Balti People - History

History

Modern day Balti people are not all from Tibetan stock. With the passage of time, many other tribes namely, Shins, Yashkuns (Dardic people), Kashmiris (known as Khache in local language), Arabs (mostly Sayeds), Persian (Sufis) and Turks (especially Uygurs from central Asia) made their enroads to Baltistan and gradually merged with the local population. After second or third generation they became Baltis. Today, in Skardu (land of Sakas), the capital of Baltistan region of Pakistan, the most hardened Baltis are outsiders namely Kashmiris or Dard tribes.

Baltistan came under the control of the Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo in the 7th century. Under Tibetan cultural influence, the Bön and Animist Baltis began to adopt Tibetan Buddhism from Indian Buddhism. Religious artifacts such as the Gompas and Chörtens were erected, and Lamas played an important role in the lives of the Baltis.

History of Islam in Baltistan starts with arrival of Ameer Kabeer Syed Ali Hamadani (A legendary saint of Muslim history) from Iran during 15th century. He was followed by other Sufi legends afterwards, such as Shah Syed Muhammad Noorbaksh & Syed Shansuddin Iraqi. Soon the whole region converted to Nurbakhshi order of Islamic Sufism. During the start of 19th century, however, the predominant population converted to other Islamic schools of thought such as Shias and Sunnis. The pure Islamic (Nurkbakhsi) sect is still there. Today, the Baltis are; Shi'a (42%), Sofia Imamia Nurbakhshia (38%), Sunni - Ahl Al-Hadith Sect and others (20%). With the decline of power of Central Tibet during the 11th century, the Balti people came under the control of the local ruling families namely Maqpon in Skardu, Amacha in Shigar and Yabgo in Khaplu. They fostered a close relationship with Ladakh in the east. Similar linguistic and cultural characteristics of Baltiyul and Ladakh helped in forging an administrative unit that existed until 1948 when Balties revolted against the Dogras and joined Pakistan. The Dogra Maharajas of Jammu kept the administrative unit intact and converted it into a province called Ladakh Wazarat (a province composed of Baltistan, central Ladakh, Purik, Zanskar and Changthang areas). Skardu, became the winter capital of the province w hile Leh, capital of Central Ladakh became the summer capital. The province was divided into three districts namely Skardu, Leh and Kargil.