Balawaristan - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Balawaristan is an historical name of Gilgit-Baltistan that has regained some prevalence in recent years. The archaic English spelling for the name was Boloristan, and its first known documented usage is in Chinese

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

sources from the 8th century AD. Gilgit-Baltistan includes Gilgit

Gilgit District

Gilgit District is one of the districts of the federal territory of Gilgit-Baltistan in northern Pakistan. It was formed in 1970 when Gilgit-Baltistan was federally administered as the "Northern Areas". It is bounded by the Wakhan Corridor to the north; Xinjiang to the northeast and east; Skardu,...

, Skardu

Skardu

Skardu , is the main town of the region Baltistan and the capital of Skardu District, one of the districts making up Pakistan's Gilgit Baltistan....

, Hunza

Hunza (princely state)

Hunza was a princely state in the northernmost part of the Northern Areas of Pakistan until 1974. The state was also known as Kanjut. The state bordered the Gilgit Agency to the south, the former princely state of Nagar to the east, China, to the north and Afghanistan to the northwest. The state...

, Ishkoman

Ishkoman

The Ishkoman valley lies in the north of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and the Pamir corridor.-Political status:Administratively, Ishkoman valley constitutes a Tehsil of Ghizer District. It is located at a range of altitudes, from . The valley consists of 20 villages, with a total population of...

Puniyal and Yasin

Yasin Valley

The Yasin Valley, Tehsil Yasin or Babaye-i-Yasen or Worshigum is a high mountain valley in the Hindu Kush mountains, in the northwest region of Gilgit in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Yasin is separated from the Ishkoman Valley by a high mountain pass...

(see Districts of Gilgit-Baltistan). The regions of Baltistan

Baltistan

Baltistan , also known as بلتیول བལིུལ་ in the Balti language, is a region in northern Pakistan which forms Gilgit-Baltistan, bordering the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China. In addition, a part of Baltistan also falls into Jammu and Kashmir of India. It is situated in the Karakoram mountains...

, and Ladakh

Ladakh

Ladakh is a region of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of the Republic of India. It lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent...

(including Kargil

Kargil District

Kargil is a district of Ladakh, Kashmir, India. Kargil lies near the Line of Control facing Pakistan-occupied Kashmir's Baltistan to the west, and Kashmir valley to the south. Zanskar is part of Kargil district along with Suru, Wakha and Dras valleys...

) are also considered to be a part of Balawaristan by nationalist parties of Gilgit, and sometimes Chitral

Chitral

Chitral or Chetrar , translated as field in the native language Khowar, is the capital of the Chitral District, situated on the western bank of the Kunar River , in Pakistan. The town is at the foot of Tirich Mir, the highest peak of the Hindu Kush, high...

is as well.

Origins of the name

The people of this region have historically been referred to as Balawars (or highlanders), which is said to have come from the term Bala, which means high, a reference to the high-altitudes prevalent in this area. An alternative theory links the name to a mythic ancient king called Bolor Shah, who had first united the region and from whom local rulers in turn often claimed descent. Yet a third theory was proposed by the National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research of Pakistan that "the name is most probably derived from the title Patola, the Buddhist royal dynasty which was powerful in the region from to 8th centuries AD."

Historically, the Baltistan region was called "Great Bolor" and Dardistan and parts of Brooshal (e.g. Gilgit Valley) were called "Little Bolor." Great Boloristan is known to have sent ambassadors to the Chinese court.

Political status movements

In more recent times, the name Balawaristan initially found favour with nationalists of the Gilgit region, such as the Balawaristan National Front

Balawaristan National Front

The Balawaristan National Front is a political party seeking the independence of what they call Balawaristan located in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.-Background:...

, who are seeking independence from Pakistan. These groups state that they are geographically, ethnically, linguistically and culturally distinct from Pakistan and Kashmir, and that the region is incorrectly associated with the dilemma facing the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state of India. It is situated mostly in the Himalayan mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and internationally with the People's Republic of China to the north and east and the...

. The Balawaristan National Front, for instance, has explicitly defined its goal as "freedom from Pakistan's illegal occupation." According to the chairman of the Balawaristan National Front, in May 1999, the Supreme Court of Pakistan

Supreme Court of Pakistan

The Supreme Court is the apex court in Pakistan's judicial hierarchy, the final arbiter of legal and constitutional disputes. The Supreme Court has a permanent seat in Islamabad. It has number of Branch Registries where cases are heard. It has a number of de jure powers which are outlined in the...

ruled that Balawaristan "is a disputed territory and the government of Pakistan has no claim over it". The Bolor Thinker Forum, in a public seminar in Rawalpindi

Rawalpindi

Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...

in 2005, also called for "an independent Bolor state," and asserted that "it was their legitimate right to demand an independent Bolor state".

Some Balawar leaders argue that since the people of the region do not have proportional representation in the Pakistani parliament as the local people have been demanding for years, therefore Pakistan should not apply its laws. In recent years, many Pakistanis have also voiced support for greater political representation for the people of the region and for giving them federal representation and civic amenities. Some leaders have requested UN intervention in settling the North West provinces constitutional dilemma as they seek full rights, amenities and integration within the Pakistani federation.

However, some leaders of Balawaristan reject increased representation or economic packages as an alternative to independence and separation from Pakistani control, often specifically deriding the various economic and political "packages" that are designed by the Pakistani government for the area. Pakistani critics argue that an independent Balawaristan will not be able to function as a separate state with a small population (about 2 million), lack of subsidies provided by the Pakistani government, and landlocked status.

Some Balawar groups, such as the Gilgit-Baltistan United Movement

Gilgit-Baltistan United Movement

The Gilgit-Baltistan United Movement is a political movement of Gilgit-Baltistan based in Skardu. It demands a fully autonomous state consisting of Gilgit and Baltistan, also known as the Northern Areas....

, have limited their demands to total autonomy and a respect for their distinctiveness, asking the Pakistani government to end what they describe as its "colonial attitude." The group opposes the appointment of Pakistanis as officials or judges in the region and, although not officially dedicated to seeking independence, had nevertheless issued an appeal to Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

upon his election as president of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

to use "his influences to restore the sovereignty of small nations of the world such as Palestine

Palestine

Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....

, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan." The Balawaristan National Students Organisation, in April 2008, raised a demand for Balawaristan to be constituted into the fifth province of Pakistan (the other four are Punjab

Punjab (Pakistan)

Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 45% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the...

, Sindh

Sindh

Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...

, Balochistan

Balochistan (Pakistan)

Balochistan is one of the four provinces or federating units of Pakistan. With an area of 134,051 mi2 or , it is the largest province of Pakistan, constituting approximately 44% of the total land mass of Pakistan. According to the 1998 population census, Balochistan had a population of...

and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

Origins of the name

Political status movements

See also