Festivals and Folklore of Gilgit. 

 By Ghulam Muhammad, Chief Clerk i?i the Political Office, Gilgit. 



[Read July 5th, 1905.] 



Contents. 



Page. 



Introduction 93 



I. Spring festivals 95 



II. Harvest festivals 97 



III. Marriage . 9 8 



IV. The " Seat of Chastity " 102 



V. Settling disputes 103 



VI. Magicians : their initiation, etc 103 



VII. Omens 107 



VIII. Eclipses 107 



IX. The Creation of the World ' 107 



X. Sacred stones, trees, springs, etc 108 



XL The Rd with the ass's foot 113 



XII. Hisorical folklore 114 



Introduction. 



In introducing the folklore and old customs of Gilgit, I may mention that 

 great difficulty was experienced in collecting the material in a country which pos- 

 sesses no written record of any sort. I had to go from village to village and from 

 house to house to gain information from anybody. After four years of incessant 

 labour I collected some notes about the folklore, old customs, administration, tribes, 

 games and past history of the country. The former two subjects, being of special interest, 

 are now dealt with through the medium of this Society ; the others will be published later 

 in book form. 



The inhabitants always call their valley by the name of " Gilit," not Gilgit. The 

 word Gilit is probably the corrupted form of a Sanskrit word " Girit," which means a 

 mountainous place. 



This secluded valley, which was half a century ago unknown, has now, owing to the 

 recent disturbances in Hunza, Nagir, Chilas and Chitral, become so well known to the 

 world that it requires here merely a brief description for readers to form an idea as to 

 its position and character. 



Gilgit is situated 228 miles (sixteen stages) to the north-west of Srinagar, at an eleva- 

 tion of about 4,400 feet above sea level. During summer the thermometer rises to 

 1 1 5 and during winter falls to 15 . It is surrounded on the north by the small States of 

 Hunza and Nagir, on the west by Punial and Yasin, on the south by Chilas and Kashmir, 

 and on the east by Skardu. The district extends along the Astor, Indus and Gilgit rivers 



Mem. A.5.B. 29-11-0$. 



