Hunza, also known as Kanjut, was a princely state in the Gilgit Baltistan region of Pakistan. Initially, it functioned as a principality and subsequently became a princely state under a subsidiary alliance with the British India starting in 1892 and continuing until August 1947. For a brief period of three months, it remained unaligned after gaining independence, and then from November 1947 until 1974, it retained its status as a princely state within Pakistan. The territory of Hunza now constitutes the northernmost part of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
The Wazir Khan Mosque is a 17th-century Mughal masjid located in the city of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. The mosque was commissioned during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a part of an ensemble of buildings that also included the nearby Shahi Hammam baths. Construction of Wazir Khan Mosque began in 1634 C.E., and was completed in 1641. It is on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List.
Skardu is a city located in Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region. Skardu serves as the capital of Skardu District and the Baltistan Division. It is situated at an average elevation of nearly 2,500 metres above sea level in the Skardu Valley, at the confluence of the Indus and Shigar rivers. The city is an important gateway to the eight-thousanders of the nearby Karakoram mountain range. The Indus River running through the region separates the Karakoram from the Ladakh Range.
Mughal architecture is the type of Indo-Islamic architecture developed by the Mughals in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries throughout the ever-changing extent of their empire in the Indian subcontinent. It developed from the architectural styles of earlier Muslim dynasties in India and from Iranian and Central Asian architectural traditions, particularly Timurid architecture. It also further incorporated and syncretized influences from wider Indian architecture, especially during the reign of Akbar. Mughal buildings have a uniform pattern of structure and character, including large bulbous domes, slender minarets at the corners, massive halls, large vaulted gateways, and delicate ornamentation; examples of the style can be found in modern-day Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
Baltit Fort is a fort in the Hunza valley, near the town of Karimabad, in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of northern Pakistan. Founded in the 8th century CE, it has been on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative list since 2004.
The Hunza Valley is a mountainous valley located in the northern region of the Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
Altit Fort is an ancient fort in the Altit town in the Hunza valley in Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan. It was originally home to the hereditary rulers of the Hunza state who carried the title of 'Mir', although they moved to the somewhat younger Baltit fort nearby three centuries later. Altit Fort and in particular the Shikari tower is around 1100 years old, which makes it the oldest monument in the Gilgit–Baltistan. The fort has received the UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation in 2011.
The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a family of institutions created by Aga Khan IV with distinct but complementary mandates to improve the welfare and prospects of people in the developing world, particularly in Asia and Africa. It focuses on the revitalization of communities in the Muslim world—physical, social, cultural, and economic. The AKTC was founded in 1988 and is registered in Geneva, Switzerland, as a private non-denominational philanthropic foundation.
Tourism in Pakistan is a growing industry. In 2010, Lonely Planet termed Pakistan "tourism's 'next big thing'". The country is geographically and ethnically diverse, and has a number of historical and cultural heritage sites. Condé Nast Traveller ranked Pakistan The Best Holiday Destination for 2020 and also declared it the third-highest potential adventure destination in the world for 2020. As security in the country improves, tourism increases; in two years, it has increased by more than 300%.
Bagh-e Babur, also known as Gardens of Babur, is a historic site in Chelsatun, Kabul, Afghanistan. It is located in the Sher Darwaza hillside of District 5, southwest of Shahr-e Naw, or a short distance south of Kabul Zoo and north of Chihil Sutun. The gardens of Babur has several terraced buildings, a small mosque, and plenty of walking space. Visited by up to one million locals and foreign tourists a year, it is also where the tomb of the first Mughal emperor Babur is located. The park is thought to have been developed around 1504, when Babur gave orders for the construction of an "avenue garden" in Kabul, described in some detail in his memoirs, the Baburnama. It has been re-developed by various Afghan rulers since then.
The Hunza-Nagar Campaign was an armed conflict in 1891 fought by troops serving the British Raj against the princely states of Hunza and Nagar in the Gilgit Agency. It is also known in Pakistan as the Anglo-Brusho War or Jangir-e-Lae.
Ganish is a village in the Hunza District within the Gilgit Baltistan region of Pakistan. It is the oldest and first settlement on the ancient Silk Road in the Hunza Valley, and is the site of various ancient watchtowers, traditional mosques, religious centers, and a reservoir. It is located 90 km away from Gilgit. The word "Ganish" is unknown but according to the local scholars, it is derived from the Burushaski word "Genish" which means gold. Ganish has been a major town for travelers since the days of the Silk Road - now the Karakorum Highway.
UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Awards are given with as the strategic purpose of UNESCO with in the region Asia Pacific. The objective is to motivate the protection of Cultural Heritage sites, which are initiated by any individual organization under private sector or institutional organization.
The Shigar Fort means The Fort on Rock is an old fort of Baltistan and Pakistan located in the town of Shigar. It was built in the 17th century by the Raja of Amacha Dynasty of Shigar.
Khaplu Palace, locally known as Yabgo Khar, is an old fort and palace located in Khaplu, a city in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. The palace, considered an architectural heritage site and a significant tourist attraction, was built in the mid-19th century to replace an earlier-dated fort located nearby. It served as a royal residence for the Raja of Khaplu.
The Amburiq Masjid is a mosque located in Shigar, in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. It is one of the oldest mosques in Baltistan. The mosque was built by Sayed Ali Hamdani and is among the famous landmarks in Baltistan.
Ratish Nanda is a noted Indian conservation architect, who is the Projects Director of Aga Khan Trust for Culture, India.
Tourism in Gilgit-Baltistan, an administered territory of Pakistan, focuses on its access to various mountain ranges and alpine terrain. Various tourist destinations attract millions of travelers from within Pakistan. On the other hand, tourists from other countries also routinely visit GB. An estimated 1.72 million tourists visited the region in 2017 according to the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC). Travelers had contributed Rs.300 million to the local economy in 2017. The authorities were expecting 2.5 million tourists in 2018 which would have meant an additional Rs.450 million to the economy.
Hunza District is a district of Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region. It is one of the 14 districts of the Gilgit-Baltistan region. It was established in 2015 by the division of the Hunza–Nagar District in accordance with a government decision to establish more administrative units in Gilgit-Baltistan. The district headquarters is the town of Karimabad.
The Shahi Hammam, also known as the Wazir Khan Hammam, is a Turkish bath which was built in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1635 C.E. during the reign of Emperor Shah Jahan. It was built by chief physician to the Mughal Court, Ilam-ud-din Ansari, who was widely known as Wazir Khan. The baths were built to serve as a waqf, or endowment, for the maintenance of the Wazir Khan Mosque.
