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 pleasant weather and hospitable
populace. The territory of Punial is about 35,900 km˛. One
of scenic and bucolic sites there such as followings.
Gahkuch 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 style. 'Green Palace' is one such
restaurant well known to tourists from abroad. Gahkuch
bala and its surrounding area is only the vast and wide
space of district ghizer where one can easily view many
villages. Sher Qila is the main village of the picturesque
Punial valley. The distance is 40 km and time required to
reach there is about 45min to 1 hour.There is also a
restaurant for tourist in Singal valley named Ghizer
Tourist Cottage and also some Guest houses in Gahkuch.
History
Punial was
formerly a princely
state (under
the British it was a "Special Political District" of the
Gilgit Agency and not a Princely State) in the northwest
part of the Gilgit
Baltistan which
existed until 1974. The state bordered the Gilgit
Agency to the
south, the former princely state of Yasinto
the west, Ishkoman to
the north and Afghanistan (Wakhan
Corridor) to the northwest.
The state capital was the town of Sher
Qila (also
known as Share (Chare not 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.
Language: In
this valley Shina is most common language and is spoken
in every where but there are also few speakers of
Burushaski and Khuwar.
Villages are:
 Gulapur,
Sher
qilla,
Dalnat,
Humuchal,Gohar
abad,Japukay,Gitch,Dass
japukay,Singal,Thing
dass,Gulmuti,Buber,Gurunjur,Gahkuch
bala,Gahkuch
pine,Silpi,Damas,Ayshi,Golo
dass,Hatoon,Hasis
(Reference: Wikipedia)
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