Page 18 - Seniors Today - Oct 2019

History
From princely states to power plays
They were but names on a map until trans-border skirmishes made
them well-known. The forgotten areas of Gilgit and Baltistan are given
a closer look in this story, hitherto unpublished, by the celebrated late
defence correspondent Sati Sahni
Gilgit and Baltistan are the unfortunate parts
of Jammu & Kashmir which should have been
apart of Indian territory. Whereas Pakistan
insists on calling it the Northern Area of
Pakistan. In the past 57 years, India has
asserted its claim rather feebly and occasionally.
Pakistan, on the other hand, took over the
administration of the vast areas, exploited its
resources and used it to win over the friendship
of China – but did not give the region and its
people their due. Not many Indians are aware
that this vast region is 72,945 sq km, which is
five times the area administered by the POK
government.
The Gilgit Baltistan region was a part of the
princely state of Jammu and Kashmir from
1846 to 1947 ruled by the Dogra rulers, when it
was annexed by Pakistan during the Pakistani
Qabbali invasion of J&K shortly after partition.
The territory of present-day Gilgit-Baltistan
became a separate administrative unit of
Pakistan in 1970 under the name “Northern
Areas”. This special administrative unit was
formed by the amalgamation of the former
Gilgit Agency, the Baltistan district and several
small former princely states including the
Hunza and Nagar.
In the 19th century by using their military
might and diplomatic skills, the Dogra rulers of
18
Jammu & Kashmir State were able to subjugate
and subdue the rulers of various principalities
of the Gilgit region like Hunza, Nagar, Punial,
Yasin, Ghizr, Ishkoman and Chilas, and
Khaplu, Rondu and Skardu in Baltistan.
Even when the Dogra General Zorawar Singh
conquered Baltistan in 1840, Gilgit retained its
independence. However, in 1846 succession to
rulership of Gilgit was contested. A contender,
Karim Khan, sought assistance from the
Governor of Kashmir (Lahore’s Sikh Durbar),
who dispatched an Expeditionary Force which
quelled the warring factions and got Karim
Khan enthroned. He was however asked to rule
in the name of the Sikh Durbar and accept the
Lahore Maharaja as suzerain.
Military conquest of the area received legal
and constitutional validity through the Treaty
of Lahore (1846) Clause 4 between East India
Company and the Sikh Durbar. This was
ratified by the Treaty of Amritsar of 1846
between the British and Maharaja Gulab
Singh. The expansionist intentions of Czarist
Russia towards the south and the British
Government’s realisation that they should not
have handed over Gilgit and Baltistan to the
Kashmir Maharaja, made it change its policy
towards this vital region. Suddenly the strategic
importance of this region dawned upon the