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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.
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.