Tributaries of Jammu and Kashmir - Hunza and Nagar

Princely States

Lili Gashpur, the Commander in Chief of Gilgit and a nephew of the king married the daughter of the king Shah Malik(1422-1449) and had two conjoined twins. The twins were separated and grew up healthy - of them, Sahib Khan got the nickname Girkis or mouse and Jamshed got the nickname Maglot or mongoose. Their grandfather Raja Shah Malik decided to grant them estates of Hunza and Nagar. Both wanted Hunza as it is on the direct trade route from Turkestan. A certain Harcha Mamu Singh from Oshkandas was asked to arbitrate - Sahib Khan got Hunza and Jamshed got Nagar. Girkis made Harcha Mamu Singh as his minister while Maglot made Mughal Beg, the chief of Sharot and his foster father as his minister. He built the village of Muko-kot or Nagar Khan and made it his capital city. It is to stay as the capital till 1894.

Both the brothers plotted to kill the other and Maglot succeeded in killing his brother. But, he was not accepted as the ruler in Hunza and had to retreat back. The close marital ties with Gilgit continued across generations and one would see even in 1800s, the families are closely related. In the eighth year of Balla Shah's rule, his step brother Ji Khan siezed the throne with the help of Hunza. A brother of the king was killed and the other two fled to Kashmir along with Balla Shah who returned and dethroned Ji Khan. During the reign of Ali Dad Khan, Shah Haritham of Hunza conspired again to conquer Nagar and the king was enticed to go to Shishpar to hunt an exotic deer - Nagar was siezed and Haritham sent men to capture the king. But the king fled to Shigar and with the help of Baltistan, took back Nagar. On the other hand, Haritham's brother Shah Sultan who managed Hunza in his absence died and his son Shahbaz Khan refused to surrender the throne to Haritham. When Haritham went to Kashmir for help, Shahbaz Khan got him assassinated.