October 13, 2018 16:27 IST
Updated: October 14, 2018 12:23 IST
Yabgo Mohammad Khan Kacho, a descendent of the Yabgo dynasty | Photo Credit:
Archita Suryanarayanan
Today, the lives of its people, the culture, and Balti history is being documented in a quiet way by the residents
Along the steep, labyrinthine streets of Turtuk village, a perennial stream gushes. It rushes past stone-walled houses with colourful wooden doors down to fields of buckwheat and barley hemmed in by the jagged Karakoram mountains. In one corner of the village, I meet a group of elders immersed in conversation as they prepare to set out for their evening namaz. They tell me the unique story of their citizenship: after Partition, those born before 1947 went from being Indian to being Pakistani; then after the 1971 war they went back to being Indian — all this without ever having moved from their homes in this small village in north-eastern
Ladakh.
Some 300 families live in this ‘border village’ right on the boundary of the Pakistan-occupied region of Gilgit-Baltistan. Turtuk is just 10 km away from Thang, India’s northern-most village. While the other parts of Ladakh have a strong Buddhist and Tibetan influence, this region has a distinct Balti Muslim culture. And today, the lives of these people, their everyday culture, and the local Balti history is being documented in a quiet way by the residents of Turtuk.
I walk up the creaky wooden ladder of a low-ceilinged stone house to meet 70-year-old Mohammad Ali. Ali has transformed a part of his house into a museum called the Balti Heritage Site. The house, he says, was built in the 15th century, when the village was first established.
“
Yeh ginti mein nahi aata. (It is not possible to put a date to this),” he says when I ask about his ancestry. This region, in the valley of the Shyok river, was part of the Silk Route.
Trade in Turtuk
According to the Balti Heritage museum,
Turtuk was once inhabited by the Brokpa tribe, and was later taken over by warriors of Central Asian origin, whose descendants are believed to still populate the village. With time, people from different regions came into Turtuk for trade, and the region thus has a rich racial diversity.
Mohammad Ali, who has transformed a part of his house into a museum | Photo Credit: Archita Suryanarayanan
Ali, surrounded by memorabilia and everyday objects that his family has collected over generations — thick coats made of yak hair, agricultural implements made of ibex horns, stone vessels — says, “People have stopped using many of these objects.” He points to a stone dish.
“This is probably 300 years old but now they are being replaced by brass and copper.” The houses used to be made of stone and wood, but some of the new houses have begun to use cement. “The wooden homes kept us warm in winters when temperatures drop up to minus 20 degree Celsius.” In an adjacent room, his family is busy, and they offer us freshly picked apricots.
History comes alive
“The idea of a museum came from my children, who had seen museums in other parts of India and wanted to create one for our own unique village,” says Ali. His seven children are now working or studying in different parts of the country. When the museum first opened in May this year, visitors were mainly from the village; then residents from neighbouring districts, including school children began visiting, and they were followed by a few tourists.
But it isn’t only the museum that brings alive local history, the village itself is packed with living heritage: the architecture, the dense neighbourhood fabric, the sustainable ways of life such as the traditional dry composting toilets. The wooden homes are naturally insulated, and built to follow the natural slope of the land, and often, when you pass by a closed door, you can hear a donkey braying or a cow mooing inside.
Inside the durbar
A few alleys away from Ali’s house, at the end of a cul-de-sac, is a building that seems nondescript except for the crest of an eagle guarding the gate. But inside is a courtyard with wooden columns, an intricate frieze of geometric and floral patterns, leading to a regal room upstairs. Sitting in this durbar, with a shawl stylishly draped around his shoulders and brandishing a carved walking stick, is
Yabgo Mohammad Khan Kacho, a descendent of the Yabgo dynasty and the ‘king’ of this former palace.
“You are now in Baltistan, not just in Ladakh. This powerful dynasty ruled Baltistan for over 2,000 years,” he says. Pointing to the family tree he has inscribed on the wall of the room, he describes the reign of the various kings,
the splitting of the kingdom between three sons, and how it eventually becomes a part of Pakistan. Kacho continues to live in the former palace with his wife. He has converted the former durbar into a museum of the dynasty’s relics — headgear used by the kings and queens, old coins, swords and armaments — and he tells visitors his story and takes them on a tour of the palace which he says has been relatively unchanged since the 15th century.
Buckwheat pancakes
The palace, he says, is relatively unchanged since the 15th century, except that a few walls have been replaced with glass so that the artefacts are displayed against a lush green landscape. Outside, on his terrace, he plucks green grapes from an overhanging vine and offers them to us.
Turtuk is much greener than most parts of Ladakh, surrounded by fields and orchards. “This is very fertile land; we grow apricots, grapes, apples, cherries, peaches,” says Gulam Haider, who runs a guesthouse.
In the freezing winters, Turtuk becomes isolated. “We stock up on food; the whole family gathers in the kitchen around the stove with chai and namkeen. If there is electricity, we watch TV, otherwise we visit relatives. It is
aaram, no tension,” says Haider, whose guesthouse does not see any business in these months.
The road leading to Turtuk village | Photo Credit: Archita Suryanarayanan
Turtuk was opened to tourists in 2010. It is still not a popular destination, but tourists have started trickling in. The village now has homestays. A map points out the wooden bridge, a blacksmith, a traditional cold storage. A few restaurants offer Balti cuisine such as kisir (buckwheat pancakes) and walnut dip, and praku, a locally made pasta-like dish. The village also has annual events like polo matches, and a cultural festival. Haider tells me of a visitor from Pakistan who travelled to Turtuk via Lahore and Delhi just to be able to stand on the opposite side of the border.
But a sudden influx of tourism could lead to Turtuk facing problems that other popular parts of Ladakh face: mounting plastic waste, rampant construction and water shortage.
“Places like Pangong Lake have colonies of fixed luxury tents that use diesel generators. There is no way of disposing the garbage generated. We need to make sure this doesn’t happen in Turtuk. Visitors need to be sensitive to local culture and environment,” says Kush Sharma, founder Rural Odyssey, which works on eco-friendly travel and rural livelihoods.
For now, life in Turtuk carries on as usual. Children are returning from school, people are walking back from work, and the muezzin’s call is echoing across the fields. And once the sun sets, the only sound will be that of the constantly gurgling stream.
An architect-urbanist, the writer is simultaneously fascinated and frustrated by the madness of city life.
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The
Brokpa are a small community of
Dard people residing in
Jammu and Kashmir region, about 163 km (101 mi) northwest of
Leh and 62 km (39 mi) north of
Kargil in
Ladakh.
Some 130 kms north-east of Kargil, on the Line of Control , there are villages of Dah, Hano (Hano Goma and Hano Yogma), Darchik and Garkon. These villages are situated on the northern bank of Indus on the road to Baltistan. Here is found a community which for thousands of years have lived in isolation in their inascessible villages. They have distinct features – tall and statesque, with green eyes, high cheek bone, fair with flawless skin and some with blonde hair.
The community also claims to be the direct descendants from the Alexander’s Army, some of whom reportedly stayed back after Alexander abandoned his campaign at the banks of river Indus in 326 BC.
The first contact of the western world with the Dardic people (to which the Brokpas belong) was in 1830 by Godfrey Thomas Vigne, the British maveric explorer.
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Kalash: The most intriguing is the “white tribe” who have blue eyes, blond hair and fair skin. This tribe lives in district of Chitral, Azad Kashmir, bordering Afghanistan in three valleys and number around 4000. They follow many Hindu customs, including idol worship in outdoor temples. In the past this group has faced persecution from the radical Islamists. Women are not behind the veil, and their choice is respected by society. There is a very strong myth that they are the descendants from the lost soldiers of Alexander, a belief which prompts the Greek government to development aid to the Kalash region. DNA Tests have revealed them to have a distinct genetic makeup but not necessarily Greek.
Malana: This village which had remained cut-off from the rest of the world for thousands of years has developed its own language, social structure and also a unique governance structure based on democratic principles. Malana is located in the Kullu Valley of Himachal Pradesh and claims its ancestry from the soldiers of the Alexander’s Army who took refuge in this remote place and founded a village. Another claim is that they are the part of the Aryans who crossed into India. Malana residents even today live in a self imposed isolation and visitors are not allowed to touch any possession of the locals due to fear of pollution.
Brokpa: The four villages in the Kargil district of Ladakh make a similar claim to Greek ancestry. However DNA analysis does not provide any evidence of this link. Brokpa are of Dardic origin, and have similarities with Kalash
Burusho: live in Gilgit-Baltistan in Northern Pakistan. Burusho legend maintains that they descend from the village of Baltir, which had been founded by a soldier left behind from the army of Alexander the Great. DNA studies have not found any Greek markers amongst the Burusho.
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Sahih Bukhari Volume 009, Book 088, Hadith Number 232.
Narrated By Abu Huraira : Allah's Messenger said, "The Hour will not be established till the buttocks of the women of the tribe of Daus move while going round Dhi-al-Khalasa." Dhi-al-Khalasa was the idol of the Daus tribe which they used to worship in the Pre Islamic Period of ignorance.
