Balawaristan (shina: بالاورستان) lit.'Land of heights'), is a term used for the historical region forming present-day Gilgit-Baltistan.1 November every year as independence from Dogra Raj in 1947.col mirza hassan khan founder of balawaristan .The modern term was coined by the political party Balawaristan National Front, founded by Nawaz Khan Naji, in 1989. But it has its roots in the historical names Broshal, Dardiatan and Bolor or Boloristan, with documented usage in Chinese sources from the 8th century AD.[1] According to the present day activists, 'Balawaristan' includes Chitral, Gilgit, Skardu, Hunza, Nagar, Ishkoman, Punial and Yasin (Ladakh , Kargil, chitral ، kohistan ,Kashgar and wakhan ). The leader of BNF Nawaz Khan Naji declared that Balawaristan (Gilgit-Baltistan) is independent State.[2]
Etymology
Balors means "highlanders", it is believed to have come from "Bala" meaning high or upper. Thus it means land of highlanders.[3]
Historically, the Baltistan region was called "Great Bolor" and Dardistan and parts of Brooshal (e.g. Gilgit Valley) were called "Little Bolor."[4]
Great Boloristan is known to have sent ambassadors to the Chinese court in the 8th century.[4] The Mons, an Indo-Aryan group, made the region as a hub of Buddhism.[5]
Chinese historian Faxian mentioned it as Pololo or Palolo, Tibetans called it Nang-khod, where Arab historians mentioned it as Baloristan, moreover Theodre Foster in his The London Quarterly Review has stated that to Muslim geographers the name of the region was not known, use of the name in very rare cases is found.[6]Phunchok Stobdan says Mughal historian called it Tibet-i-Khurd.[7][pageneeded]
The people of this region though belonging to various ethnicities, have historically been referred to as Balors, which means the highlanders or mountain people, a reference to the high-altitudes prevalent in this area. An alternative theory links the name to a mythic ancient king called Bolor Shah, who had first united the region and from whom local rulers in turn often claimed descent.[8][9]
Balawaristan is a region bordered by Pakistan to the west, Azad Kashmir to the southwest, Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor to the northwest, China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to the north, and Indian-administered territory. The region of Jammu and Kashmir in the south and south-east.
National Language
Shina (ݜݨیاٗ,شِْنْیٛا Ṣiṇyaá, IPA: [ʂiɳjá]) is a Dardic language of Indo-Aryan language family spoken by the Shina people.[4][5] In Pakistan, Shina is the major language in Gilgit-Baltistan spoken by an estimated 1,146,000 people living mainly in Gilgit-Baltistan and Kohistan. A small community of Shina speakers is also found in India, in the Guraiz valley of Jammu and Kashmir and in Dras valley of Ladakh.[4] Outliers of Shina language such as Brokskat are found in Ladakh, Kundal Shahi in Azad Kashmir, Palula and Sawi in Chitral, Ushojo in the Swat Valley and Kalkoti in Dir.
"Anthropos". Anthropos. Vol.79, no.1–6. 1984. Retrieved 2009-01-24. A more indigenous label for the same territory is Bolor (or Boloristan); this designation had appeared in Chinese sources already in the 8th century.
Journal of Central Asia. 2 (1). Centre for the Study of the Civilizations of Central Asia. 1979 https://books.google.com/books?id=3HpxAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 2009-01-29. The eastern half, Great Bolor, could afford to send several embassies to the Chinese court during the first half of the 8th century{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
"Seminar demands independent Bolor state", Daily Times, 2005-03-03, retrieved 2009-01-24, Speakers from the Northern Areas (Gilgit-Baltistan) demanded an independent Bolor state at a seminar 'Great Bolor State and Kashmir Issue' at the Rawalpindi Press Club on Sunday.
"Provincial status sought for Gilgit, Baltistan", Daily Dawn, 2008-04-01, retrieved 2009-01-24, Historically, geographically and politically, Gilgit-Baltistan deserves to be a province. The people of the region should have the right to send their representatives to the National Assembly and Senate of Pakistan, of which they have been deprived for the last 60 years, said speakers at a seminar organised by the Balawaristan National Students Organisation here.
Sökefeld, Martin (2012), "Secularism and the Kashmir dispute", in Nils Ole Bubandt; Martijn Van Beek (eds.), Varieties of Secularism in Asia: Anthropological Explorations of Religion, Politics and the Spiritual, Routledge, pp.101–120, ISBN978-1-136-66864-7
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