Baltistan

Baltistan, also known as Baltiyul or Little Tibet, is a mountainous region on the border of Pakistan and India in the Karakoram mountains just south of K2 (the world's second-highest mountain). Baltistan borders Gilgit to the west, Xinjiang (China) in the north, Ladakh on the southeast and the Kashmir Valley on the southwest. Its average altitude is over.Prior to 1947, Baltistan was part of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, having been conquered by Raja Gulab Singh's armies in 1840. Baltistan and Ladakh were administered jointly under one wazarat (district) of the state. Baltistan retained its identity in this set-up as the Skardu tehsil, with Kargil and Leh being the other two tehsils of the district. After the maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India, Gilgit Scouts overthrew the maharaja's governor in Gilgit and (with Azad Kashmir's irregular forces) liberated Baltistan. The Gilgit Agency and Baltistan have been governed by Pakistan ever since. The Kashmir Valley and the Kargil and Leh tehsils were retained by India. A small portion of Baltistan, including the village of Turtuk in the Nubra Valley, was incorporated into Ladakh after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.