In this book the author writes about the travel restrictions and relaxations imposed by the government of Pakistan on international tourists. The preface to the book is written by the author dated in 1973. The author states that since independence of Pakistan had more than 150 well-equipped expeditions, from Europe and Japan mostly (p. 2). Qamar argues that Desideri of Pistoia from Italy was the first European to enter the Karakoram (p. 4). Qamar states that Hunza and Balti porters earned admiration during some of the expeditions. The author covers topics such as the Sino-Pakistan boundary commission, 1967 trade agreement between Pakistan and China, trade via Misgar and administration of Gilgit. Qamar states that Brigadier Ghansara Singh was sent to Gilgit in August as the first Kashmiri Governor to rule the Agency (p. 17).
Further themes included in the book are Indus Valley road, insignia of Northern Scouts and expansion of road networks. By 1965, 467 miles of jeepable road was constructed (p. 33). Rest of the book covers stories about various expeditions, list of expeditions, list of explorations, list of glaciers, list of peaks and list of passes. Various officers of Pakistan military who were involved in different expeditions as liaison officers are also mentioned. No detailed accounts of the local porters and high altitude porters are provided in the book.
The book does not have any list of references, footnotes or intext citations. Qamar writes about history of the region without any list of references. This book has been written with the intent of attracting tourists to the region. The Resident and Commissioner for Northern Areas Ijlal Hussain has written foreword for the book dated 20 July, 1973. I believe a better researched book would have served the purpose well.
0 comments:
Post a Comment