Editing Skardu (section)

===Medieval History===
Following the dissolution of Tibetan suzerainty over Baltistan in the 9th–10th century CE,  Baltistan came under control of the local Maqpon dynasty, which, according to local tradition, is said to have been founded after a migrant from [[Kashmir]] named Ibrahim Shah married a local princess.<ref name="Dani"/>

In the 14th century, Muslim scholars from Kashmir crossed [[Baltistan]]'s mountains to spread Islam.<ref>{{cite web|title=Baltistan – North Pakistan|url=http://www.marafiefoundation.org/Default.aspx?=78|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130615182719/http://www.marafiefoundation.org/Default.aspx?tabid=78|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 June 2013}}</ref> The [[Noorbakshia Islam|Noorbakshia]] Sufi order further propagated the faith in Baltistan, and Islam became dominant by the end of the 17th century. With the passage of time a large number also converted to [[Shia Islam]] and a few converted to [[Sunni]] Islam.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Little Tibet: Renaissance and Resistance in Baltistan|url=https://www.himalmag.com/little-tibet-renaissance-and-resistance-in-baltistan/|date=30 April 1998|website=Himal Southasian|language=en-GB|access-date=20 May 2020}}</ref>

Around the year 1500, Maqpon Bokha was crowned ruler, and founded the city of Skardu as his capital.<ref name="Dani" /> The [[Skardu Fort]] was established around this time.<ref name="Dani" /> During his reign, King Makpon Bokha imported craftsmen from Kashmir and [[Chilas]] to help develop the area's economy.<ref name="Dani" /> While nearby [[Gilgit]] fell out of the orbit of Tibetan influence, Baltistan region remained connected due to its close proximity to [[Ladakh]],{{sfn|Dani, The Western Himalayan States|1998|p=221}} the region which the dynasty routinely fought against.<ref name="Dani-2"/>

In the early 1500s, [[Sultan Said Khan]] of the Timurid [[Yarkent Khanate]] in what is now [[Xinjiang]] province of China, raided Baltistan.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tvu-DAAAQBAJ&q=timurid+baltistan&pg=PA144 |title=Central Asia in World History |last=Adshead |first=S. A. M. |date=27 July 2016 |publisher=Springer |isbn=9781349226245 |language=en}}</ref> Given the threat illustrated by Sultan Said's invasion, [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] attention was roused, prompting the 1586 conquest of Baltistan by the Mughal Emperor [[Akbar]].<ref name="Dani-2" /> The local Maqpon rulers pledged allegiance, and from that point onwards, beginning with [[Ali Sher Khan Anchan]], the kings of Skardu were mentioned as rulers of Little Tibet in the [[historiography]] of the [[Mughal Empire]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.skardu.pk/ |title=Vacations, Holiday, Travel, Climbing, Trekking |publisher=Skardu.pk |access-date=6 September 2015}}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=February 2023}}
[[File:Balti king ahmed shah.jpg|thumbnail|alt=Drawing of a bearded man holding a rifle|Ahmed Shah, the last Maqpon king before the 1840 Dogra invasion]]
In 1580, [[Ali Sher Khan Anchan]] became the Maqpon king. He  expanded the borders of the kingdom from [[Gilgit]] to [[Ladakh]]. When the Raja of [[Laddakh]], Jamyang Namgyal, attacked the principalities in the district of Purik ([[Kargil]]), annihilating the Skardu garrison at Kharbu and putting to sword a number of petty Muslim rulers in the Muslim principalities in Purik (Kargil), Ali Sher Khan Anchan left with a strong army by way of [[Marol]] and, bypassing the Laddakhi army, occupied [[Leh]], the capital of Laddakh. It appears that the Balti conquest of Laddakh took place in about 1594 A.D. The Raja of Laddakh was ultimately taken prisoner.<ref name="Bhasin2006">{{cite book|author=Sanjeev Kumar Bhasin|title=Amazing Land Ladakh: Places, People, and Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8IZloNzI8BgC&q=ali+mir+skardu&pg=PA51|date=1 January 2006|publisher=Indus Publishing|isbn=978-81-7387-186-3|page=51}}</ref><ref name="Jina2005">{{cite book|author=Prem Singh Jina|title=Ladakh Profile|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qe_nv7mH678C&q=ali+mir+skardu&pg=PA349|date=1 January 2005|publisher=Kalpaz Publications|isbn=978-81-7835-437-8|page=349}}</ref><ref name="Bakshi1997">{{cite book|author=S.R. Bakshi|title=Kashmir: History and People|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_U1LEY1yWmagC|quote=ali mir skardu.|date=1 January 1997|publisher=Sarup & Sons|isbn=978-81-85431-96-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_U1LEY1yWmagC/page/n93 83]}}</ref> Then Ali Sher Khan Anchan went to march on Gilgit with an army,<ref name="AkasoyBurnett2011">{{cite book|author1=Anna Akasoy|author2=Charles S. F. Burnett|author3=Ronit Yoeli-Tlalim|title=Islam and Tibet: Interactions Along the Musk Routes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZfWXIfbynwYC&q=ali+sher+khan+gilgit&pg=PA245|year=2011|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-6956-2|page=245}}</ref> and conquered Astore, Gilgit, [[Hunza (princely state)|Hunza]], Nagar, and Chilas. From Gilgit he advanced to, and conquered, [[Chitral]] and Kafiristan.

====Decline====
In 1839, Dogra commander [[Zorawar Singh Kahluria]] defeated Balti forces in battles at Wanko Pass and the Thano Kun plains, clearing his path for the invasion of the Skardu valley.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Ladakh Through the Ages, Towards a New Identity |last1=Kaul |first1=Shridhar |last2=Kaul |first2=H. N. |date=1992 |publisher=Indus Publishing |isbn=9788185182759 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8J3YdskW00sC&q=dogra+skardu&pg=PA75}}</ref> He seized Skardu Fort on behalf of the [[Dogra dynasty]] based in Jammu, under the suzerainty of the [[Sikh Empire]] at that time.{{sfn|Pirumshoev & Dani, The Pamirs, Badakhshan and the Trans-Pamir States|2003|p=245}} Singh's forces massacred a large number of the garrison's defenders, and publicly tortured Kahlon Rahim Khan of Chigtan in front of a crowd of local Baltis and their chiefs.<ref>{{Cite book |title=GENERAL ZORAWAR SINGH |last=Charak |first=Sukhdev Singh |date=8 September 2016 |publisher=Publications Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting |location=New Delhi |isbn=9788123026480 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_qk-DwAAQBAJ&q=skardu+zorawar&pg=PT49}}</ref> In 1845, the region was completely subjugated by the [[Dogras|Dogra]] rulers of [[Kashmir]].<ref>Ali, Manzoom (12 June 2004). Archaeology of Dardistan.</ref><ref name=Gertel>{{cite book|last=Gertel|first=Jörg|title=Economic Spaces of Pastoral Production and Commodity Systems|year=2011|publisher=Ashgate|isbn=978-1-4094-2531-1|pages=181|author2=Richard Le Heron}}</ref> and the last Maqpon King was taken as prisoner.