Hunza Valley, Pakistan

Hunza {Burushaki: Hunzo, Wakhi: "Shena"} is a mountain valley in the autonomous region of Gilgit_Baltistan, Pakistan• Hunza is located in the northern part of Gilgit_Baltistan, Pakistan, bordering Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west and China's Xinjiang region to the northeast•

Buddhism, Hinduism and Bonn were some of the important religions in the area.  The region has numerous Buddhist archeological sites, such as the sacred rock of Hunza.  It is surrounded by the former sites of Buddhist sanctuaries.  The Hunza Valley was central to the trade route from Central Asia to the subcontinent.  It also sheltered Buddhist missionaries and monks who were visiting the subcontinent, and the region played a key role in the conversion of Buddhism throughout Asia.

Before the advent of Islam in the region, the region was Buddhist-majority until the 15th century.  Since then most people have converted to Islam, the presence of Buddhism in the region is now limited to archeological sites, as the rest of the region's Buddhists have moved to Layyah in the east, where Buddhism is the predominant religion.  There are many graffiti works in the ancient Brahmi script inscribed on the stones in this region, which were developed by Buddhist monks as a form of worship and culture.  After the majority of locals converted to Islam, they were largely ignored, destroyed or forgotten, but are now being restored.

  Local languages   spoken include Burushaki, Waki   and Sheena.  Hunza has a literacy rate of over 95%.  <The historical region of Hunza and present_day northern Pakistan has, over the centuries, been the site of large_scale migration, conflicts and resettlement of tribes and ethnic groups, of which the Dardak Shena race is the most prominent in regional history.  The people of the region have passed on their historical traditions from generation to generation.  Hunza is also home to some wakis, who have migrated from northeastern Afghanistan since the 19th century.

The longevity of the Hunza people has been noted by some, but others deny it as a myth of longevity due to a lack of birth records.  There is no evidence that Hunza's life expectancy is much higher than the average in Pakistan's poor, isolated areas.  Claims of health and longevity were almost always based solely on the statements of the local mir {king}.  John Clark, a writer whose brush was important and constant contact with people, said he was generally unhealthy.

Hunza was formerly a state bordering Xinjiang {China's autonomous region} in the northeast and the Pamirs in the northwest, which survived until 1974, when it was finally dissolved by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.  The state is bordered by Gilgit Agency in the south and the former Sultanate of Nagar in the east.  The state capital was the town of Baltit {also known as Karimabad}.  Another old settlement is Gash Village, which means "ancient gold" village.  Hunza remained an independent kingdom for more than 900 years until the British conquered it and the army of its neighboring Wadi Nagar from 1868 to 1891.  The then Tham {ruler}, a branch of the Katur family, Safdar Khan of Hunza fled to Kashgar, China, and sought to be called a political asylum.