Khaplu
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Khaplu ཁལུ་ خپلو |
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 Khaplu
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| Coordinates: 35°10′N 76°20′E / 35.167°N 76.333°ECoordinates: 35°10′N 76°20′E / 35.167°N 76.333°E | |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Province | Gilgit-Baltistan |
| District | Ghanche |
| Elevation | 8,532.504 ft (2,600.707, m) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 83,200 |
| Time zone | PST (UTC+5) |
| • Summer (DST) | GMT+6 (UTC+6) |
| Website | http://www.skardu.pk/khaplu-valley |
Khaplu (Urdu:خپلو) (Khapalu,Balti: ཁལུ་) is the administrative capital of the Ghanche District of Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan. Lying 103 km (64 mi) east of the town of Skardu, it was the second-largest kingdom in old Baltistan of Yabgo dynasty. It guarded the trade route to Ladakh along the Shyok River.
Khaplu Valley is 103 kilometres (64 miles) from Skardu and two hours by jeep. It is a sprawling village located at the confluence of the Indus and the Shyok Rivers in Pakistan.
Skardu is a base for trekking into the Hushe valley which leads to Masherbrum mountains. Many famous mountains, such as Masherbrum, K-6, K-7, Sherpi Kangh, Sia Kangri, Saltoro Kangri and Siachen etc. are located there.
The first mention of the former small kingdom called Khápula is in Mirza Haidar's (1499–1551) famous work Tarikh-i-Rashidi (p. 410). The author lists Khaplu district of Balti (stan). Khaplu was also due to close political and family ties with the royal family of Ladakh, in this neighboring country in the 17th and 18th century proven to be very well known.
Khaplu probably first visited by Europeans by Captain Claude Martin Wade (1794–1861), who mentioned "Chílú" in 1835 in a Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal essay. William Moorcroft & George Trebeck (their book was published in 1841) described Khaplu as follows (Part II, p 264): "Kafalun is a province west of Nobra, on the left bank of the Shayuk." Godfrey Thomas Vigne has Khaplu 1835-1838, relying in particular on the local mountain fortress, commented that he was still in an intact condition vorfand (Part 2, pp. 317f). Alexander Cunningham(p. 28ff), who did not visit Baltistan, published in 1854 a brief geographical description of Khaplu and a genealogy of the rulers of this country. Thomas Thomson traveled in November 1847 and briefly described a place of remarkable beauty for Tibet (p. 210ff). Knight reported on his visit to Khaplu (p. 253): "This fair spot what Kapalu, the richest district in Baltistan, and Regarded as a very Garden of Garden of Eden by the Balti people." Jane E. Duncan reached Khaplu in 1904 and held there for three weeks. A detailed report on their stay in Khaplu is well worth reading. De Filippi, who reached Khaplu 1913, characterized the site as follows: "It is, perhaps, the loveliest oasis in all the region." Further information on Khaplu was on a travel report by Arthur Neve (p. 99f). Recent descriptions can be found in the guidebooks Arora, pp. 211f, Lonely Planet, pp. 306f and Beek, pp. 252ff.
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