Culture & Heritage

Gulmit Qilha (old Settlement)

Qilha means fort is the oldest traditional settlement of tightly knit cluster of houses in this area. This colony is a best example of age-old approach to planning and spatial organization on the basis of tribal domains, climatic responses and topographical considerations. The sequence of this settlement is similar to those seen in other villages in the Hunza valley. According to narrators the colony dates back to 12th century AD. It is said that the first person who inhabited in Gulmit lived here and latter when there were threats of external invasions the local people and especially the women, children and disables were shifted to Ondra fort.  The purpose of this colony in the historical context was especially in terms of security, and that is why they used to live in the unified form. As all houses were built from stone masonry and mud plaster, they bear a striking resemblance to the surrounding terraced fields. This also reveal a sophisticated pattern of living with elaborate layouts separating animals from humans and ample storage spaces for food stocks. The few remaining houses exhibit richly decorated wood columns and lintels, with animal and human carvings as well as swastikas and geometric patterns. The Qalah was badly damaged in the Shimshal flood of 1860 and rehabilitated after the recession of floodwater. After the abolishment of Hunza state in 1974 the people rapidly left this colony and constructed new houses in their agricultural lands.  Now a day, only about 10 household live in this colony, and other have not only left their houses but rather also ruined them and the boundaries and remainders are only there. The settlement layout is a well planned organization of social hierarchies and clan groupings manifested in land ownership patterns and the many loose housing clusters that developed organically over time.

The remaining historic houses in the Qalah reveal a sophisticated pattern of living with elaborate layouts separating animals from humans and ample storage spaces for food stocks. The houses usually exhibit richly decorated wood columns and lintels, with animal and human carvings as well as swastikas and geometric patterns

This cluster is  one of the victim to the rapidly changing socio-economic circumstances in the region after the construction of KKH. There is an immediate need to preserve the remaining part of this historical settlement. Almost all the historical sites are located within and around this settlement. People are now constructing unplanned shops in this historical sites and are encroaching the community great assets of the past.

In recent years, the historic man-made and natural environments in Gulmit have undergone severe deterioration. Due to the impact of recent changes both these environments as well as their historic homogeneity stand threatened, as people abandon the cluster and continue to construct houses on their agricultural land. The early stages of a bazaar zone are already beginning to show on the fringes of the cluster and most of the houses inside have been torn down or converted into cowsheds. Coupled with the impact of tourism, the gradual abandonment of the tight cluster form for loose clusters and detached houses are factors that have catalyzed the degradation of this historic cluster.

An old house not in use

Old settlement 

Old settlement. Mir Palace is also visible

The walls of the old houses

The walls of the old houses

The Streets

The polo ground just out side the settlement

View of Gulmit from Ondra fort, the dense area is the old settlemnt

Back to heritage

© copyrights Zulfiqar Ali Khan All rights reserved-2006