Hunza is a mountainous valley in the autonomous Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. Hunza is situated in the northern part of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, bordering with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west and the Xinjiang region of China to the north-east. The Hunza valley is situated at an elevation of 2,438 meters. Geographically, Hunza consists of three regions, Upper Hunza, Central Hunza and Lower Hunza.
History
The earliest history of the Hunza Valley can be traced to the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata. During the Mahajanapada era of ancient India, the area came under the influence of several major ancient Indian kingdoms, mainly the Kingdom of Kapisa, Gandhara and possibly Magadha, among others. Buddhism came to the Hunza Valley in the late 7th century. Buddhism and Bön, to a lesser extent, were the main religions in the area. The region has a number of surviving Buddhist archaeological sites such as the Sacred Rock of Hunza. Nearby are former sites of Buddhist shelters. Hunza valley was central as a trading route from Central Asia to the subcontinent. It also provided shelter to Buddhist missionaries and monks who were visiting the subcontinent, and the region played a major role in the transmission of Buddhism throughout Asia. The region was Buddhist majority till the 15th century, before the arrival of Islam in this region. Since then most of the people converted to Islam, the presence of Buddhism in this region has now been limited to archeological sites, as the remaining Buddhists of this region moved east to Leh where Buddhism is the majority religion. Hunza was formerly a princely state bordering Xinjiang to the northeast and Pamir to the northwest, which survived until 1974, when it was finally dissolved by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The state bordered the Gilgit Agency to the south and the former princely state of Nagar to the east. The state capital was the town of Baltit ; another old settlement is Ganish Village which means "ancient gold" village. Hunza was an independent principality for more than 900 years until the British gained control of it and the neighboring valley of Nagar between 1889 and 1891 through military conquest. The then Mir/Tham, branch of Katur Dynasty, Safdar Khan of Hunza fled to Kashghar in China and sought what would now be called political asylum.
On January 4, 2010, a landslide blocked the river and created Attabad Lake, resulting in 20 deaths and 8 injuries and has effectively blocked about of the Karakoram Highway. The new lake extends and rose to a depth of when it was formed as the Hunza Riverbacked up. The landslide completely covered sections of the Karakoram Highway.
2018 Rescue mission
On 1 July 2018, Pakistan Army pilots in a daring mission rescued 3 foreign mountaineers stuck in snow avalanche at above the height of on Ultar Sar Peak near Hunza. The perilous weather conditions had made it difficult for the Army helicopter to go forth with a rescue operation on the high Ultar Sar. But they completed it. Bruce Normand and Timothy Miller from UK were successfully rescued alive while their companion Christian Huber from Austria had succumbed to avalanche. Britain's High Commissioner Thomas Drew in Pakistan termed the mission “remarkable and dangerous” and said: “Our gratitude to the Pakistan Army pilots who rescued two British climbers trapped by an avalanche on Ultar Sar Peak near Hunza. Our thoughts are with their Austrian fellow climber who died”.
People
The local languages spoken include Burushaski, Wakhi and Shina. The literacy rate of the Hunza valley is more than 95%. The historical area of Hunza and present northern Pakistan has had, over the centuries, mass migrations, conflicts and resettling of tribes and ethnicities, of which the Dardic Shina race is the most prominent in regional history. People of the region have recounted their historical traditions down the generations. The Hunza Valley is also home to some Wakhi, who migrated there from northeastern Afghanistan beginning in the nineteenth century onwards. The longevity of Hunza people has been noted by some, but others refute this as a longevity myth caused by the lack of birth records. There is no evidence that Hunza life expectancy is significantly above the average of poor, isolated regions of Pakistan. Claims of health and long life were almost always based solely on the statements by the localmir. An author who had significant and sustained contact with Burusho people, John Clark, reported that they were overall unhealthy.
