#Baghtor

[explorationsbyanilrajput-blog]

Gurez , Jammu and Kashmir

Gurez is one of the well-kept beautiful region of Jammu & Kashmir, situated at a height of 8,460 ft. about 146 km from Srinagar, One can reach Gurez by driving along the Jhelum River and crossing Bandipore where one of the largest and beautiful fresh water Wullar Lake is situated.

From Bandipore, the beautiful road climbs up to 11672 ft. at Razdan Pass and then the road slopes down to reach Dawar…

[araibalibaigsblog]

Historical  Dardistan was a  Area of Dards comprising the whole of Chitral, Gilgit, Hunza, Nagar, Punyal, Yasin, Koh, Ghizar, Ishkoman, Chilas, Astore, Skardu, Gurais and Drass (Kargil). Including the Indus Valley from Bunji to  Kohistan, KPK. Herodotus has mentioned about Dards. Ancient Greek and Roman writers recorded their Chronicles, when Dards were at the zenith of their power and influence that extended from northern Afghanistan to central Tibet. Dard tribe once had their homeland spread across the valleys, tucked inside the great Himalayas at the edge of north Kashmir from Chitral and Yasin, across the Indus regions of Gilgit, Chilas and Bunji to Gurez valley. Studying Kalhana’s Rajtarangni (river of kings) Kashmir’s 12th century chronicle_ British historian Sir Aurel Stein remarked that the seat of Dards has not changed since the time of Herodotus.Dard people, who speak different dialects of Shina language, inhabit Dardistan. Shina is spoken over a vast area of 12,352 square miles. Dardistan starts from Tragbal Bandipora and its boundaries extend beyond Pamir Badakshan, on other side its boundaries are up to Drass Kargil. On west its boundaries extend up to Peshawar via the Valley of Kaghan. Maharaja Gulab Singh invaded Dardistan in 1841 and annexed most of its area with Jammu and Kashmir. As per the census of 1931 total population of Dardistan was 2 lakhs thirty four thousand and ninety three. Famous silk route traverses through the whole of Dardistan, Gurez Valley also falls along the same. Presently only Gurez tehsil and Dras Naibat are in J& K State and all the other areas are either in the direct control of Pakistan or under Chinese occupation. The Pakistan occupied parts of Dardistan are called " Gilgit Baltistan.In Kargil District people of Drass Naibat speak Shina language. Also Buddhist Dards of Dahanu villages of Zanaskar are pure Aryans.Shina Language has four dialects as under.Gilgiti: (1) spoken in Gilgit Subdivision, in eastern Baltistan & in Southern Nagar. (2) Punyali.Astori: (1) Astori Valley of Astore from Burzil to Bunji. (2) Gurezi. (3) DrasiChilasi: (1) Kohistani Darel tangir. (2) Chilasi-Chilas & Gor.Brokpa: spoken by Buddhist Dards in Dah nu.Dard people have their own culture and traditions. This is quite different from Kashmiris and Dogras of Jammu. However people of Gurez are mostly influenced by Kashmiris and there are language islands in Dawar and Baghtor areas of Gurez. Here people speak Kashmiri, and are also good in speaking Shina.One of the archaeological sites of importance in the Gurez Valley include Kanzalwan where the last council of Buddhism is believed to have been held (in old chronicles its name is mentioned as Kundhalwan) and, further down stream, few Km’s away from Bagtore, the ruins of the ancient Sharada Peeth (now under Pakistan's occupation) are preserved along the Kishenganga River. People from Central Asia came here for getting knowledge. In "Linguistic Survey of India", George Garrison puts forward the fact that Shina language is the origin of Kashmiri language. As original script of Kashmiri language is the "Sharada Script".The Sharada temple is the most famous and sacred of all Kashmiri pandit pilgrimage centers. It is located in Neelam valley (part of Gurais) in Pakistan occupied Kashmir near the Line of Control. In all probability Sharda temple was constructed somewhere in mid 12th Century, during the reign of Jaisimha by an Aryan Saraswat Brahmin warlord of Kishanganga Valley. According to Al-Biruni, the famous historian of India, Sharada was an important site of pilgrimage. The native script for Kashmiri (Sharada) was derived from Brahmi.