Ghizer District
By Atiullah
History
Ghizer
district is the westernmost part of the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. Its capital is Gahkuch. Ghizer is crossroads between Gilgit and Chitral and also to china, Tajikistan via Qurumberpass through Ishkoman/darkut Yasin (which are connected via Shandur pass). Ghizer is a multi-ethnic district and
three major languages are spoken; shina, khowar and burushaski. There are also wakhi speakers in Ishkoman and some Tajiks.
Ghizer is a distorted form of the name
"Gehrz" which means "refugees" in khowar. "Gherz"
is a village in Golaghmuli valley, which is now known as Golagamuli. Whenever the mehtar of chitral did unjust
with their people in chitral and forced them to migrate towards gupis.
They
were settled in the area between chitral and gupis and the area called Ghrzer and the people were called gherzic. When Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto the president of Pakistan
abolished the far and Rajgi system and made another administrative district
comprising the tehsils (political districts) the name ghizer was agreed and
unanimously.
Tehsil gupis is the central part of Ghizer district. There are so many villages’ lush green and very pleasant places, like
shandur, Phandar Lake, Khalti Lake; the most biggest lake in khalti is very
famous for trout fishes. There are also ptdc hotel available and also some
private hotels in Ghahkuch.
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| View of chumarkhand barsaat |Photo by Ati |
GeographyDistrict Ghizer is north most part of the Northern areas and hence the extreme north of the country. It joins with wakhan strip on its north-west, and china on its northern borders. On its west, there is Chitral district of Khyber pakhtunkhwa; and on its east is situated Gilgit.
Diamer district is on its south, which is again a part of the
northern areas. Gakuch is the capital of the Ghizer
district. Gupis has been serving as a junction between yasin and phander
valley.
It is the central place from all valleys like phandar, yasin, Poniyaletc. The valley is located between the world greatest mountain ranges i.e. Hindu Kush and Karakorum
.
It is the central place from all valleys like phandar, yasin, Poniyaletc. The valley is located between the world greatest mountain ranges i.e. Hindu Kush and Karakorum
.
The highest peak in Ghizer district is
koyo zom (6,871 m) (Hindu Kush range) which lies on the boundary of Ghizer
district and Chitral.
Some of the main places in the district are koh-i-ghizer, Golaghmuli valley, Ishkoman and yasin valleys. Other places include Gupis and chatorkhand.
