The Old British Cemetery ( scl, گورا ‍قبرستان) is a graveyard in

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 h ...

, Gilgit–Baltistan. It was first established in July 1870 in the British Raj's Gilgit Agency, where it came to be known as "Hayward's Garden" in memory of late British explorer George W. Hayward, who was the first person to be laid to rest there. Before this, it was known as the ''Jawahir Singh Bagh'' () during the

Dogra Raj The Dogras or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group in India and Pakistan consisting of the Dogri language speakers. They live predominantly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, and in adjoining areas of Punjab, Himacha ...

Location

The graveyard is compounded on one side that is towards the main road, and fenced with

barbed wire A close-up view of a barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is t ...

. It is located near Shahi Pologround, found along Khazana Road in the direction of Barmas. The cemetery is also a foreign tourist attraction.

History

In July 1870, during his journey to explore the

Pamir Mountains The Pamir Mountains are a mountain range between Central Asia and Pakistan. It is located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya mountain ranges. They are among the world ...

, famous British explorer Lt. George W. Hayward was allegedly murdered by a local tribesman near the

Darkot Pass Darkot pass ( ur, {{nq, درۂ درکوٹ ) (el. 15,430 ft., open May through October) is a high mountain pass that connects Baroghil Valley in Chitral and Rawat valley of Ghizer District in Gilgit, Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), ...

in Ghizer (then part of a

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, ...

). The following morning, he was discovered dead under the shade of a tree. On 18 July 1870, his dead body was brought to

and buried in an orchard. With time, the orchard received more burials and subsequently became a regulated place of burial for British nationals. The location of the cemetery underwent various name changes throughout history, such as Hayward Garden,

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Cemetery and Jawahir Singh Bagh. The cemetery was renovated in 2002 by the Pakistani government with full sponsorship from the United Kingdom.

Buried

The cemetery contains 18 graves and among the buried are explorer Lt. George Hayward, political agents Maj. Arthur Francis and Lt. Henry Gordon Bell as well as various tourists and travellers who died during their stay in the region before the

agency Agency may refer to: Organizations * Institution, governmental or others ** Advertising agency or marketing agency, a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients ** Employment agency, a business that ...

's dissolution.

References

Cemeteries in Gilgit-Baltistan History of Gilgit-Baltistan Gilgit Christian cemeteries {{GilgitBaltistan-hist-stub

Location

History

Buried

See also

References