of the Queen'' (journal of the Victorian Military Society). March 1999.
External links
Mountains on Webshots.com
{{Authority control
Populated places along the Silk Road
Populated places in Diamer District
Cities in Pakistan