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About Ganish Village
Ganish is a small but historical village in
“ khun “ makes it unique from different parts of the valley. Ganish has famous history, the people of this village used to be warriors or defenders in ancient times, they are also called “ king Makers “, reason they helped the king of Hunza to be crowned when English Empire was in rule. People of Ganish have was built, the Polo Ground stretched 120 metres north from the pond. Today it is cut into two by the KKH. The boys’ school was built at one end of it, across the highway, while on the other end, close to the village, is the elementary girls’ school associated with the imambargah. The space of the old Polo Ground is now also the principal means of access from the road into the village. The formal entrance gate at the end of the community pond leads to an inner system of tiny lanes, which in turn lead to the individual houses. The principal lane provides access to the common public and ceremonial space of the village (jataq).Of the seven wooden mosques of considerable age in Ganish, fourare located around the jataq. They are excellent examples of the family mosques that are typical for the region, representing traditional 48 wooden architecture and architectural decoration and ornament at its best. Together, they form an ensemble of great distinction. The village elders were conscious of the assets of their village. They knew of its ancient past, and had a notion of the value of its heritage. This was an authentic traditional village untouched by bad repair or alterations and endowed with a rich admixture of traditional urban spaces, defensive structures, and religious and residential architecture of considerable artistic value. With magnificent views of surrounding mountains, the village was, potentially, a major attraction for visitors.
participated in many wars to defend its boundaries from foreign invaders. The king of Hunza at that time used to address Ganish people as saviors of Hunza Valley. Old village of Ganish Khun today comprises about 32 houses all built in the traditional Hunza manner. The houses are clustered tightly within their perimeter walls, forming a solid enclosure. The ancient entrance gate (himaltar) of the village looks on to the ancestral village water pond/reservoir (pharee), shaded by a giant old chinar and willow trees. Watchtowers (shikaris) punctuate the perimeter of the village.But of a total of eleven shikaris that are said to have surrounded thevillage, only three remain. The place for religious congregation (imambargah/matamsara), which was built in 1922, is located on one side of the pond, at the end of the old Polo Ground (shabaran). Before the KKH
History
According to oral tradition, the settlement of Ganish already existed in the mid-fifteenth century when the Burushaski-speaking sub-regions of Hunza and Nagar were under the kingdom of Gilgit. Ganish was recognised for its strategic location on the branch of the Silk Route leading out of the Karakoram into Uighur China (Xinjiang), but has now suffered from its location on the Karakoram Highway. The living historic village, popularly known as Ganish Khun, is about one thousand years old, with a small community working towards improving its quality of life. Berchatin,Budinkuch,Shiskinkuch are the main castes in Ganish while
BAKUCH,BADAKUCH ,SOKUCH ,Yarikutz,Rupikutz, Kuyokutz , Mamorokutz and Balkans are sub castes in Ganish - the then leading families of the area - constructed four mosques and watch towers dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries. These unique structures, which were decaying owing to the ravages of time and lack of financial and technical resources, have been restored to some of their old glory with the assistance from Norway and Spain. Few years ago there were 14 ancient watch towers built to defend the village from attack, but now only three of them are standing in good condition. People of Ganish used to be famous for their raids against Nagar. In the 19th century this was Hunza’s main stronghold against Ismailism, and today it’s an integrated Shiite community. It’s Hunza-Nagar’s oldest settlement with an ancient village centre bursting with rejuvenated classic Hunza architecture. Caravans from Central Asia and
Lets build a new Ganish.
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