Bunji (Urdu:بنجی) (Balti: بنجی) is a town in Astore District, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. it is historically important being in the end of Dogra rule before 1948 and on the edge of ancient Yagistan. It was economically hub for barter trade between Yagistan and Dogras. The distance from Bunji to Gilgit is about on the Karakoram Highway. Bunji, located at the junction of Three Great Mountain Ranges, has its historical importance. The village has its prominent traces in the socio-political and economical situations of the region in History. River Indus covers the village from North to west while from eastern side it is connected with river Astore. Baltistan region joins its territory from the North-East. Etymology The town was earlier known as Bawanji. By the 20th century, the name had been shortened to Bunji. History Bunji is in the Astor principality, which came under the control of Skardu (Baltistan) during the rule of Ali Sher Khan Anchan (). The 19th century geographer Frederic Drew states that Bunji had significant agriculture and horticulture at this time. But it was laid "waste" during the invasions of Sulaiman Shah (ruler of Yasin, –1825), after which only a small area was cultivated. General Zorawar Singh, the governor of Kishtwar under Raja Gulab Singh, conquered Skardu in 1840, and sent his forces to occupy Rondu and Astor. Raja Jabbar Khan of Astor eventually surrendered and he was sent to Zorawar Singh. However, the Sikh governor of Kashmir, Ghulam Mohiuddin, contested Zorawar Singh's claim, and retrieved control of Astor and reinstated Jabbar Khan as his subsidiary. After the Dogras established the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir under British suzerainty (1846), the Dogras built a fort at Bunji and stationed troops there. Bunji was regarded as a strategic point on the road from Srinagar to Gilgit. In the early years of Dogra rule, Gilgit was repeatedly invaded by Raja Gauhar Rehman of Punial and Bunji troops became involved in the conflicts. The frontier states were subdued only after the British established the Gilgit Agency in 1889. Until 1935, Bunji was part of the Astore tehsil of the Gilgit wazarat. After that date, the British leased the Gilgit tehsil to the north of Indus as the Gilgit leased area, and Astore became an independent wazarat administered as part of the Kashmir province of the state. Shortly before the partition of India in 1947, the British transferred the Gilgit Agency