Punial

The valley of Punial (Urdu: ڀو نيا ل) is one of the most fascinating and absorbing sites situated in Ghizer District, where hundreds of thousand of tourists visit annually. Punial is a mountainous valley near Gilgit in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. The Punial valley is situated at an elevation of about 5000- 9000 feet. It is one of the vast and serene place to visit round the year due to its beautiful weather and hospitable populace. The territory of Punial is about 35,900 km². One of scenic and bucolic sites there such as followings:

Gakuch is the main town which is also the district headquarters and is a popular tourist attraction in the region because of the spectacular surrounding scenery and the restaurants and five star hotels are so designed to give you a bucolic and rugged life styole. 'Green Palace' is one such restaurant well know to tourists from abroad.

Sher Qila is the main village of the picturesque Punial valley. The distance is 40 km and time required to reach there is about 2 hours.

Singal

This spot in the Punial valley offers ideal trout fishing opportunities. It is 56 km away and takes 3 hours to get there.singal is one of the beautiful village in the punial.

Yasin

A valley providing ideal opportunities for hiking and trekking, it lies at distance of 160 km and the jeep journey requires about 7 hours.

Phandar

This picturesque area has a lake which abounds in trout. It is about 177 km away and the time required to get there is about 8 hours.

Shandur Pass

This 1250 feet long pass connects Gilgit to Chitral. The pass remains snow-bound during winters. It is 250 km and 15 hours away by jeep.

Who is oblivious of mighty Himalayas, the great mountain system of the world; however, very few people are familiar with Karakoram Mountain Range extending 500 km between North Kashmir to Central Asia. There are many idyllic and scenic spots, which thousand of tourists visit annually. Despite its rich culture, the people remained underprivileged until very recently, once some NGOs like Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN, www.AKDN.org)started educational, health and other socio-economic projects.

History

Punial was formerly a princely state in the northwest part of the Northern Areas which existed until 1974. The state bordered the Gilgit Agency to the south, the former princely state of Yasin to the west, Ishkoman to the north and Tajikistan to the northwest. The state capital was the town of Sher Qila (also known as Share). The area of Punial now forms the above named tehsil of Ghizer District.

Punial was an independent principality for more centuries. The British gained control of the area and the neighbouring valleys by mid 19th century followed by a military engagement of severe intensity.

This area and other neighbouring states were never ruled directly by neighbouring Kashmir.