Baloristan - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Baloristan is the name of a region of Northern Areas of Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. It borders Pakistan's North-West Frontier to the west, Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

and China

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...

to the north, Indian-administered 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...

to the east, leading to the frozen wastes of the Siachen glacier

Siachen Glacier

The Siachen Glacier is located in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalaya Mountains at about , just east of the Line of Control between India-Pakistan. India controls all of the Siachen Glacier itself, including all tributary glaciers. At long, it is the longest glacier in the Karakoram and...

.

The central administrative unit of Baloristan, Gilgit Agency

Gilgit Agency

The Gilgit Agency was a political unit of British India, which administered the northern half of the Princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Gilgit Agency was created in 1877 and was overseen by a political agent of the Governor-General of British India. The seat of the agent was Srinagar...

History

In history books, the area is also known as Baloristan or Dardistan. Prof Ahmed Hasan Dani, in his book, History of Northern Areas of Pakistan (1994) writes that the area was collectively called Baloristan by Chinese

China

and other Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...

n historians.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

) in a report on the status of the area gives a glimpse of the sentiments of the people who have been ruled by Pakistani government in most of the areas after the princely states disintegrated in 1974. "For over 50 years, the Northern Areas in Pakistani-administered Kashmir have been administered by Pakistan although they are not legally part of it. This curious position arises from what the Pakistani government calls its unresolved dispute with India over the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir."

Current

Baloristan is as strategically important to Pakistan as it was to the British in the days of the British Empire. The issue of its status appears even more anomalous because, at the time of independence, the princes whose separate principalities comprised the area had indicated their willingness to join Pakistan. Their accession, which has never been accepted, has been a great disappointment to the majority of the approximately 0.7 million inhabitants, who are 100% Muslims (Shia, Sunni and Ismailis).

History

Current

See also