Back بلتستان Arabic বালতিস্তান Bengali/Bangla སྦལ་ཏི་ Tibetan Baltistan Catalan Baltistan Danish Baltistan German Baltilando Esperanto Baltistán Spanish Baltistan Basque بلتستان Persian

Baltistan

Not to be confused with Baltic states.

Baltistan
بلتستان
སྦལ་ཏི་སྟཱན་།
Region in Gilgit-Baltistan
A map of the disputed Kashmir region showing the Pakistani administered region of Baltistan, a part of Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan
A map of the disputed Kashmir region showing the Pakistani administered region of Baltistan, a part of Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan
Coordinates: 35°18′N 75°37′E / 35.300°N 75.617°E / 35.300; 75.617
Administering CountryPakistan
TerritoryGilgit-Baltistan
Government
 • TypeDivisional Administration
 • CommissionerShuja Alam (PAS)
 • Deputy Inspector General (DIG)Cap. (R) Liaquat Ali Malik (PSP)
Area
[1]
 • Total
30,000 km2 (10,000 sq mi)
Population
 (2017)[2]
 • Total
303,214
Languages

Baltistan (/ˌbɔːltɪˈstɑːn/);[4] also known as Baltiyul or Little Tibet, is a mountainous region in the Pakistani-administered territory of Gilgit-Baltistan and constitutes a northern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947. It is located near the Karakoram (south of K2) and borders Gilgit to the west, China's Xinjiang to the north, Indian-administered Ladakh to the southeast, and the Indian-administered Kashmir Valley to the southwest.[5][6] The average altitude of the region is over 3,350 metres (10,990 ft). Baltistan is largely administered under the Baltistan Division.

Prior to the partition of British India in 1947, Baltistan was part of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, having been conquered by Gulab Singh's armies in 1840.[7] Baltistan and Ladakh were administered jointly under one wazarat (district) of the state. The region retained its identity in this setup as the Skardu tehsil, with Kargil and Leh being the other two tehsils of the district.[8] After Hari Singh, the last maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, acceded to the Dominion of India in 1947, his local governor in Gilgit was overthrown by the Gilgit Scouts, who then took the entire region for Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948. The Gilgit Agency and Skardu tehsil, as well as a portion of Kargil tehsil,[note 1] have since been under Pakistani governance[13] while the Kashmir Valley as well as Leh tehsil and most of the Kargil tehsil remain under Indian governance. The Chorbat Valley, geographically in the Baltistan region, was de-facto partitioned when its four villages (with one Bogdang already under Indian control since 1947) were captured by India during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, and were incorporated into the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir (now in Ladakh).[14][15]

The region is inhabited primarily by the Balti people, a largely Muslim ethnic group of Tibetan descent. Baltistan is strategically significant to both Pakistan and India; the Siachen conflict and the Kargil War took place in this region alongside others.

  1. ^ Dryland, Estelle (2022). "Can Culture Transcend Religion? The Muslim Bards of Baltistan". In Kapstein, Matthew T.; Ramble, Charles (eds.). The Many Faces of King Gesar: Tibetan and Central Asian Studies in Homage to Rolf A. Stein. Leiden: BRILL. p. 137. ISBN 978-90-04-50346-5.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference citypopulation.de was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "How Many Languages Are Spoken In Pakistan". economy.pk. 6 September 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  4. ^ Stevenson, Angus (ed.). "Baltistan". Oxford Dictionary of English (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780199571123.001.0001/m_en_gb0058480. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
  5. ^ Schofield, Victoria (2003) [First published in 2000], Kashmir in Conflict, London and New York: I. B. Taurus & Co, p. 8, ISBN 1860648983
  6. ^ Cheema, Brig Amar (2015), The Crimson Chinar: The Kashmir Conflict: A Politico Military Perspective, Lancer Publishers, p. 30, ISBN 978-81-7062-301-4
  7. ^ Proceedings - Punjab History Conference. Punjabi University. 1968.
  8. ^ Kaul, H. N. (1998), Rediscovery of Ladakh, Indus Publishing, p. 88, ISBN 978-81-7387-086-6
  9. ^ Census of India 1961. Volume VI: Jammu and Kashmir. PART II-A: GENERAL POPULATION TABLES. Published 1964. pp. 23, 53, 75, 104. Quote: "Thirty-one villages of Tehsil Kargil (Serial Nos. 21–29, 33–53 and 90 of Village Tables of 1941) being on the other side of the cease-fire line."
  10. ^ CENSUS OF INDIA, 1911. Volume XX: Kashmir. PART I: REPORT. pp. 52, 63. Published 1912. Quote: "The Kharmang ilaqa from Skardu, and Zanskar from Kishtwar, were included in the newly formed tehsil."
  11. ^ Gazetteer of Kashmir and Ladak, Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing, 1890, p. 495 – via archive.org
  12. ^ Gupta, Radhika (2023). "Living on the Edge". Freedom in Captivity: Negotiations of Belonging along Kashmir's Frontier. Cambridge University Press. p. 163. ISBN 978-1-009-27678-8.
  13. ^ Schofield, Victoria (2003) [First published in 2000], Kashmir in Conflict, London and New York: I. B. Taurus & Co, pp. 65–66, ISBN 1860648983
  14. ^ Atul Aneja, A 'battle' in the snowy heights[dead link], The Hindu, 11 January 2001.
  15. ^ "In pictures: Life in Baltistan". bbc.com. July 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2015.


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