Culture & Heritage

 The Shimshal Old Settlement

Some four hundred years ago, Mamu Singh was sent to the Wakhan to find a new ruler for Hunza as the last one, Girgiz, had been killed by his brother. Mamu Singh did not find a ruler, but instead fell in love with a girl. After his return to Hunza he begged his father, the Wazir, to let him go back to the Wakhan and marry the girl, but his wish was refused. Finally he could not bear it any longer, returned to the Wakhan and married the girl. The young couple, as they could not go back to Hunza, settled in Avgarch.

But the area was not safe and often raided by Kyrgyz, so Mamu Singh decided to look for a better place. One day, he climbed Qarun Pass and from the top looked down and saw a lush valley—Shimshal! Slowly, he and his wife moved up the valley and near today’s village of Shimshal, Mamu Singh discovered a spring, an old water channel and a small hut. People have lived here before, this must be a good place, decided Mamu Singh.

Remnants of the very first houses, the kind Mamu Singh might have built for him and his family, can still be found in Shimshal.

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