Hunza (princely state)

Hunza (Persian: هنزه, Urdu: ہنزہ), also known as Kanjut (Persian: کانجوت; Burushaski: کنجوت), was a Burusho kingdom in the present-day Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. Initially an independent monarchy for centuries, it became a princely state under subsidiary alliance with the British India in 1891 after the Anglo-Burusho War. Although Hunza also accepted the suzerainty of the maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, it was not a part of Kashmir and had status of a separate state. Until early 20th century, Hunza paid tribute to Qing China as well. For a brief period of three months after the partition of British India it remained unaligned, and then acceded to Pakistan in November 1947. It was the last princely state of Pakistan to be abolished in 1974.

In the early 20th century, Hunza bordered the Ishkomanillaqa of Gilgit Agency to the west, the princely state of Nagar to the south, the Ladakh Wazarat of Jammu and Kashmir to the east, Xinjiang region of China to the northeast and Afghanistan to the northwest. It covered an area of 3,900 sq mi (10,000 km) and had a population of 15,341 people at the time of 1941 Census. The state capital was Baltit. It is now part of the Hunza District in Gilgit-Baltistan.