HISTORY OF GILGIT

Gilgit was an important city on the Silk Road through which Buddhism was spread from South Asia to the rest of Asia. A large number of Buddhist Sanskrit texts, included the long version of the Heart Sutra have been unearthed in Gilgit. The Dards and Cizinas also appear in many of the old Pauranic lists of peoples, with the former finding mention in Ptolemy's accounts of the region. Two famous travellers, Faxian, and Xuanzang are known to have traversed Gilgit as per their accounts.

“ 'The former rulers had the title of Ra, and there is reason to suppose that they were at one time Hindus, but for the last five centuries and a half they have been Mohommedans. The names of the Hindu Ras have been lost, with the exception of the last of their number, Shri Buddutt. Tradition relates that he was killed by a Mohommedan adventurer, who married his daughter and founded a new dynasty , since called Trakhane , from a celebrated Ra named Trakhan , who reigned about the commencement of the fourteenth century . The previous rulers of whom Shiri Buddut was the last were called Shahreis. ”