History of Gilgit-Baltistan

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 early recorded history of the region is linked with Western Tibet. The region appears to have been part of the Tibetan Empire, with Buddhism flourishing in the region by 5th century. Later, Buddhist Patola Shahis ruled the region. However, by the 13th century, the region came under Islamic influence, notably under the Maqpon Kings of Baltistan and Trakhan dynasty of Gilgit. This resulted in local ethnic groups, Shina, Burusho and Kho converting to Islam in almost their entirety and the separation of the Balti people from the Buddhist Ladakhi neighbours. The Baltis increasingly converted from Buddhism to Islam, resulting in increased interaction and conflict with their Kashmiri Muslim neighbours. Muslim rule in the area ended with the expansion of the Sikh Empire followed by the Dogra dynasty. After the defeat of the Sikhs in the Anglo-Sikh wars, most of the region was ruled by the Dogras under British paramountcy. The region became part of the newly formed state of Pakistan after the Gilgit rebellion in the first Kashmir war.