Yasin ( ur, ''Yāsīn''), also known as Babaye-i-Yasen () or Worshigum ( khw, ''Worśigūm''), is a high mountain valley in the

Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Province ...

mountains, in the northern part of Gupis-Yasin District in the territory of

Gilgit-Baltistan Gilgit-Baltistan (; ), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory, and constituting the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region which has been the subject of a dispute bet ...

, Pakistan. The valley is about from city of

Gilgit Gilgit (; Shina: ; ur, ) is the capital city of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. The city is located in a broad valley near the confluence of the Gilgit River and the Hunza River. It is a major tourist destination in Pakistan, serving as a ...

(the capital of Gilgit Baltistan). The Yasin Tehsil is situated on its territory. Yasin Valley in Summer

History

Although sparsely populated, Yasin was of strategic importance because it leads to a high mountain pass to Yarkhun Valley and then to

Broghil Pass Broghil, also spelled Broghol, elevation , is a high mountain pass along the Durand Line border that crosses the Hindu Kush mountain range and connects Wakhan District of Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan with Chitral District of Khyber Pakhtu ...

Chitral Chitral ( khw, , lit=field, translit=ćhitrār; ur, , translit=ćitrāl) is situated on the Chitral River in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Chitral District and before that as the capital of Chitral ...

, connecting with the

Wakhan Corridor The Wakhan Corridor ( ps, واخان دهلېز, translit=wāxān dahléz, fa, دالان واخان, translit=dâlân vâxân) is a narrow strip of territory in Badakhshan Province of Afghanistan, extending to Xinjiang in China and separatin ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

and

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

Early period

Yasin valley was administrative centre of Worshigum which remained under the suzerainty of Mehtars who emerged from

. The Mehtars of Yasin were great warriors and fought against the

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

s and the

Dogra The Dogras or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group in India and Pakistan consisting of the Dogri language speakers. They live predominantly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, and in adjoining areas of Punjab, Himac ...

s of

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

in Gilt agency. But more often, they fought with each other, intrigued and murdered each other. Eventually the British got tired of them and took control of the territory in 1895 under the Gilgit Agency. By this time, Yasin was firmly recognised as part of the princely state of

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

Yasin Mehtars

* c.1780 - 1804 Mulk Aman (died 1804) * 1804 - 1805 Kuwat Khan * 1805 - 1828/29 Sulayman Shah (d. 1828/29) * 1829 - 1830/40 Mir Aman * 1841 - 1860 Ghauhar Aman (Gur Rahma) (born 1809 - d. 1860) * 1860 - 1880 Ghulam Muhyiuddin * c.1892 - 1911 `Abd ar-Rahman Khan (1st time) (b. 1877 - d. 1948?) * 1911 - 1912 Qazi Maktum((Belongs to great family Qazizada's in Afghanistan)) (d. 1912) * 1912 - 1922 Qazi Gaznavid (d. 1922) * 1923 - 19. `Abd ar-Rahman Khan (2nd time) (s.a.). Raja Muhammad Wazir Khan Raja Ghulam Muhyiuddin 2 Gufran Atalegh from yasin after guhar aman the last governor of yasin

People

The primary languages of Yasin Valley are

Burushaski language Burushaski (; ) is a language isolate spoken by Burusho people, who reside almost entirely in northern Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, with a few hundred speakers in northern Jammu and Kashmir, India. In Pakistan, Burushaski is spoken by people ...

and

Khowar Language Khowar () or Chitrali, is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken in Chitral and surrounding areas in Pakistan. Khowar is the lingua franca of Chitral, and it is also spoken in the Gupis-Yasin and Ghizer districts of Gilgit-Baltistan, as ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Ismaili Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al ...

s, who lead their lives according to the Islamic principles more concerned with the imam of the time. Currently Aga Khan IV is the imam and spiritual leader of the Ismailis. However, other branches of both as Sunni and Shia Islam also live in Yasin. Ethnically, the people of Yasin are of Burusho origin; however, there are some migrants from different parts of the country. The people of Yasin are known for their honesty, hard work and bravery. Havaldar Lalak Jan Shaheed who was given the Pakistan Military's highest award Nishan-e-Haider for his bravery in

Kargil War The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referre ...

in 1999, belonged to Hundur in Yasin valley.

Geography

Yasin is separated from the Ishkoman Valley by a high mountain pass. To reach Yasin one must take the

Karakoram Highway The Karakoram Highway ( ur, , translit=śāhirāh qarāquram; known by its initials KKH, also known as N-35 or National Highway 35 ( ur, ) or the China-Pakistan Friendship Highway) is a national highway which extends from Hasan Abdal in ...

north from

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

, and then turn left to reach

Gupis Gupis Tehsil is an administrative division (a tehsil) of Gupis-Yasin District, in Gilgit-Baltistan, a northern region of Pakistan. Gupis lies in the southern part of the Gupis-Yasin District. There are many villages and lush green and very pleasa ...

in Ghizar. After Gupis, one continues northwest to reach the Yasin Valley. The part of the valley where Khowar is spoken is known in the

Shina language Shina ( ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Shina people. In Pakistan, Shina is the major language in Gilgit-Baltistan spoken by an estimated 1,146,000 people living mainly in Gilgit-Baltistan and Kohistan.{{Cite book , last1=Saxena ...

as ''Arinah''.

Villages

Administratively, Yasin constitutes Yasin Tehsil, which is part of Gupis-Yasin District. It is further divided into four local councils: Yasin, Sultanabad, Silgan and Thoi. * Yasin consists of the villages of Chiliharang, Damalgan, Gindai, Noh, Morka, Atkash, Bujayot, Manichi, Thodass and Nazbar Valley. Thodass is the headquarters of this union council. * Sultanabad union council consists of the villages of Chumarkhan, Taus, Barkhachi, Sultanabad (Met, Huyelti), Ghojalti, Sandi, Dalsandi and Qorqolti Valley. Taus is the headquarters of this union council. * Selgaan union council consists of the villages of Barandass, Barkolti, Gulbashoroot, Chilpi, Sheghetan, Hundoor, Terchet, Umalsat and Darkut, which leads to the Pass to Boroghol. Hundoor is the headquarters of this union council. * Thoi Valley union council consists of the villages of Ghaingchel, Ishkaibar, Karimabad, Dalkoi, Dapis, Shamsabad(Druch), Harp, Rahimabad, Kuno, Shot, Chiryat, Ishqamdass, Draskin, Nalti, Dass, Thelti, Ishqamghoro, Mahrakabun and Mushibarnala, which leads to Yarkhun Pass. Harp is the headquarters of this union council.

Passes

The Darkut Pass connects Yasin with Wakhan and Chitral, height , Buroghul pass connect Yasin with Brughol, height while the

Thoi Pass Thoi pass ( تھوئی) (el. 16,420 ft.) is a high mountain pass that connects Gazin in Yarkhun River valley in Chitral to Nialthi in the Yasin Valley in Guips-Yasin District in Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic ...

connects Yasin to Yarkhun Chitral, height . Assumber pass connects Yasin to Ishkoman. Darkot Pass is an historical pass which has been labelled as a restricted zone by the government of Pakistan. This pass used to be the shortest means of communication between the

Oxus The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin name or Greek ) is a major river in Central Asi ...

and

Indus The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

. Most tourism is along the Assumbur Pass to the Ishkoman Valley. one pass is from Darkot yasin to Thoi. Attar pass height Connects Darkut with Ishkoman Valley and Attar Lake. Three passes from Nazbar yasin connect to Mastuj Chitral, height , one pass from Bujayote Nala to Bawoshter Ghizat Shamaran, one other pass from Khaimet bar to Chitral (sources Aina e Dardistan By Hidayat ullah Akhter, edited by Javed sajid Sultanabad Yasin).

Gallery

File:River in Yasin Valley.jpg File:Sandhi Village Yasin.jpg, Sandi Village File:Darkot valley.jpg, Darkot valley areal view form Attar pass side Yasin File:Mighty Mountains with Snow.jpg File:Winter Landscape with touch of autumn.jpg File:Barkolti, Yasin.jpg, River Yasin cross Barkolti File:Gojalti, yasin...jpg, The lands of Yasin

References

External links

Yasin Valley

Some Photos of Yasin Valley
{{Authority control Gupis-Yasin District Valleys of Gilgit-Baltistan Ismailism in Pakistan