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ANGLO BRUSHO WAR

 


Nagar and Hunza, situated in the northern territories of Pakistan, were originally one principality known as Buroshall, with its central government based at Capal Dongs. After the reign of Miyor Khan, his sons divided Buroshall into two regions: Nagar and Hunza. The Hunza River was declared the borderline between the two territories. Muglot became the king of Nagar, while Kirkis took the throne of Hunza. Both regions remained rivals for many years.

In 1891, the Anglo-Brusho War was fought, which brought the two rulers together as allies to resist the British Army. The Anglo-Brusho War was between the principalities of Hunza and Nagar and the troops of British India, fought in Nilt (a village in Nagar). The campaign was largely a result of the aggressive attitude of the Hunza and Nagar chiefs towards the British agent in Gilgit, as these regions had been ruled by monarchs for generations and followed their own set of rules.

Towards the end of the 19th century, the royal troops of Hunza and Nagar began consolidating territory in tribal areas. These tribes had started acquiring rifles and ammunition from the Russians. The British, suspecting Russian involvement with the rulers of Hunza and Nagar, devised a plan to subdue them.

The British forces, comprising approximately a thousand rifles and two guns, launched a nighttime attack on the region. Some local inhabitants from Mayoon (a village on the opposite side of the river between Hunza and Nagar), armed with a single Urssi/Tumak (a weapon resembling a rifle mounted on a wooden stand and using a Russian bullet), climbed a nearby peak called Sheekar. They took aim and attacked the British Army. This unexpected attack from across the river created panic among the British forces, prompting them to consider retreating.


However, there were also local collaborators who sided with the British and informed them that the people of Mayoon had only one bullet.

The British awarded three Victoria Crosses during this campaign. The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest military decoration awarded for valor "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries and former British Empire territories.

The King ("Thum" in Brushaski and "Ra" in Shina), Azur Khan, was exiled to Kashmir, and the people ultimately lost the war.

Today, it is not just the Nilt Fort that has disappeared; there was also a fort (Kot) in Maiun (Mayoon). It was not destroyed by the British, but by the local people and the Central Government of Hunza at the time. The fort had been built by the ruler of Hunza on land forcibly taken from the people of Mayoon. Later, the Mir of Hunza sold that land back to the locals, and to this day, a room from the fort still exists and is used as a hay storage room for cattle by the current owner.

A similar fate befell other historical sites:

Chaprote Fort
Thol Fort
Pissan Fort

The importance of these assets has not been recognized by locals or by successive governments, which has deprived the region’s tourism sector of significant potential. Due to the negligence of both the local population and the ruling authorities, many historical sites have been lost, while the world remains largely unaware of the untapped tourism potential of Gilgit-Baltistan
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