Forum Pakistan

1. A river in the north-western region of the former princely state of Jammu and *Kashmir (currently *Northern Areas controlled by Pakistan). It flows through the foothills of the *Hindu Kush and *Karakoram mountains. A tributary of the *Indus, the Gilgit is formed by the confluence of the Yasin and Hunza rivers. Its length is about 450 km., its surface area, 26,000 sq.km.

2. The Gilgit Valley. From 1948 to 1971, one of the two political agencies in the Pakistan-controlled Northern Territories of the princely state of Jammu and *Kashmir. The administrative structure of the agency was changed a number of times. In 1971 it was divided into the districts of Gilgit, Astor Chilas, and Darel-Tanghir; the political districts of Punial, Yasin, *Koh-i-Ghizar, Ishkuman; and into the princely states of Hunza and Nagar.

3. Since 1972 Gilgit is an administrative district in the Northern Territories. Its capital is also named Gilgit.
The beauty of Gilgit.

Afghanistan and the south of central Asia were the territorial nucleus of the kingdom. In its heyday it also embraced the whole of Afghanistan and a considerable part of the *Indus ValIey, conquered in c. 190-180 BC by King Demetrios. The most powerful of the rulers was Menander (middle of the 2nd century BC). After the latter's death, the Graeco-Bactrian Kingdom felI apart into numerous small states.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: O.H.K. Spate, 'India and Pakistan', London, 1954; (ed.) A.H. Dani, 'History of Northern Areas of Pakistan', Islamabad, 1989.

Graeco- Bactrian Kingdom
This appeared in c. 250 BC on the eastern outskirts of the empire created by Alexander of Macedonia (35623 BC). Spreading to India, it lasted until the year 140 or 130 BC. The lands on the north of modem-day