ohmrlobalobayeh
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http://memoirofadoctor.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_97.html
Turtuk is the ‘Baltistan of India’(she meant 'currently') being the last bastion belonging to a sect of Islam called the Sufis of the Nurbhakshiya order, which is different from the Sunni Muslims in Kashmir and the Shia Muslims of neighbouring Kargil and Iran.
We were warned not to take photos of any person here in Turtuk unless we had first asked for permission. It was understandable, as this was a conservative Nurbashiya Sufis Muslim hamlet and we had to be very careful not to incur the wrath of the conservative villagers.
Little known to us, although Baltistan is now an islamic province, in 745AD when it was still ruled by Tibet, the people here were Buddhist and their Baltistani language was a Tibetan dialect (although not comprehensible mutually with the Tibetan that is used in Lhasa) that used the Tibetan writing. Even after the locals were converted to Islam, their languages even until today, and their writing remained Tibetan. It was only later that the Baltistani started using Persian writings to document their still-Tibetan language. There was a recent move to revive the re-use of Tibetan writing to document their language once again.
Baltistan has been ruled for centuries by dynasties of kings and suffered multiple invasions by the Kashmir kings over the centuries. The current king, King Mohammed Khan Kacho traced his Yabgo dynasty lineage back to the 15th century, and was especially proud of his grandfather who petitioned to the High Court in Lahore, Pakistan, to order the Pakistan militaries to vacate his palace.
Baltistan had existed side by side with Pakistan and Afghanistan. But after the India-Pakistan war of 1971, Turtuk was cut off from the rest of Baltistan when the Indian-Ladakhi army marched into Turtuk.
Slowly we enjoyed the process of following the alley until we came to the entrance of the old palace- the Yabgo Royal Palace of Turtuk. This was where King Mohammed Khan Kacho and his family lives. His whole extended family still lived in the Pakistan side of Baltistan today and although they were only 25km apart from his siblings, he could not simply just ride a camel across the border to visit them.
"500 rupees!" gestured Chang Haw Chong. I think he meant 500 rupees for taking a shot in this courtyard. Haha!(They r singaporean tourists, so 500 rupees = 10 SGD- not even enough to buy a pack of cigarettes here in Singapore)
天下孔雀一般亮丽。古典的老皇居,酸不入口的道地酸奶。一位族部没落的老皇帝,
深藏不露,还挺有其一手。迎接一班好奇的来客一趟,足以供养全府大小及几百公里外之几家众生数周。
能施舍积德,我认为也是件大好事。(just some muble jumble about this descendant of a Kashmiri king still living in the village)
The royal moscut and tsamik (some kind of sour yogurt) dipped with some Baltistan naan were the highlight of the royal lunch on this day.
Haw Chong was the first brave man to ask to have his photo taken with the King. I guess despite the King's conservativeness, the other 500 rupees was in preparation for those courageous visitors who would even dare to ask for a photo with his highness. So of course, we all were eager to get our shots. Some more, it was the first time any one of us EVER had a shot with a real Baltistani King leh.
King Yabgo Mohammed Khan Kacho with Emperor Chang Haw Chong. [Photo courtesy of Emperor Chang]
It was good. I was happy. I had been brought to Baltistan. Within touch of the India-Pakistan border. To me, that was highly satisfying.
On our way back from the Yabgo palace, we managed to 骗 ('convince') several local Turtuki's children's 感情 ('doubts') and made them pose for a few shots for us. They had lovely features.
Bye bye Turtuk...
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