Bon or Bön, also known as Yungdrung Bon, is the indigenous Tibetan religion which shares many similarities and influences with Tibetan Buddhism. It initially developed in the tenth and eleventh centuries but retains elements from earlier Tibetan religious traditions. Bon is a significant minority religion in Tibet, especially in the east, as well as in the surrounding Himalayan regions.
The Music of Pakistan includes diverse elements ranging from music from various parts of South Asia as well as Central Asian, Middle Eastern, and modern-day Western popular music influences. With these multiple influences, a distinctive Pakistani music has emerged.
Balti is a Tibetic language natively spoken by the ethnic Balti people in the Baltistan region of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, Nubra Valley of the Leh district and in the Kargil district of Ladakh, India. The language differs from Standard Tibetan; many sounds of Old Tibetan that were lost in Standard Tibetan are retained in the Balti language. It also has a simple pitch accent system only in multi-syllabic words while Standard Tibetan has a complex and distinct pitch system that includes tone contour. Due to effects of dominant languages in Pakistani media like Urdu, Punjabi and English and religious impact of Arabic and Persian languages, Balti, like other regional languages of Pakistan, is continuously expanding its vocabulary base with loanwords.
Baltistan 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 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. The average altitude of the region is over 3,350 metres (10,990 ft). Baltistan is largely administered under the Baltistan Division.
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.
The Baltis are a Tibetic ethnic group who are native to the Pakistani-administered territory of Gilgit−Baltistan and the Indian-administered territory of Ladakh, predominantly in the Kargil district with smaller concentrations present in the Leh district. Outside of the Kashmir region, Baltis are scattered throughout Pakistan, with the majority of the diaspora inhabiting prominent urban centres such as Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
Purgi, Burig, Purki, Purik, Purigi or Puriki is a Tibetic language closely related to the Ladakhi-Balti language. Purgi is natively spoken by the Purigpa people in Ladakh region of India and Baltistan region of Pakistan.
Tibetan Muslims, also known as the Khache, are Tibetans who adhere to Islam. Many are descendants of Kashmiris, Ladakhis, and Nepalis who arrived in Tibet in the 14th to 17th centuries. There are approximately 5,000 Tibetan Muslims living in China, over 1,500 in India, and 300 to 400 in Nepal.
Shigar is the headquarter of its namesake district and tehsil in the Baltistan division of Gilgit-Baltistan region in northern Pakistan. It is located on the bank of the Shigar River in the most remote part of the region. It is a popular site for tourists and trekkers and contains many historical buildings of architectural significance associated with several different communities.
Khaplu, also spelt Khapalu, is a city that serves as the administrative capital of the Ghanche District in Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan, within the disputed Kashmir region. Located 103 km (64 mi) east of Skardu, Khaplu was historically the second-largest kingdom in Baltistan under the Yabgo dynasty and played a key role in guarding the trade route to Ladakh along the Shyok River, near its confluence with the Indus.
Gilgit-Baltistan, formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory and consists of the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and between India and China since 1959. It borders Azad Kashmir to the south, the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan to the north, the Xinjiang region of China to the east and northeast, and the Indian-administered union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to the southeast.
Turtuk is a village and the headquarters of an eponymous community development block in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. It is a small village sandwiched between the Karakorum Range and the Himalayas, and one of the northernmost villages of India, close to the Line of Control between India and Pakistan. Turtuk is situated in the Nubra tehsil of the Leh district, on the banks of the Shyok River. Geographically, the village is in the Baltistan region, which has been under Pakistani administration, except for five villages of the Turtuk block which are part of India. These villages form the only region in India populated by Balti people. Turtuk is known for its fruit, especially apricots.
Gilgit-Baltistan is an administrative territory of Pakistan that borders the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, Azad Kashmir to the southwest, Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan to the northwest, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China to the north, and the Indian-administered region of Jammu and Kashmir to the south and south-east.
The Barah Valley is a village in Gilgit Baltistan. Barah Valley is 100 km from Skardu in the east. The valley is located on the bank of Shyok river in the Khaplu, of Baltistan.
Haldi also Halde or Huldi is a village in Ghanche District of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Haldi is a historic village of Baltistan, located at the meeting place of Saltoro river and Hushe River 28 km from district centre Khaplu.
Tolti is a city that serves as the administrative capital of Kharmang District of Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region. The village lies on the left bank of the Indus river, and is approximately 35 km south-east of the confluence of the Indus from the Shyok.
Ghulam Hassan is a male Muslim given name. It may refer to
The Patola Shahis, or Palola Shahis, also Gilgit Shahis, were a dynasty of Buddhist kings of the Kingdom of Gilgit, located in the northern tip of the Indian subcontinent in the 6th-8th century CE. The Kingdom was located on a strategic trans-Himalyan trade route, now known as the Karakoram Highway, which branched off the Grand Trunk Road. It followed the important stops of Shatial and Chilas.
Akhone Asgar Ali Basharat is an author and poet from the Kargil district in the Union Territory of Ladakh in India. His writings are in the Balti language which is a Tibetic language natively spoken by the ethnic Balti people in the Baltistan region of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, Nubra Valley of the Leh district and in the Kargil district of Ladakh, India. He had had no formal school/college education; instead, he had his early education in a madrassa established by his father at his home in 1972. The madrassa used to teach its students the Balti, Persian and Arabic languages. He became interested in writing poetry from around 1980 and his early writings were Naat and Manqabat.
Mayfung is a New Year festival celebrated on the 21 December by the Balti people in the Baltistan region of Pakistan. It is held to commemorate the end of the longest night of the year and the start of the Balti New Year. Mayfung is traditionally celebrated in Baltistan but also in some parts of Gilgit, Chitral and Tibet in China.
