Tuesday, September 27, 2022

ORIENTATION - Basis of Interpretation

Extract from TALIMAT book on faith & practice

DOWNLOAD, ALSO READ

A range of terms are applied to what people consider of absolute significance. They may refer, for example, to their way of life, worldview, or overarching vision.

 A 'way of life' points to a mode of living, based on certain norms and beliefs, which is followed by a group of people.

 A 'worldview' implies an all-encompassing explanation of the world. A 'vision' refers to ideals or prospective which guide a people's engagement with the world.  Such terms have their own specific meanings in the context in which they are used. These terms find an ultimate orientation by which people may order their lives. The word 'orientation' means the act of turning towards where one wishes to go. It also has a broader sense of referring to the basic beliefs and values which guide an individual or a group of people.

 An ultimate orientation is one's sense of place in the cosmos or in the overall scheme of things. When we 'orient' ourselves in this way we turn our thoughts, words and deeds towards what is of absolute worth to us.

 Principles and Beliefs:

At the heart of every faith, we find a vision of the world and human life within it. We also find that this vision is translated into a set of our earthing principles. These principles express the fundamental beliefs of a religion.

“My grandfather often reminded you that we are living in the atomic age …. With this material progress will come many difficulties as well as many blessings....I shall devote my life to guiding the community in all the problems which these rapid changes will bring in their wake.”
Tanzania, 19 October 1957,

REORIENTATION - Ordained by the Imam since 2000 - Details on:

(1)   Book - "Where Hope Takes Root" authored by MHI. 

(2)   TALIM CURRICULUM - the relevant beliefs now available through the TALIM curriculum rather than the POLLUTED forms of "DAS AVTAR" scripture compiled by Pir Saddruddin or Wajh-e-Din/Zadul-Musafirin compiled by Pir Nasir-e-Khisraw. DOWNLOAD SITE

(3)    CIVIL SOCIETY LEARNING PUBLICATIONS. Explains working of JIs.

(4)    THE ISMAILI CONSTITUTION – Read Articles 18 & 19. The constitution has built-in flexibility, allowing various communities the ability to propose rules and regulations unique to individual communities, 

(5)    WEBCAST - 11th July 2017

NOTE:

Please read UNIT 1.1 of this book to capture the significance of the guidance.

The Imam had tasked me in Feb 2000 at Aiglemont in the presence of the following leaders:

Akbar Pesnani - President ICP

Kamal Chinoi - Chairman AKFP

and Shams Kasim Lakha, President AKU to do the announcement with further instructions to all to release the details by June 2000.

Friday, August 26, 2022

New Board of Governors Shares Vision for IIS at First Town Hall

New Board of Governors Shares Vision for IIS at First Town Hall: IIS governance, IIS vision

Sunday, June 19, 2022

INTRODUCTION TO THE NORTHERN AREAS OF PAKISTAN By Brigadier Sherullah Beg, Pakistan Army (Late)

 The Author: Brigadier Sherullah Beg (Retd) was a ‘Hunzakutz’. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Punjab in 1939. Owing to outbreak of World War II, he could not join the Indian Civil Service, which he was aspiring to. He joined the British Indian Army as an Officer Cadet in 1942 through competitive selection and was granted a commission as a 2nd Lt in the Madras Infantry in May 1943. During much of his service, he served as an Instructor in five different training institutions for officers and on staff, including the Staff College, Quetta. He was one of the few Indian officers selected to teach British Officer Cadets at the Officer’s Training School, Bangalore. He held staff appointments at General Headquarters (GHQ) in Delhi, later Supreme HQ during partition and then GHQ Rawalpindi. He served in the Gilgit region as an Officer on Special Duty for some time. Apart from command of two infantry battalions of the Punjab Regiment, he served as Deputy Provost Marshal of Pakistan’s Army for nearly five years, followed by his appointment as Pakistan’s Armed Forces’ Military Attache in Cairo from 1964 to 1966, concurrently accredited to Sudan and Lebanon. In October 1966, promoted Brigadier and recalled to command an Infantry Brigade. In early 1968 selected to command Special Services Group, the elite force of Pakistan Army. Was retired on completing 28 years commissioned service in May 1971. Since then, he has settled on a 10 acre, rather stony and partially developed farm he inherited from his father in the village of Jutial at Gilgit. In addition to devoting his time on developing his farm, the retired Brigadier is intensely absorbed and interested in the development potential of the Northern Areas. He has a wide range of interests extending from poetry, history and literature to research work on the people and languages of the Northern Areas. Besides the subcontinent, has extensively travelled in the Arab and Middle Eastern countries, as well as Western European countries. Knows several languages, English, Urdu, Persian, Arabic, Spanish, Russian and has a smattering of German. In addition to his mother language Brushaski, can also converse in Khowar (Chitrali) and Shina (Gilgit) dialects. Installed the first ever micro-electric generator in Gilgit as first pilot project to light up his unobtrusive cottage, which he designed himself and has given it the appropriate Burushaski name: ‘Amn-e-Yal’ (the shelter or shadow of peace) at an elevation of nearly 6,000 feet overlooking the Gilgit valley.

DOWNLOAD

Living in Harmony: By Salman Beg former CEO AKCSP

 RELLATED

Harnessing Local Wisdom for Sustainable Development in Gilgit-Baltistan 

Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) is known for its stunning natural beauty, and for its people. What is less known is the symbiotic relationship between the two. Spread over 72,496 km2 , it boasts five of the world’s fourteen 8,000 m peaks, including the world’s second highest mountain K2 which stands at 8611 m. The awe inspiring physical and natural attributes of the region exert an attraction that few other places in the world can aspire to. It is also known for its self-confident, industrious and welcoming people whose diverse ethnicities, languages and cultures, a result of being on a strand of the Silk Road of old, has retained its Central Asian characteristics in terms of living style. Progress over the years, prior to the opening of the Karakoram Highway (KKH), was grounded in sustainability, much before the word ‘sustainability’ became a commonly (mis)used term. The people of this region took the path of a unique sustainable lifestyle that allowed them to respect and live in harmony and balance with nature and their physical surroundings. This balance has been developed over centuries and I believe the two overarching and fully interconnected fundamentals are ‘land use’ and ‘water use’. While water resources are abundant, getting water to usable land has remained a major challenge. What is striking for a visitor is the barrenness of the mountains interrupted by greenery which cascades down hillsides resulting from irrigation channels meticulously engineered by human effort with the simplest of tools. It is quite true to say that almost all greenery is man-made. There is very little natural forestry in GB, because the area is above the Alpine tree line. The bulk of the approximately 2492 km2 of forests (3.6% of GB’s area) are in Diamer district, with the other regions having very little forest coverage. The shortage of usable land (for agriculture, agroforestry, orchards, habitation) and the difficulty in getting water to that land have imposed severe carrying capacity constraints on how much of a populace can be sustained. Historically, migration was the preferred means of reducing the burden of overpopulation. This meant tasking communities to build lengthy irrigation channels relying on gravity flow, in order to water sub-optimal and barren lands in other valleys and settling these lands with the overflow of population. It must also be said that these high mountain lands are high altitude deserts where water availability, apportionment and usage is critical. The lifestyles, governance mechanisms and most of all land use, is centred on water. The other point about water use is that there is a seasonal scarcity of water, generally from November to March, as the streams fed by glacial melt begin to run dry. This necessitated elaborate and meticulous water management systems, which in earlier days could lead to major punishment if someone took even a small additional amount of water. Understanding and implementing mechanisms to ensure sustainable liveability is thus central and ingrained in traditional wisdom. With a population in 2021 approaching 1.7 million (based on the 2017 census of 1.5 m and annual population change of 2.87%), the density rate is 23/km2 which is relatively low. However, when one takes into consideration that only 2% of the area is usable, the density climbs sharply to over Page 2 of 4 1150/km2 . Estimates suggest that around 9.6% of land is labelled as barren and could be brought into productive use by lifting water from rivers. Lands that could be irrigated, using nullahs and streams, has more or less been done. The expanses of Bunji, Chilas, Skardu and other such areas could thus be irrigated and help spread out populations and, furthermore, would also increase land area that could be covered by greenery. If all this land is brought into use, the density would drop to 211 per km2 . Traditionally, the human footprint was minimal and scaled down. The vast bulk of the population lived in the valleys near water sources, in villages and settlements in organised communities that put a premium on sustainable land and water use. We could and should learn from the sustainable practices these communities have successfully followed and which exist in their accumulated wisdom. ‘Dead land’ which could not be used for any other purpose, such as growing crops, was where clustered settlements grew and were made up of small units with communal spaces such as gathering places, water reservoirs and religious buildings. The bulk of the usable land was given over to agriculture. Fields, which were invariably small, followed natural contours. Specific areas of land were set aside for orchards. Pastures higher up the mountain slopes were dedicated for animal’s grazing. Utility and frugality underpinned life as it was very clear that the resources at hand needed to be managed responsibly. Only those trees were grown which were fruit bearing, or fast growing ones extensively for use in construction. As an example, when a male child was born, the family would plant a dozen or more Poplars, and by the time the son was of marriable age these trees would be cut down and a simple dwelling built. These were invariably small in size – one main room with a number of spaces to cater for all the functions of a house – without any openings other than a small door which opened into an entry space rather than directly opening into the main room, to help retain warmth during the cold winter season. Warmth was provided by having a central hearth with the smoke escaping through a hole in the roof. This hole also provided light. Walls were built of single rubble stone with Poplar timber bracing. Where wood was more readily available, timber framed walls with adobe bricks were constructed and double stories built if needed. In some parts of the region susceptible to earthquakes the roof comprised a rotated square supported by beams to mitigate impact of seismic activity. The flat roofs provided additional space, primarily for drying apricots, or for use in the summers for sleeping. Invariably, these clustered villages shared lots of common walls. Ecological practises allowed for sustainable development, which fits exceedingly well with the world of today with its increasing emphasis on climate change, global warming and reduction in the carbon footprint. Traditional wisdom was rooted in functionality, frugality, utilitarianism, and optimal use of local resources. These were the pillars that guided a remarkably green, responsible and sustainable approach for GB. This approach, which centres on water and land use, is increasingly relevant today. Physical isolation ended with the opening of the Karakoram Highway (KKH) in the early 1980s. This was followed by development activities where ‘modernity’ was introduced and foisted on to local sensibilities in the form of out of place concrete buildings unsuited to the region and, more Page 3 of 4 recently, the opening up of the region to unsustainable levels of unregulated tourism. The unregulated rise in tourism has put a lot of pressure on the fragile natural resources of the entire region. Annual domestic tourist inflow increased from 50,000 per annum (on average), before 2014, to 600,000 per annum in 2015. According to statistics released by the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC), 1.72 million tourists visited the region in 2019, which was more than triple the number of tourists to visit it in the previous year. While 2020 witnessed the negative impact of Covid, 2021 has seen a further increase in domestic tourist visitation to GB as a result of improved access including the opening of flights from Karachi, Lahore, Sialkot, Faisalabad and Multan, to Skardu. This has led to seasonal overcrowding in areas where destination facilities are inadequate to meet the growing demand. On the one hand socio-economic transformation has resulted in increased household incomes, but on the other the pressure on the fragile landscape is immense in terms of land and water use. Land use issues are compounded by unmanageable levels of tourism and need a serious rethink of other infrastructure such as sewerage, waste disposal and roads. Sewerage systems that add to and promote not only a cleaner life but also improve crop returns should be actively addressed. Where once there was no waste or garbage, as everything was ‘recycled’, now the problem of waste management and disposal and pollution, especially plastic pollution, is threatening the ecosystem. Provision of road infrastructure does not mean only constructing roads but also having adequate parking areas constructed close to, but well outside built up areas alongside the main Highway arteries, thereby restricting all tourist and trade oriented transport to main highways. The idea being that all transport that is not local should be made to terminate in properly managed parking sites adjacent to the Highway, whereafterlocal transport services such as Taxis and goods transport vehicles should be employed to ferry visitors and goods to and from the towns and villages. The greatest natural resource of this region is the abundance of its water available from its rivers and glaciers. How we manage water is of importance not only for GB but for the very survival of Pakistan. GB is central to the Indus River System as a water reservoir and provider. The Indus River, in its 550 km journey through GB, receives inflow from major tributaries namely the rivers Shingus, Shyok, Shigar, Hunza, Gilgit, Astore, Darel and Tangir which are in turn fed by numerous rivers, rivulets and streams originating from the 2200 km2 permanently glaciated regions and snowfields (above 2500 m), the largest outside the polar regions. Estimates suggest that 65-80 % of the total annual flow to the Indus River, the lifeblood of Pakistan, is due to the snow and glacial melt waters of GB originating mainly from the Karakoram mountain range. Protecting these water resources should therefore be a top priority for Pakistan. That means starting with what can and should be done in GB. By harnessing waterpower the quality of life and natural balance will improve. All fuels (kerosene, diesel, petrol, gas, coal) are transported into the region, from outside, but often do not meet the area’s needs, thus during winter even fruit trees are cut for fuel. Hydropower can and should replace the growing need for lighting, cooking, heating, transportation (electric cars), industrial Page 4 of 4

Friday, June 10, 2022

Robert Wright

 

Robert Wright

Colonial history writer, with particular interests in the Indian sub-continent including Pakistan. Lives in Tiverton, Devon, United Kingdom.

Rebellion in Gilgit: The Man for the Hour (Hunza Histories Book 2)

Hunza and the Raj: British Involvement in the Karakoram Mountains 1876 – 1946. (Hunza Histories Book 1) 16-May-2020



Hunza and the Raj: British Involvement in the Karakoram Mountains 1876 – 1946. (Hunza Histories Book 1)
by Robert Wright 

In the latter half of the 19th century Britain’s defence policies in regard to India’s north-west frontier were increasingly dictated by Russia’s swift expansion of empire eastwards across Central Asia, in which they annexed a chain of decaying Moslem Khanates to the north of Afghanistan. By 1876 they had captured Tashkent, Samarkand, Bokhara, Khiva, and Khokand, and had crossed the Alai mountains until they were drawn up along the western border of Chinese Turkestan; from where they were surveying the Wakhan Pamir, directly to the north of Hunza and Gilgit, as their next acquisition.

It was known that the Cossack army, spread wide across the barren Steppe, dreamed of nothing finer than swelling their ranks with cutthroat tribes enlisted along the way in a charge towards lush and exotic South, with Kashmir as their first prize. It was also known that successive Tsars had coveted a warm-water port on the shores of the Arabian Sea, by way of Persia, in order to increase their military capabilities and trade, and thereby further threaten Britain’s possession of India.

The petty chiefs along this frontier were seen either as ‘puppets of the British’, or as ‘creatures of the Tsar’, and so Russia’s evident interest across the Pamir mountains led to a race to map the dwindling unexplored areas of wilderness remaining between the two empires so that first influence could be claimed over them.

Other than selected gifted officers there were no lower ranking white British troops ever posted to the sensitive Gilgit frontier. Where the history was of tyrants, royal patricides, and few heroes; of the cruelties of slavery and the drudgery of serfdom; alleviated by the tribal pastime of looting the silk route caravans, nomads with herds of yaks for transport. In 1862 it was reported to the British Agent in Leh that ten richly laden caravans had been robbed – meanwhile the Abolitionists in Parliament saw the Chinese slave markets of Kashgar and Yarkhand as the blackest blots left on earth.

A state of affairs that was to be overturned by stories of the young subalterns’ gung-ho battles and camaraderie framed in isolation amidst a sublime mountain chain. With only 16 officers theirs was an astonishing campaign to train and lead a rag-bag army of Gurkhas, Afghan rogues, and Kashmir Dogra troops, all of them speaking several languages, and then show them the way to force open a bandits’ stronghold.

Those mostly young officers had to think for themselves, behave confidently, be devoted and robust in spirit, and ever determined to do what they saw as right. ‘Forward policy’ on the border demanded such qualities. Their initial campaigns hardly needed their provoking, and although small were as thrilling as they could hope for in which to win their medals and promotions.

For its physical and political geography, and for the unique scientific discoveries abounding in the area, Hunza is simply the most extraordinary valley I know of in the greater Himalayan chain. The only things they ever had an abundance of were rocks and ice; and their greatest achievement is that from such unfavourable beginnings they have created the most peaceful, least fanatical, best educated and well organised gardened valley in Pakistan today.

A secondary intention has been to represent some more friendly experiences of Pakistan, rather than the dire ‘bad press’ the country receives in the West, as in four visits between 1970 and 1988, totalling a year in the country, I never had any trouble with anyone whatsoever. To archaeologists, anthropologists, mountaineers, and elitist back-packers Pakistan is well known as one of the most exciting and hospitable countries in the world.

The book is lavishly illustrated both with old photos of the historic characters within, as well my own Kodchrome slide photos of this vast mountain environment.


Rebellion in Gilgit: The Man for the Hour (Hunza Histories Book 2)

"Truth is a perishable commodity; considerable care must be exercised in shipping it around the world." – Peter Fleming.
It is not an historian’s job to offer his opinions, nor is it duty to take sides in bygone disputes – and when his balanced work is finished his conscience should be clear that he wronged none of the statesmen or soldiers who played their part in great events.
There is a second popular school of British history writers who see it as their duty to eat shame for our erstwhile Empire and look for every chance to sharpen their pen accusingly at their countrymen’s misdeeds. This is a fashionable policy, accepted in British literary circles as politically correct – and one which rewards their authors with sales figures and acclaim.
Alas, in the foreign field, there is a third rustic school of local history writing in which heart-felt beliefs have become indisputable facts. Your Facebook know-it-all will adamantly stand by the prejudices of his grandfathers’ and will hear of no other version of events. They are easily found online, where they vent their anger at the present political situation in Gilgit, and turn past heroes into cowards to blame for it.
One such maligned hero is Major William Brown MBE, for whom the compelling reason to write this book is that I felt that such an extraordinary commander has been greatly wronged in print. In later years, on a Calcutta pavement at night, he was very nearly beaten to death as he was seen only as an enemy of the Sikhs; whereas in fact he had saved hundreds more civilian Sikh lives, than the few score of soldiers killed in fair battle on his orders.
Undoubtedly it was Major Brown, along with his second-in-command Captain Jock Matheison, who secretly and intelligently master-minded and led the Liberation of Gilgit from Kashmiri occupation in 1947 – yet there are many liberated Gilgitis today who believe him to have been a coward and a traitor.
This unique and extraordinary story is written in defence of a 25 year old Scottish officer who seized a huge tract of land from India, including most of the vast Karakoram mountain range with K2, Nanga Parbat, and then handed the area over to Pakistan. He achieved this feat with a minimal death toll too. This was exactly what the vast majority of people in Gilgit and Baltistan were clamouring for at the time. He had served them faithfully and with great success and so the people gave him a hero’s ceremonial departure, with many dashing forward to touch his stirrup, just to tell their grandchildren.
Today the younger Gilgitis have turned against Brown, cursing him as the one who gave away their Independence – whereas in fact it was their grandfathers who saw greatest faith and hope in joining Pakistan, which seemed to be a pure and shining new Islamic country to them. Yet still with no vote, and therefore with no elected Member in their erstwhile ‘National parliament’, the Gilgitis find themselves overrun by down-country immigrants – who look down on them just as the Kashmiri Dogras had done before them.
Yet what Major Brown knew to be a solid certainty was that with the internal division of three religions among them, with potential enemies in valleys all around, and with the aggressive USSR hovering just fifty miles away, Independence was by far the most dangerous and unworkable solution. So as the only option he promoted Pakistan as the safest country to harbour them – and all the hill chiefs agreed with him.
When one looks at the comparative heartbreaking history of Indian occupied Kashmir, then one has to say he has been perfectly vindicated.


Letters From Hunza: Adventures in the Karakoram Foothills (Hunza Histories Book 3) 05-May-2020
For its physical and political geography, and for the unique scientific discoveries abounding in the Karakoram mountains, Hunza is simply the most extraordinary valley I know of in the greater Himalayan chain. Consequently I have found no need to perpetuate the trite myths of Shangri La, or the ‘Hunzas’ perfect diet’, or of their fabled longevity. The only thing this humble Ismaili community ever had an abundance of were rocks – and their greatest achievement is that from such unfavourable beginnings they have created the most peaceful, least fanatical, best educated and well organised valley in Pakistan today.
These present stories and essays are taken from notes written during two visits to Hunza totalling nine months in 1987 and 1988. Some were originally intended to be included in my British colonial history titled "Hunza and the Raj", which, after several years of wide ranging research, had simply become too long. So this potentially useful trekking journal mostly deals with my personal experiences of the Hunza, as well as giving plenty of local informative. I have published these notes separately here as a complimentary supplement for those who have read the full work – and also as a taster for those who have not.
A secondary intention has been to represent some more friendly experiences of Pakistan, rather than the dire ‘bad press’ the country receives in the West, as in four visits between 1970 and 1988, totalling a year in the country, I never had any trouble whatsoever. To archaeologists, anthropologists, mountaineers, and elitist back-packers Pakistan is well known as one of the most exciting and hospitable countries in the world.
The 24 photos included were taken on Kodachrome slide film during my second visit.

Thursday, April 7, 2022

Research- CAK

 MORE ON

Culture Area Karakorum Research Project in the Northern Areas, Pakistan: proceedings of the Pak-German Joint Workshop on .... held on 1-3 Dec 1991 at Lahore, Pakistan

Dissemination of Research in GB - My Proposal
Students and Scholars engaged in research on multitude of topics can be more helpful to the society if they get disseminated through a single platform. I propose that such a platform be sponsored either by KIU or BHT. In my view it is feasible to launch the platform without any additional resources - budget or structures.
Till such time, I offer use of existing platform "KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY INITIATIVE" - available on FACEBOOK as well as blogs initiated by me since a couple of years.
EXAMPLES
1. I have already shared the abstract and links to an exhaustive and exemplary research done by CAK over a period of almost 50-years and covered through 12-volumes.
2.  Nazmeen from hussainabad hunza, is doing Ms from Quaid-e-Azam university, and has undertaken the research on " the relationship between the Mir's and the public in the princely state of Hunza (1947-1974)". Once it is completed and approved by the university, she should be able to share it through the proposed platform.
Based on the first cycle a master plan for an inventory project, led by Ms. Yasmin Cheema, was prepared in 2000. The intention of this project was to document the cultural heritage of the Northern Areas and give it appropriate recognition. The work involved inventorying and cataloguing this heritage, setting criteria, determining priorities, and recommending measures for conservation and protection.
Hermann Kreutzman (ed.). Karakoram in Transition: Culture, Development and Ecology in the Hunza Valley. Oxford University Press, Karachi, Pakistan. 2006. 500 pp. INR 895 (Hardcover). ISBN 0-19-547210-1.
Since the late nineteenth century, the Hunza valley has been the subject of much academic and popular writing. British administrators were intrigued by this region due to its strategic location at the northern frontier of their empire, which had to be guarded against the advancing Russians in the 'great game' of imperial rivalry. Traversing the majestic peaks and glaciers at this frontier, discovering and describing its uncharted terrains, and investigating the racial and cultural connotations of why the main language of its inhabitants (burushaski) was a linguistic isolate, all added to the mystique of Hunza for Western explorers. Today, the Hunza valley forms a major tourist hub in the Northern Areas of Pakistan, and continues to pique the interest of travelers with images of the ancient silk route, rare wildlife species, the famed longevity of its dwellers, and of course, its breathtaking landscapes.

In the last three decades, the political and socio-economic landscape of Hunza valley has been significantly transformed by a variety of factors including the opening of the Karakoram highway, the abolition of princely kingdoms leading to more direct control by the Pakistani state, increase in donor-funded development projects and the marketisation of the economy. Such processes of change have been extensively studied by a collective of mostly German researchers under the 'Culture Area Karakoram' (CAK) project [1]. The edited volume under review continues this focus on 'transition', and includes articles by several authors who were associated with the CAK project. Hence, it reads like a continuation of this project even though it is not presented as such.
  1.  'environment and resources' : In his article on Hunza glaciers, Kenneth Hewitt attends to a timely concern by exploring the links between glacial processes, natural hazards and climate change. Hewitt argues that since the 1920s, there has been a general reduction in the ice cover in the Hunza basin as well as in the incidence of large ice dams and outburst floods. At the same time, there have also been periods in which several large ice masses have thickened. 
  2. Apart from chapters on glaciers, the first section also includes one article each on Hunza's vegetation, wildlife and forests. The article on Hunza forests by Udo Schickhoff is particularly insightful, as it draws upon the science, history and politics of forest use in the Hunza valley to provide a rich, interdisciplinary analysis of forest degradation in the region. 
  3. The next section on 'history and memory' is exciting in its variety of subject as well as method. Everyday tales, local songs, colonial photographs and rock inscriptions are some of the objects that are employed for historical inquiry, to answer a range of questions: for example how do the historical and the mythical fuse together in oral accounts of the past, or, how can changes in the physical and cultural landscape of a place be captured through the act of reading old photographs alongside contemporary ones.
  4. Similarly, Irmtraud Stellrecht challenges Sidky's [2] famous thesis that political centralisation in the Hunza state was primarily achieved through the construction of irrigation channels and subsequent control over newly cultivated lands by the ruling Mirs. Instead, he compellingly argues that a decisive external factor which enabled state formation in Hunza was the rising political significance of the passage to Central Asia, as it created conditions in which the Mirs could take advantage of 'route politics' for consolidating their power. Moreover, as Stellrecht emphasises, the history of princely statehood in Hunza also needs to take into account less emphasised internal factors such as the 'marital politics' of the Hunza Mirs through which political alliances were forged and loyalties secured.
  5. Another interesting contribution in this section is a chapter by Beate Reinhold, which provides a discussion of linguistic transition in the upper Hunza region of Gojal. The Gojali language of Wakhi has attracted significant academic attention in recent years, with the result that Wakhi vocabulary, grammar and oral traditions are fairly well documented. However, as Reinhold points out, less attention has been paid to how Wakhi is spoken in everyday life, particularly by women. She goes on to analyse how linguistic habits and preferences are changing in the contemporary context of migration and modern education in Gojal.
  6. Hermann Kreutzmann-who is also the editor of the volume-provides a comprehensive analysis of how the agricultural and pastoral economy of Hunza has changed over the last seventy years. His article is rich in archival research as well as ethnographic detail, and like Schickhoff's article on forest degradation discussed earlier, illuminates an understanding of agricultural science, history, political economy and social relations in unique and compelling ways. We learn that animal husbandry in the Hunza region was of tremendous importance historically, as grazing taxes in the form of livestock and their products constituted a chief source of revenue for the Hunza state, and were thus critical for its sustenance. This gave a measure of power to affluent nomadic communities in upper Hunza, and also resulted in frequent conflicts between communities and the Hunza Mir over the control of pastures. 
  7. The final section on 'culture and development' is different from the other sections in at least two ways. First, it includes articles not just by academics, but also by practitioners who have been actively involved in key development projects in the Hunza valley. Second, it also includes perspectives from local researchers, not just foreign ones. Both these factors bring a refreshing diversity to the volume.
  8. Thematically, there is a prominent focus on the built heritage of Hunza in this section, and particularly on the work of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC). Stefano Bianca's article, for example, elaborates how the AKTC has sought to unite concerns of culture as well as development, by undertaking the conservation of monuments, village settlements and public spaces in Hunza with the participation and ownership of local communities. The work of AKTC has enhanced local awareness about managing urban sprawl, and also led to a revitalisation of traditional building techniques.
As a member on AKCSP Board 1996-1999, upgraded the house as a model residence for present age living essentials - for emulation as a living example.
The preface of Karakoram in Transition mentions that it is particularly aimed at the 'young generation of students and scientists in Pakistan and in the Northern Areas in particular as a basis for further research efforts' (p. vii). In this, it surely succeeds as it provides an excellent index of current research on the Hunza valley.
Stellrecht, I. (ed.). 1997. Perspectives on History and Change in the Karakoram, Hindukush, and Himalaya. Culture Area Karakorum Scientific Studies Köln, Köppe, Germany; and Stellrecht, I. (ed.). 1998. Karakorum-Hindukush-Himalaya: Dynamics of Change. Culture Area Karakorum Scientific Studies Köln, Köppe, Germany. 
Publications - numbering twelve volumes - are available in the BHT library for reading by all interested.