The Tranquilo Traveler
The Tranquilo Traveler is a celebration of voluntourism, slow travel, and other interesting ways to see the world. Travel writer and award- winning Moon Handbooks author Joshua Berman created The Tranquilo Travel as a resource for world trippers and international volunteers, a window to the author’s travels in Nicaragua, Belize, and beyond, and an update of his books and articles.
The Mir of Hunza, Part 2
By Joshua | July 10th, 2005 | 
33 Comments » Our reception at the Royal Palace was short and official, about the minimum of what our imaginations had conjured up; we were led directly through a side door to the Mir’s office, where, for the first several stiff-backed minutes, we sat and watched him open and scan his mail (he’d been away in Gilgit all week). Finally, he looked up and received us — kindly but not necessarily warmly. It was a long shot, we knew, this tenuous Gordon College connection, but there we were.
The New Royal Palace of Hunza
The Mir’s features were large, rectangular jowls, high forehead, full head of black hair. His piercing blue eyes matched his Saturday-morning shulwar-kameez. He invited us to tea, of course, milky chai and sweet biscuits, brought to us in fine china; and he never smiled, not once during the interview, though he softened his face a bit for the photo op at the end.
Mir Ghazanfar Ali Khan, heir to the defunct dynastic throne that ruled Hunza Valley for a thousand years until the Hunza State was swallowed by Pakistan in 1974; he is now an elected official, Chief Administrator for the Northern Areas, head of the local jirga, or village court, and Chairman of the Northern Area talks on Kashmir. Before serving seven years in the foreign service (in Washington, D.C and Iran) Ghazanfar Ali Khan received advanced degrees in Political Science and International Relations (Lahore and London, respectively), and before that, he attended Gordon College in Rawalpindi.
Class of 1966, the Mir arrived at Gordon College about a decade too late to know Tay’s Great-Grandfather, Dr. Stewart. He knew of him, of course, but as far as our quest was concerned, without the personal connection, we’d reached a dead-end. Almost.
We learned more about the downfall of Gordon College; that it began in 1967 when President Bhutto nationalized the mission-run schools and hospitals. A “huge mistake,” the Mir said. “I love the Gordon College, it was the best college – excellent professors, all trained abroad, it’s a shame to see that college now. When I walk by it, there are tears in my eyes.” Like Prof. Masud, he expressed his wish that the Presbyterians would return to raise it back up to the prestigious institution it once was, schooling generals and heads of state.
The Mir was gracious and generous with his time, but displayed zero curiosity about us. I took advantage of the opportunity to ask some tourism questions that may serve me if I publish any pieces about Karimabad or the Hunza Valley. In short, this spectacular (but hard-to-reach) destination was devastated by 9/11 and the events that followed. Tourism had just begun to take hold, the only real industry in an area whose rising population had made traditional survival – mainly potato and fruit farming – inadequate. Only in this last year, have tourists begun to return, mainly Japanese, and still in low numbers.
As I was preparing to wrap up and leave the Mir to his business, my fearless wife brought up the hottest potato in the country: Kashmir. I didn’t think either of us were informed enough to discuss it, but again, there we were. The Mir wants Kashmir as part of the Northern Areas, which would then be given status as Pakistan’s fifth province, retaining some sort of confusing independence. President Musharraf supports him on this, he said. Tay told him we were with him for a peaceful resolution.
“This is up to the Indians,” he said. “First they must settle their own problems in Kashmir, the human rights abuses.”
He then gave us another clue, the name of another Gordonian, the Mir’s classmate and currently, the political head of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. “He is a very friendly man, he will certainly meet with you - if he is in the country.”
Finally, we left, walked across the wide lawn to the Mir’s own tourism venture, the Hotel Darbar Hunza, by far the nicest accommodations in Karimabad. I’d had the honor of speaking with the Mir’s wife, Rani Atiga Ghazanfar, the previous day in her office here. That’s how we got our interview. She was upset by the London bombings, expecting that Pakistan would unfairly receive blame for the events, as it always does, she said, despite it’s being “a peaceful country, a peaceful people, a culture of hospitality, not violence.”
Of the hotel’s 40 rooms, only six were occupied, by a Japanese tourist group paying $35 a night – less than half the normal price. The façade is ugly and modern but the lobby, great room, bar, and dining room are truly impressive; large open spaces with many artifacts from the Khan Dynasty. It was a museum-like room with grand views of the surrounding mountains.
And there were the framed photographs, through which one could trace the Mir’s family, including pictures of him as a child Prince, riding in black sedans with his father, the King. The rest of the photos traced the Mir and his wife’s diplomatic career: “The Mir of Hunza with King Hussein of Jordan,” “Rani of Hunza with Mrs. Clinton,” “Queen Elizabeth with Mir and Rani of Hunza,” Mir of Hunza with Marshall Tito, with the Duke of Edingurgh, with King Zaheer Shah of Afghanistan, etc.
And now, dear readers, I present you with one more photo:
The Mir of Hunza with Mrs. Tay Berman of Colorado:
33 Responses to “The Mir of Hunza, Part 2”
Dear Friends,
I very much enjoyed the lovely article by you. Which is very amusing and informative.
YOU ARE ALWAYS WELCOME TO HUNZA LAND.
Sincerely,
Ejaz
Curator
Hunza-Baltit Fort
Dear Sir,
thanks for to visited your webside this is good i have injoied by your good informaion, inshaallah i will visit and i get informaion from you, further i will send my comments this is enghf for uor firs mulaqat.
thanks
Altaf CLP
hi! glad to know you enjoyed Hunza and had nice things to say about it. My name is Prince Shehryar Khan, son of Mir Ghazanfar, Mir of Hunza. I read your interview with my Mother and Father. Found it quite interesting. Good Luck. Next time you are in Karimabad, your wife and you must stay at our Hotel, the Darbar.
Hunda’s people are with origine illyrians ( now albanians), they was alexander military officers.
I’m albanian and i like contact with one hundanian
Hunza as a state does not exist, any more. So there is no question of having Mirs, Ranis, Princes and Princesses of Hunza. It is ridiculous that the Westerners want liberation and collaps of monarchs in their home lands but would not condem chiefdom, mirdom in Hunza. It is the hypocracy of the West, fully manifested.
Ah yes, the Hunza way….Back in the day, say 84-96, middle of summer, all the hotels full, taking clients away from other hotel because of Kalbi’s double fry chips. Mr. Alex here, ya the Tourist Park hotel still rules ?
Thank you for a unique perspective of Pakistan and Hunza valley. I agree that Pakistani institutions suffered greatly under socialist leftist onslaught. This massacre of intellectual sort was conducted by none other than that the pseudo-democrat Bhutto.
To Mr. Aazur Hunzai, please keep your socialist leftist drivel to yourself. Amir of Hunza and other nobles deserve their due place in Pak society. And yes major European powers have kept their monarchs even as ceremonial head. Queen of England is the prime example. With mutual respect, democratic institutions can exist in the same country.
Mr. Skandar, I agree with what you have to say about Bhutto, who successfully eliminated the princely states, much to the dismay of the natives. As far as Mr. Aazur Hunzai is concerned, he seems to belong to the sadist minority who burned all their bridges with the valley, and reside in places like
Karachi; a community who will never be happy for the success and the identity Hunza brings about in their lives. Its sad.
Dear Friends,
Being a local historain of the valley to some level, I fully understand the causes of the founding of Pakistan and India due to the strong jolts caused to the British Empire by the World WarII . Thus a number of countries got freedom. Subsequently,small semi independent states like Hunza, Qalat,Kalabagh, Bahawalpur,Swat, Chitral,Yasin and Nager were abolished by the then governments in Pakistan. Which is understandable and more practical. But we (People of Hunza) must honour our history,our Mirs, brave and wise ancestors and traditions as well as we should honour our mother country Pakistan, which has achived so much despite the hard situations in the world.
Thus WE people of Hunza, honor every human being regradless of his race, belief etc, because we believe in a global brotherhood. YOU ARE ALWAYS WELCOME TO HUNZA…
wonderful novelic statement of facts around the former Royal family. Mr. sheryar Remember nowadays every educated youth from Hunza make distance from your family. These are the elders who somehow respect you people. And you must understand the local community even not accept you people as inhabitant of Hunza. Can you tell us the name of any of your family member who ever married within Hunza. You and your brothers are just punjabi. Your father Mir Ghazanfar will be the last one people give respect. Your uncles are educated and they also have distance fro you. what is your contribution for Hunza these days nothing just trying to monopolise everywhere as doing in Dry Port Sost.
Dont overexegerate informations …present the truth.
Hi everyone, thanks a lot for sharing thoughts about Hunza and Hunzukutch. Whatever, you have written about mirs and pirs is just your personal opinion and it is not a researched and peer reviewed worked. We should not generalise and call all westerns as hypocrates. However, I request everyone not to call Ghanzanfer and Atiqa Mir and Rani. They are no more Mir and Rani of Hunza. By merci of Allah Almighty every one in Hunza is Mir today. It is insult of historic decision Z.A Bhutto made in favor of Hunzukutch. Otherwise, there would have been few Mirs and Baigs who would have access to education and better quality of life.
London
Dear Friends,
It is a fact that great nations never forget their history and Mirs of Hunza have a great contribution in making Hunza a great state as compared to our neighbouring states like Nagar,Yasin etc.All the credit goes to our Mirs who established very cordial and highly skilled diplomatic relations not only with the kingdoms in Indo Pak but also with great rolyal families like British Crown.It was the great statesmanship of mirs that made Hunza a very polpular state.Although Hunza is no more a state but we should give respect to Mir family, as by doing so we do no degrade ourself but respect our history. Long live hunza
Mr. Ali hunzai commented on the Mirs marrying women from other regions. Mr. Ali should read the history of Hunza, and will discover that the Mirs married women from other regions to strengthen political alliances. Women from chitral, baltistan, afghanistan and nagar were married into the Mir family.( Also Mir Nazim Khan did marry a hunzakut lady) Also he forgets that in our society and culture (as is the case in the rest of the world)children are recognized by their father’s bloodline. If Mir Ghazanfar’s sons were ‘punjabi’ so to speak they would not be living in Hunza and investing their livelihood in Hunza and Northern Areas. Instead they would be residing comfortably in some cosmo city of the Punjab. It gives me immense pride to know that the Mirs family have been able to maintain the history and prestige of Hunza, while the history of other princely states have faded into oblivion. The greatest testimony of the popularity of the Mirs family lies in the fact that Mir Ghazanfar Ali Khan is currently the elected represenatative of the HUnzakuts. From Monarch to Democratically elected leader, this is no small achievement. Mr. Ali should be proud of the History of Hunza and its present rather than polluting his own mind with vendettas!
Further More I would like to inquire from Mr. Ali, does he have first hand information of the truth? Is this the truth he would like to belive or the truth in the real sense of the word. Facts are that had it not been for the Mir family the dry port would have been in Jutial, then who’s monopoly would have prevailed. How can the Mirs monopolise the dry port, when the sost land owners are shareholders as well as the Chinese. You choose to doubt your own rather than even the foreign party. Why? is there some colonial submmissive instinct ingrained in ur thinking? And to clarify ur misconception it is not thanks to Bhutto that Hunzakuts have the opportunity today to educate themselves and better their lives. Hunza was isolated from the rest of the world till the KKH was built. Initially it was to go thru Nagar which the then Mir of Nagar did not allow. It was Mir Jamal Khan who had the vision to allow the KKH to cross thru Hunza’s territories, thus ending its isolation from the rest of the world. Consequently allowing Hunzakuts to look for better sources of income which is why they can afford to educate themselves today!! Yes, the State of Hunza no longer exists, but that will never change the fact that the ruling family does exist. In the same manner just because Hunza is a part of Pakistan now, doesn’t mean that people from Hunza can only call themselves Pakistani!!
To: Joshua
I want to draw your notice that the Rush lake, Hamdar Valley and Barpu Glacier are not part of Hunza. These areas including Golden Peak, Rakaposhi Peak are the part of the Nagar Empire. The many western tourist been provided fake information regarding areas and jurisdictions(Since Tour Operator mostly belong to Hunza). One thing more the Hunzakutc should be thank full to Mirs Of Hunza Because they never put a ban on education like Mirs of Nagar. So today if Hunza is popular and well known (although with limited natural resources, including glaciers, forests) in the world than this because of Mir Jamal Khan of Hunza.
Hello again to all,
I appriciate all your comments and your thoughts. In short words, please allow me to say there is not ’such prejudice’ among the strong nations of the world, as we are expressing this way…And the worse thing is we claim to be ‘educated’. Please forget this thing, remember if prince charles gets married with a girl from a remote corner of his country, no one makes an objection, so why we are feeling bad?
Remember, Pakistan is a republic not a colonial empire to rule its nation through indirect rule by petty state nawabs and rajas. What I want to say is during the colonial period, the Mirs (rulers) of Hunza, Nager etc were no longer really independent to run the state affairs with the consensus of their court of elders. They were bound to follow the dictations of the so called British Political Agents (December 1891 to 1947). Let’s understand the history from a very neutral point of view, and please write your correct names and locations, instead of pinching each other with nick names, because honesty is the best policy. After all an open debate is the right solution.
Pakistan Payindah Baad and Hunza Zindah Baad
It is very easy to criticise Mir Ghazanfar and his family because they are in the spotlight.I would like to state a few facts.The fact is that the most development in Hunza came during Mir Ghazanfar’s time in office. There was not even that much development in all the previous Mirs time in office or other political representatives combined.When Mir Ghazanfar lost the elections two times in a row there was no development in Hunza that is why he was elected again by a massive mandate.He did not come into power thru a barrel of a gun but thru the vote of the people.We hunzakuts should be proud that he even brought the seat of Deputy Chief to our area which is the highest seat in the Northern Areas Legislative Council.As far as his wife is concerned.We do not consider her punjabi but we consider her as a hunzakut.She has also done a lot of work for the people.She considers herself as part of Hunza that is why today she is also a member of the NALC and pushes for the empowerment of the people of the Northern Areas.As far as their sons are concerned they spend most of their time in Hunza.We will give them the same honor as we gave their father because they are not punjabis they are HUNZAKUTS. We should be proud that Hunza is the only princely state whose royal family still lives in Hunza and has come into power democratically.Even after the abolishment of the state the MIR family has done the most development in the area and helped the people out more than any other person.
Dear All and Prince,
It dose not matter if the Mir are or are not ruling Hunza, the fact remains, they are history and not such a great one to. If one keeps saying I am a prince my father is a King, then Japan, China, most of the European countries and few African and Middle East countries will say, we were Monarchy and we are and we want.
The past has past, and we live in today and tomorrow. Hunza boys you are not royal anymore, and respect is gained and demanded from a title, wake up and smell the coffee, its 2007
hey it was awesome to go through the artical… it was simply great! I really like the way Joshua has described Hunza and its enchanting enigmatic beauty. We, the native Hunzais, are really fortunate to live in this Shangri la.
i want to ask just one thing. Where are you guys heading next? somewhere in the Northern Areas or .. ‘coz i would love to read the next “story”.
Shoaib
London
During my internet search on Northern Areas which I wish to visit this year,I came across your article on Hunza and Mir Ghazanfar Ali and and Rani Attiqa. I have had the pleasure of being guest at their Islamabad residence in late eightieswhen visiting Pakistan.
We had found them to be very modern and progressive and not at all feudal and conservativeas former heads of Hunza state.
They were promoting the tourism to Hunza by establishing hotel industry locally and also by democratic representation to the the Northern Areas Council and playing administrative role as traditional head of jirga.They promoted Hunza by establishing contacts with westen countries and their links with Agha Khan Foundation which does tremendous humanitarian and educational projects in the Northern Areas.
The Mir and Rani have played a very benevolent role in the progress and prosperity of their area with their foresight and enterprise and the people are proud of their contribution.
I hope to see them again when visiting Hunza next.
Shamim A.Sheikh, London
Its immence pleasure and pride to be an hunzai, but it is not due to Mirs,its due to the sucess of hunzai’s in every field of life. it is a reality that the youngsters( educated) of the area does not like these rubber stamped useless Mirs or prince’s. We have little respect for Mr. Ghuzanfar Ali Khan, then after there will be no respect for them.
Mr. Nazeem Ali, its better to know the exact situationOfSost Dryport before commenting on. who is saying this ” Dry port at sost is due to Mr. Ghazanfar Ali” please read the Proposed report of CBR about the preferable place for dry port in Northern Area’s. the sost dryport trust failed to complete the construction of the phase -1, and handover it to the land holders of the port. it was the Land Holder of Sost who collceted money from every source to complete the project Now these(Mirs) are there just to take the batah(tax) weekly from the port, the collect the money from there beloveds. they hire person they like and fire the person the dislike, they are treating with this public asset as there personal property. allthough they have not invested a single penny in it. So Dear Hunza’s Enjoy your fame and be confident in your own shoulders. God Bless Every Hunza.
Nice commentary about Mir family. As a Hunzukutz i want to say very frankly that Ghazanfar, Atiqa and their sons are the real barrier for the development of Hunza. We respect our history but we feel shy from the present faces of the former Rulers of Hunza. We can not compare Ghazanfar with his father or grandfather. Ghanzanfar is like to say KING for a DONKEY.
We are thankful to AKDN for the development initiatives and the awareness.
I had the honor of studying with Mir Ghazanfar Ali Khan at Punjab University, Political Science Dept., & Gordon College. He is one of the most refind gentleman I ever met. All my American friends are so much impressed with Hunza that they constantly ask me to take them there. Perhaps, we could make it this year.
Best wishes for Hunza & Best regards to Mir Ghazanfar Ali Khan.
Murad Hussain, New York
muradenator@gmail.com
Last week I was watching NAT GEO. The lady comments about Hunza. I have never seen a place so beautiful in my whole life. I feel proud to be a HUNZUKUTZ. moreover I am proud of the History of Hunza, The princely state the great ancestors, the able Mirs, For General information. No body selects his/her parents and no body can change his her parentage. If a Person rules he is a Mir/King/Queen, His/her children shall be Princes and Princesses. Lets admit Princes and Princesses are part of our society.
By not accepting their position in society one can not get out of quagmire of Inferiority complex.
Lets respect any one and everyone around us.
We are very much thankful of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who has toppled unjustic rule of Hunza. One can realise reading one of Ghazanfar;s unknown son who even can not speak our Burushki language and do not even heard of Hunza culture which gives respect to elders now he claims that he is so called prince.
Remember there is no prince or Mir in Hunza. the authors should note please.
To Sheheryar (so-called prince of Hunza)
What you call the sadist minority is the reality that you can not face. I can be anywhere on the plant and still I have my roots in Hunza. And I am proud of Hunza. I will always be proud of Hunza. Your callous statements about the so-called development of Hunza is not only fictitious, it is also rooted in your views that you get from the comfort zone of your houses in Islamabad/England/Lahore and elsewhere. If you knew the real Hunza you would not have made such ridiculous statements.
For information of the readers let me share a piece of what the 25 years of \
I agree with some of my friends that, the Hunza state is not longer exists so there is no question of Mirs, Prince, or princess. Some of our friends use Princess …… before, after or during their holy name might be they want to pretend to be princess. We do respect Mr Ghazanfar Ali Khan for his work for the local people but his children missed everything in Hunza. In current situation they are robbers at SDP. so Mr. Salim (as he calls him son of Prince lol) get your facts right mate… Your four father’s state is no longer exist. You might be prince for your own f…kng house but not for Hunza. you are proud of political power that you got from local people’s vote…. soon it will got out of your ask* and there will be nothing left for our Little poor prince… lol.
And people will read it as stories… once upon a time there was a poor man called salim (prince salim)
Some times i feel sorry for you…. how innocent you are… like a baby… or a baby girl who pretend to be princessssss…
Hello Mr Salim…
what do you think? if you will invite a journalist to your hotel, they will call you prince? I am sure they can pay few bucks for that hotel. They are educated and earning enough money to pay for their accommodation. You call yourself Prince of no Kingdom but your thoughts are very cheap,,, unbelievable… next time instead of using Prince its better you use Mr Sharyar… sounds natural but if not may be this Mr will also finish…
Tell me your worth…. I ll buy you with your hotels….
The so called Mir Ghazanfar will be burried soon as the last family member of Hunza ruler. The other Punjabies from Hira Mundi will soon start their real business again.
dear all,
i would like to express my sentiments about the royal family of hunza bieng a dweller of the valley, being a neutral person, we should not forget our history. it is written in the hearts and minds of people to respect their throne,to defend their kingdom, to fight for the region.
the royal family are like taj, like dignity or you can say pride of the region. the moment the fall, dignity of hunza will shake. and apart from that, bieng hunzukutz we should respect our royals, because they are the symbol of our identity.
Hi Everyone,
I have a question about the history of Hunza:
The Khan Dynasty of the former Mirs of Hunza was said to have ruled from Baltit/Karimabad for approximately 1000 years.
Does anyone know precisely when they began to rule there, under what circumstances (conquest, a feudal grant by another ruler, etc.) and particularly, what is their ethnic origin?
There seems to be a real lack of reliable information out there about the early Medieval history of Hunza, aside from some speculations about a Greek origin.
We now know from the study of the Y chromosome, which follows male lineages, that some Burushos are in Y haplogroup G2c, which is quite rare. Haplogroup G2c is found among approximately 10% of Pashtuns. Some preliminary evidence indicates that G2c occurs among the Orakzai, Mohmand, a few Afridis, and perhaps the Sadozai Pashtuns. It may be that Ahmad Shah Durrani of Afghanistan also belonged to haplogroup G2c.
Haplogroup G2c certainly has connections to the West, perhaps to some ancient Greeks or Anatolians, or Syrians, since the common ancestor may have lived around approximately 220 BCE. It seems there may be some matches with one or two Greeks, but this isn’t certain at this point, since we don’t have enough data from either group. There is also a more distant relationship with some European Jews as well.
I’m curious if anyone knows of people in Hunza who tested their Y chromosome DNA for the National Geographic Genographic project, or any of the studies which have looked at the genetic ancestral relationships between Burushos and other peoples.
In particular, has the family of the ex-rulers been tested to see what are their male origins, perhaps Pashtun, and then at an earlier time, Greek?
Thanks everyone for your help with this.
Hi there,
I’m coming to Hunza this summer with a film crew making a documentary which will in part feature Hunza. Does anyone have an email address I can use to contact the mir’s family or the curator at the fort? If you do please email me at sophie@tracingtea.com Thanks
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Rash lake sems incredible and the hwy. seems even more challenging. Carry on U2 .The brits will be swarming the area after news states people fled to Pakistan yesterday.
we identified your flower photograph as a Phlox, same one in our Alps. The plant families cover the continents as you do to. Good eating.