Baltit Fort

Tel. 05821 57110

Open: 9am- 1pm and 2- 5:30pm Apr- Oct

9:30am- 4pm Nov- March

 

Description of Baltit Fort

 

Baltit Fort in the Hunza Valley was constructed in the 13th century on the hill overlooking Karimabad in Pakistan. Baltit Fort was subsequently increased and strengthened in subsequent centuries. In the 17th century Mir Ayesho II married a daughter of the Balti ruler and head of the Baltistan's Maqpon Dynasty. He moved to the fortress and brought many artisans that further increased the stronghold and made the residence more livable. It was abandoned in 1945.

 

The fortress occupies a strategic position in the Hunza Valley, the military garrison controlled the seasonal trans-Karakorum trade between South and Central Asia. The fortress has a rectangular shape and three floors in height. On the ground floor there are mainly left-luggage offices. A staircase leads to the second floor, which is used mainly in the winter months and has an auditorium, guest rooms, a dining room, a kitchen and service rooms. On the third floor there is a summer dining room, reception room and bedrooms.

The Hunza rulers used the fortress as their residence until 1945. Work on the restoration of the fortress, carried out in 1990, showed that the main structures of the fortress (defensive structures and a stone tower) were built in the VIII century BC. The stone tower was supplemented by defensive structures connected with each other by a single passage consisting of small rooms and underground storage rooms. The complex was then expanded by adding a second and third floor. The stone structures of the wall, built in the region of frequent earthquakes, were further strengthened by wooden supports.

 

History

In ancient times, the northern area of ​​present-day Pakistan consisted of a multitude of small independent states. Among them were the traditionally competing states of Hunza and Nagar, which faced each other on the banks of the Hunza River. The rulers of these two states, who were called Thamo/Mirs, built several fortifications to show their power.
According to historical sources, the rulers of Hunza initially resided in Fort Altit. As a result of a subsequent conflict between the ruling Sultan's two sons, the elder Shahs Abbas and the younger Ali Khan, Shah Abbas relocated to the Baltit Fortress. The struggle for power between the two led to the defeat of the younger and his death, and the Baltit fortress became the main seat of Hunza.

The fort can look back on more than seven hundred years of history. Ayasho II, Tham/Mir of Hunza married Princess Shah Khatoon (Sha Qhatun) of Baltistan in the early 15th century. As one of her first acts, she redesigned Fort Altit and later Fort Baltit as well. Baltistan had very strong cultural and ethnic ties with Ladakh in India. Baltit Fort was influenced by Ladakhi-Tibetan architecture and therefore bears a faint resemblance to the Potala Palace in Lhasa. Over the centuries, the rulers of Hunza made several extensions, renovations and alterations to the building.

In the 19th century the region lost a large part of the old forts as a result of attacks by the Maharajah of Kashmir. However, the residents of Hunza managed to successfully defend themselves against the invaders four times.

One of the major remodeling of the fort followed the invasion of the British in December 1891. Tham/Mir Safdarali Khan, ruler of Hunza, and his vizier Dadu (Thara Baig III) fled to Kashgar (China) and entreated along with their companions and families for political asylum. With the conquest of the states of Hunza and Nagar by the British, the city walls of the old village of Baltit and the observation towers of Fort Baltit to the north-west were razed. The British subsequently installed the Tham/Mir's younger brother, Sir Muhammad Nazeem Khan KCIE, as ruler of the state of Hunza.

During his reign, Tham/Mir Nazeem Khan had the fort rebuilt several times. He demolished several rooms on the third floor and added some British Colonial style rooms with stained glass windows to the front.

Fort Baltit remained officially inhabited until 1945, when the last ruler of Hunza, Mir Muhammad Jamal Khan, moved to a new palace at the foot of the hill currently housing the Mir of Hunza Ghazanfar Ali Khan (former Chief of Government of the Northern Territories, now Gilgit- Baltistan) and his family resides.

The fort was severely neglected in the years that followed and threatened to fall into ruin. Following a visit by London's Royal Geographical Society, a reconstruction program was launched, supported by the Aga Khan Development Network's Aga Khan Historic Cities Scheme.

The restored fort was inaugurated on September 29, 1996 in the presence of the Aga Khan IV and the President of Pakistan Farouk Ahmad Khan Leghari. It is now run as a museum by the Baltit Heritage Trust and is open to visitors.