Diamer District

District of Gilgit–Baltistan administered by Pakistan From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Diamer District (Urdu: ضلع دیامر), also spelled Diamir District, is a district of the Pakistan-administered territory of Gilgit–Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region.^[1] The headquarters of the district is the town of Chilas.

Administering countryPakistan

HeadquartersChilas

Number of tehsils2

Quick facts ضلع دیامر, Administering country ...

Diamer District ضلع دیامر
District of Gilgit–Baltistan administered by Pakistan

A map showing Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan (shaded in sage green) in the disputed Kashmir region^[1]
Interactive map of Diamer District
Coordinates: 35°26′5.78″N 73°56′31.59″E
Administering country	Pakistan
Territory	Gilgit-Baltistan
Headquarters	Chilas
Government
• Type	District Administration
• Deputy Commissioner	N/A
• District Police Officer	N/A
• District Health Officer	N/A
Area (including Darel and Tangir Districts)^[2]
• Total	7,234 km² (2,793 sq mi)
Population (2022)
• Total	323,643^[2]
• Density	44.74/km² (115.9/sq mi)
Number of tehsils	2

Geography

The district is bounded on the north by the Tangir and the Gilgit districts, on the east by the Astore District, on the south by the Mansehra district of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province and the Neelum District of Azad Kashmir, and on the west by the Upper Kohistan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. The Karakoram Highway passes through Diamer District. 23% of the district consists of alpine pastures, with over 53% of remaining area being barren or permanently snow covered.^[3]

History

Thalpan, located opposite to the Chilas town, bears the most abundant collection of rock-art in Pakistan — the Pakistan-German Archaeological Mission has published about them in six dedicated volumes and traced them to Greco-Buddhist antiquity.^[4]^[a] Buddhist Stupas and anthropomorphic Buddhas remain the most common subject of rock-carvings in and around Chilas.^[5]

Karl Jettmar suggests that Chilas might have had been a Buddhist sanctuary while Harald Hauptmann hypothesizes Thalpan to be the "Talilo" of Chinese sources; however, in absence of excavations, such claims remain in the realm of speculations.^[5]

During the British Raj, the area was known as Chilas and regarded as a tribal area, a subsidiary of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.^[6]^[7] Its original name was apparently Shiltās.^[8]

The region was brought under the control of the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir in 1851, and an agent of the Kashmir durbar was stationed there.^[9] In 1893, Chilas was taken over by the British-run Gilgit Agency.^[10] An Assistant Political Agent of the Agency was stationed in Chilas town.^[11]^[12] The Raja was soon deposed and Chilas functioned as a 'republican community' under the aegis of jirga, a body of local landowning men.^[13]^[14]

Prior to 2019, the Darel District and the Tangir District were part of the Diamer District. They were subsequently elevated to district status.^[15] The jirga continues to play a significant role in governance.^[14]

Demographics

In Diamer District the majority of the population adheres to Sunni Islam, predominantly of the Deobandi school of thought, having been introduced to the region by Pashtun-preachers.^[16]^[17]

Transportation

Before the Karakoram Highway was opened in 1978, the only road from the south to the town of Gilgit was a rough track north from Balakot to the Babusar Pass (via Kaghan, Naran, Besal, and Gittidas) and further north from Babusar Gah to Chilas. The road up to Besal is better than it was previously, and the road from Besal to the Babusar Pass is good, having been recently metaled.

Notes

[a]
The proposed construction of Basha-Diamer Dam is expected to inundate over 37,000 carvings.

References

[1]
The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary sources (a) through (d), reflecting due weight in the coverage. Although "controlled" and "held" are also applied neutrally to the names of the disputants or to the regions administered by them, as evidenced in sources (f) through (h) below, "held" is also considered politicized usage, as is the term "occupied," (see (i) below).
(a) Kashmir, region Indian subcontinent, Encyclopaedia Britannica, retrieved 15 August 2019 (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcontinent ... has been the subject of dispute between India and Pakistan since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. The northern and western portions are administered by Pakistan and comprise three areas: Azad Kashmir, Gilgit, and Baltistan, the last two being part of a territory called the Northern Areas. Administered by India are the southern and southeastern portions, which constitute the state of Jammu and Kashmir but are slated to be split into two union territories.";
(b) Pletcher, Kenneth, Aksai Chin, Plateau Region, Asia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, retrieved 16 August 2019 (subscription required) Quote: "Aksai Chin, Chinese (Pinyin) Aksayqin, portion of the Kashmir region, at the northernmost extent of the Indian subcontinent in south-central Asia. It constitutes nearly all the territory of the Chinese-administered sector of Kashmir that is claimed by India to be part of the Ladakh area of Jammu and Kashmir state.";
(c) "Kashmir", Encyclopedia Americana, Scholastic Library Publishing, 2006, p. 328, ISBN 978-0-7172-0139-6 C. E Bosworth, University of Manchester Quote: "KASHMIR, kash'mer, the northernmost region of the Indian subcontinent, administered partly by India, partly by Pakistan, and partly by China. The region has been the subject of a bitter dispute between India and Pakistan since they became independent in 1947";
(d) Osmańczyk, Edmund Jan (2003), Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements: G to M, Taylor & Francis, pp. 1191–, ISBN 978-0-415-93922-5 Quote: "Jammu and Kashmir: Territory in northwestern India, subject to a dispute betw een India and Pakistan. It has borders with Pakistan and China."
(e) Talbot, Ian (2016), A History of Modern South Asia: Politics, States, Diasporas, Yale University Press, pp. 28–29, ISBN 978-0-300-19694-8 Quote: "We move from a disputed international border to a dotted line on the map that represents a military border not recognized in international law. The line of control separates the Indian and Pakistani administered areas of the former Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir.";
(f) Kashmir, region Indian subcontinent, Encyclopaedia Britannica, retrieved 15 August 2019 (subscription required) Quote: "... China became active in the eastern area of Kashmir in the 1950s and has controlled the northeastern part of Ladakh (the easternmost portion of the region) since 1962.";
(g) Bose, Sumantra (2009), Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace, Harvard University Press, pp. 294, 291, 293, ISBN 978-0-674-02855-5 Quote: "J&K: Jammu and Kashmir. The former princely state that is the subject of the Kashmir dispute. Besides IJK (Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir. The larger and more populous part of the former princely state. It has a population of slightly over 10 million, and comprises three regions: Kashmir Valley, Jammu, and Ladakh.) and AJK ('Azad" (Free) Jammu and Kashmir. The more populous part of Pakistani-controlled J&K, with a population of approximately 2.5 million. AJK has six districts: Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Bagh, Kodi, Rawalakot, and Poonch. Its capital is the town of Muzaffarabad. AJK has its own institutions, but its political life is heavily controlled by Pakistani authorities, especially the military), it includes the sparsely populated "Northern Areas" of Gilgit and Baltistan, remote mountainous regions which are directly administered, unlike AJK, by the Pakistani central authorities, and some high-altitude uninhabitable tracts under Chinese control."
(h) Fisher, Michael H. (2018), An Environmental History of India: From Earliest Times to the Twenty-First Century, Cambridge University Press, p. 166, ISBN 978-1-107-11162-2 Quote: "Kashmir’s identity remains hotly disputed with a UN-supervised “Line of Control” still separating Pakistani-held Azad (“Free”) Kashmir from Indian-held Kashmir.";
(i) Snedden, Christopher (2015), Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris, Oxford University Press, p. 10, ISBN 978-1-84904-621-3 Quote:"Some politicised terms also are used to describe parts of J&K. These terms include the words 'occupied' and 'held'."
[2]
"Gilgit Baltistan at a Glance 2022. Published in 2023" (PDF). Planning & Development Department Statistical & Research Cell (SRC), Government of Gilgit-Baltistan. Retrieved April 6, 2025.
[3]
Shah, Imran. "Diamer District". Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
[4]
Zahir, Muhammad. "Discovery and Contextualization of a Possible Buddhist Monastic Complex at Thalpan, District Diamer, Gilgit-Baltistan Province, Pakistan". Gandhāran Studies. 13: 37–59.
[5]
van Aerde, Marike (2019), Yang, Liang Emlyn; Bork, Hans-Rudolf; Fang, Xiuqi; Mischke, Steffen (eds.), "Routes Beyond Gandhara: Buddhist Rock Carvings in the Context of the Early Silk Roads", Socio-Environmental Dynamics along the Historical Silk Road, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 455–480, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-00728-7_20, hdl:1887/83304, ISBN 978-3-030-00728-7{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
[6]
Snedden, Christopher (2015), Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris, Oxford University Press, pp. 117–118, ISBN 978-1-84904-342-7
[7]
Gazetteer of Kashmir and Ladak, Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing, 1890, p. 11 – via archive.org
[8]
Stein, M. A. (1989) [first published 1900], Kalhana's Rajatarangini: A chronicle of the kings of Kashmir, Volume 2., Motilal Banarsidass Publ., p. 363, ISBN 978-81-208-0370-1
[9]
Chohan 1997, p. 118.
[10]
Chohan 1997, pp. 127, 189.
[11]
Chohan 1997, p. 215.
[12]
Brown, William (2014), Gilgit Rebelion: The Major Who Mutinied Over Partition of India, Pen and Sword, p. 53, ISBN 9781473821873
[13]
Bangash, Yaqoob Khan (2010), "Three Forgotten Accessions: Gilgit, Hunza and Nagar", The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 38 (1): 122, doi:10.1080/03086530903538269, S2CID 159652497
[14]
Sökefeld, Martin (2014). "Anthropology of Gilgit-Baltistan: Introduction". Ethnoscripts (in German). 16 (1): 11, 17. ISSN 2199-7942.
[15]
"GB cabinet decides to upgrade Dareal, Tangir, Gupis Yasin and Roundu as districts". Radio Pakistan. 20 April 2019. Archived from the original on 19 June 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
[16]
https://www.nihcr.edu.pk/Latest_English_Journal/Jul-Decem%202015%20No.2/8.%20Changing%20Political%20Dynamics%20in%20%20Gilgit%20Baltistan%2C%20AzamChaudhry.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
[17]
"GB Sectarian Conflict: A Comprehensive Background Paper".