Marol, Baltistan

Marol is at the confluence of the Suru River (also called Shingo River) with the Indus River,{{sfnp|Gazetteer of Kashmir and Ladak|1890|p=303}} about {{convert|23|km}} from the Line of Control (LOC) with Indian-administered Kashmir.[https://www.openstreetmap.org/directions?engine=graphhopper_car&route=34.6428%2C76.1355%3B34.7568%2C76.2153#map=12/34.7066/76.2566&layers=C LOC Marol to Marol], OpenStreetMap, retrieved 3 January 2023.{{or|date=February 2023}} It is closer to the LOC along the Indus River valley.{{what|date=February 2023}} The border village of Ganokh, inhabited by Brokpa people, is only {{convert|6|km}} upstream on the Indus, beyond which lie other Brokpa villages such as Batalik, Darchik, Garkhon, Dha and Hanu in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The main trade route between Baltistan and Ladakh used to pass through Marol, via the Suru River valley and Kargil town. It would then traverse the Wakha Rong valley, cross Namika La and Fotu La passes to rejoin the Indus Valley at Khalatse.{{citation |first=Sonam |last=Joldan |title=Relationship between Ladakh and Buddhist Tibet: Pilgrimage and trade |journal=The Tibet Journal |volume=31 |number=3 |date=Autumn 2006 |pages=43–76 |jstor=43300982}} (This is the route followed by modern National Highway 1 of India between Kargil and Leh at the present time.) The Indus gorge between Marol and Dha was avoided due to the difficulty of navigating the narrow gorge.{{citation |title=Lost kingdoms of the gold-digging ants (Review of L'or des fourmis: La découverte de l'Eldorado grec au Tibet by Michel Peissel) |first1=Janet |last1=Rizvi |first2=G. M. |last2=Kakpori |journal=India International Centre Quarterly |date=Summer 1988 |volume=15 |number=2 |pages=131–147 |jstor=23002056}} But some trade did pass through this route, probably conducted by the Brokpa themselves, and taxes were collected by Baltistan at Ganokh.{{citation |first=Rohit |last=Vohra |title=Ethnographic Notes on the Buddhist Dards of Ladakh: The Brog-Pā |journal=Zeitschrift für Ethnologie |volume=107 |number=1 |year=1982 |page=76 |jstor=25841799}}

In the seventeenth century Jamyang Namgyal of Ladakh had a conflict with Ali Sher Khan Anchan of Skardu and had to accept Gurgurdo near Batalik as the boundary between Ladakh and Baltistan.{{Cite journal |last=Vohra |first=Rohit |date=1982 |title=Ethnographic Notes on the Buddhist Dards of Ladakh: The Brog-Pā |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25841799 |journal=Zeitschrift für Ethnologie |volume=107 |issue=1 |pages=72, 81-82 |issn=0044-2666}} During Zorawar Singh's invasion of Baltistan in 1840, Balti defences are said to have been set up on the plateau to the north of Marol. The defences did not deter Zorawar Singh, but the Baltis' destruction of the Marol Bridge did cause them considerable problems down the line.{{sfnp|Charak|1983|p=50}} The Raja of Kharmang, Sher Ali Khan, submitted to Zorawar Singh and provided cooperation.{{sfn|Charak|1983|p=53}} After the conquest of Baltistan, Kharmang was retained as a jagir of the Raja, and Marol as well as Ganokh were left under his jurisdiction.{{sfnp|Gazetteer of Kashmir and Ladak|1890|pp=494–495}}

During the British Raj period, the village was said to have been inhabited by Balti as well as Brokpa people.{{sfnp|Gazetteer of Kashmir and Ladak|1890|pp=241, 590}}{{cite book |first=Veena |last=Bhasin |chapter=Tribals of Ladakh: Ecology and Health |editor1=Aloke Kumar Kalla |editor2=P. C. Joshi |date=2004 |title=Tribal Health and Medicines |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |isbn=9788180691393 |oclc=1046388551 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DDdjLiITmUQC&pg=PA138 |pages=137–138}} However it is unclear if there are any Brokskat speakers in the village at the present time.{{Cite web |date=2022-03-16 |title=بروسکت: پاکستان میں ایک نئی زبان دریافت |url=https://www.independenturdu.com/node/96706 |access-date=2023-01-04 |website=Independent Urdu |language=ur |quote=This language is called Bruskat and its speakers live in only one village near the Line of Control in Baltistan's Kharming district called Ganukh with a population of around 400.}}

File:Txu-pclmaps-oclc-181831961-52-b-ladakh-1916.jpg|SoI map, 1916

File:Txu-pclmaps-oclc-181831961-52-b-kargil-1928.jpg|SoI map, 1928

File:Txu-pclmaps-oclc-181831961-52-b-kargil-1946.jpg|SoI map, 1946, showing the 1948 LoC

File:Map India and Pakistan 1-250,000 Tile NI 43-7 Kargil.jpg|AMS map, 1955

• Aryan Valley
• Olthingthang

{{Reflist}}

• {{citation |title=Gazetteer of Kashmir and Ladak |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.43256 |via=archive.org |publisher=Superintendent of Government Printing |location=Calcutta |year=1890 |ref={{sfnref|Gazetteer of Kashmir and Ladak|1890}}}}
• {{citation |last=Charak |first=Sukhdev Singh |title=General Zorawar Singh |publisher=Publications Division, Government of India |year=1983 |url=https://archive.org/details/GENERALZORAWARSINGH |via=archive.org}}

Category:Populated places in Kharmang District

Category:Populated places in Gilgit-Baltistan