DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36956#0025
homes. Chests and chairs were brought to Germany as souvenirs, but no-
one used the variants for a comparative study. The greatest care had
been given to the decoration of the local mosques. Apparently the
Sayyeds who had effected the conversion had brought their own teams
of carvers. In the hinterland of Swat more than 300 mosques were
investigated by an Italian scholar, U. Scerrato, but he was not allowed to
show his material m Karachi. The terminology used by the foreign
craftsmen allows the supposition that they came from a Pashtu speaking
milieu. The residences of the local rulers were constructed with the help
of foreign specialists; high towers were used as barracks for the guards,
who were replaced each year by a fresh detachment from the same pro-
vince.
The castle of Baltit - representing a divergent tradition
Most of these fortresses had been destroyed m the wars which preceded
the integration of the area into the Bntish-Indian Empire, partly as de-
pendent states, partly under direct control. A juridical formulation of the
vexed situation took place in 1935 by the Tcmzc o/MEgh TTzuruf mzh
Ac/ufeh for a period of sixty years. Formally, the territories re-
mained part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, but were administrated
by the British government represented by the Political Agent posted at
Gilgit. The result was the attempt of the local powers to maintain direct
and most cordial relations with the British overlords. The ruler of Hun-
za, head of a community the majority of whose members were Ismaihs
famous for their clean habits and martial qualities, had the best position
of all of them.
The castle at Baltit, the residence of the ruler of Hunza, called the AAT or
TVzm7z, is a landmark and already during our early visits we heard of the
plan to transform it into a museum - the living quarters were already
shifted to a modem construction in Kanmabad. The realisation of this
plan needed a systematic programme of repair and appreciable funds.
9
one used the variants for a comparative study. The greatest care had
been given to the decoration of the local mosques. Apparently the
Sayyeds who had effected the conversion had brought their own teams
of carvers. In the hinterland of Swat more than 300 mosques were
investigated by an Italian scholar, U. Scerrato, but he was not allowed to
show his material m Karachi. The terminology used by the foreign
craftsmen allows the supposition that they came from a Pashtu speaking
milieu. The residences of the local rulers were constructed with the help
of foreign specialists; high towers were used as barracks for the guards,
who were replaced each year by a fresh detachment from the same pro-
vince.
The castle of Baltit - representing a divergent tradition
Most of these fortresses had been destroyed m the wars which preceded
the integration of the area into the Bntish-Indian Empire, partly as de-
pendent states, partly under direct control. A juridical formulation of the
vexed situation took place in 1935 by the Tcmzc o/MEgh TTzuruf mzh
Ac/ufeh for a period of sixty years. Formally, the territories re-
mained part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, but were administrated
by the British government represented by the Political Agent posted at
Gilgit. The result was the attempt of the local powers to maintain direct
and most cordial relations with the British overlords. The ruler of Hun-
za, head of a community the majority of whose members were Ismaihs
famous for their clean habits and martial qualities, had the best position
of all of them.
The castle at Baltit, the residence of the ruler of Hunza, called the AAT or
TVzm7z, is a landmark and already during our early visits we heard of the
plan to transform it into a museum - the living quarters were already
shifted to a modem construction in Kanmabad. The realisation of this
plan needed a systematic programme of repair and appreciable funds.
9