Balawaristan



Balawaristan (, lit. 'Land of heights'), is a term used for the historical region forming present-day Gilgit-Baltistan .The modern term was coined by the political party Balawaristan National Front, founded by Nawaz Khan Naji, in 1989. But it has its roots in the historical names Broshal, Dardistan and Bolor or Boloristan, with documented usage in Chinese sources from the 8th century AD. According to the present day activists, 'Balawaristan' includes Chitral, Gilgit, Skardu, Hunza, Nagar, Ishkoman, Punial and Yasin (see Districts of Gilgit-Baltistan). The leader of BNF Nawaz Khan Naji declared that Balawaristan (Gilgit-Baltistan) is not part of Kashmir

Etymology
Balors means "highlanders", it is believed to have come from "Bala" meaning high or upper. ***(Bala which means high or upper is an Urdu word - Urdu speakers were not present in 8th century. Also in Shina language there are several words which are in Urdu language, like: kha, pi, etc.) The oldest mother tongue language was Burushaski in the region and there was no any word like bolor (But yes the word 'bilawar' in Burushaski means a kitchen item) The rest of the contents has no significance and published without roots.*** Thus it means land of highlanders.

Historically, the Baltistan region was called "Great Bolor" and Dardistan and parts of Brooshal (e.g. Gilgit Valley) were called "Little Bolor." Great Boloristan is known to have sent ambassadors to the Chinese court in the 8th century. The Mons, an Indo-Aryan group, made the region as a hub of Buddhism.

Chinese historian Faxian mentioned it as Pololo or Palolo, Tibetans called it Nang-khod, where Arab historians mentioned it as Baloristan, moreover Theodre Foster in his The London Quarterly Review has stated that to Muslim geographers the name of the region was not known, use of the name in very rare cases is found. Phunchok Stobdan says Mughal historian called it Tibet-i-Khurd. The people of this region though belonging to various ethnicities, have historically been referred to as Balors, which means the highlanders or mountain people, a reference to the high-altitudes prevalent in this area. An alternative theory links the name to a mythic ancient king called Bolor Shah, who had first united the region and from whom local rulers in turn often claimed descent.

Political status movements
In more recent times, the name Balawaristan is found used by Gilgiti political party like Balawaristan National Front led by Nawaz Khan Naji. The party is seeking to declare Gilgit-Baltistan as the fifth province of Pakistan. The party has been represented in the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly by a single member, the aforementioned Nawaz Khan Naji, since 2011.

Education
The Balawaristan National Students Organisation, in April 2008, raised a demand for Balawaristan to be constituted into the fifth province of Pakistan (the other four are Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).