also inhabited Karimabad, Murtazabad and many other villages of central Hunza. The Quli-Kuts in central Hunza later adopted the Burushu way of life and now speak the Burushaski language. Most of the families migrated to Chapursan and Khyber. Among the current inhabitants of Passu are seven families: the Alvi, Mughani, Din-Ali, Sakhi, Quba, and Parasti also called Miron. Parasti or Miron are descendants of Shah Abdullah Khan son of Mir Shah Salim Khan of Hunza. The family is named after Ali Parast, the elder son of Shah Abdullah Khan, who moved to Passu from Shahabad Hyderabad in the 1870s. During Mir Shah Ghazanfar's time, Abdullah Khan was deputed as the governor of Gojal and commander in chief of the forces of Hunza to protect the northern frontiers. In 1941 the people of Passu under the leadership of Muhammad Adab Khan son of Ali Parast mobilized a revolt against the heavy taxes imposed by Mir Ghazan Khan II on the people of Gojal. The government of the British Raj intervened and through the local administration of the Gilgit Agency, the issue was resolved by reducing the taxes to the minimum level. The latest figures put the population of Passu around 1,000. Ghulkin Ghulkin Village is located in Gojal Hunza. It is reached by following the Karakoram Highway (KKH) 140 km north of Gilgit. This trip takes 3–4 hours by road. From a turn-off just beyond Gulmit, a winding road leads upwards for 3 km, until the ground, flattens out and the first houses of the village come into view. Ghulkin occupies the site of an old glacier-fed lake, which has been silted up by continuous sedimentation. Many of the 140 traditional dwellings that constitute Ghulkin village are arranged in a circular form, facing the one-time shores of the lake, creating a wonderfully communal atmosphere. The central area now supports several dwellings and fields, including a strip of land often used as a cricket pitch. There is no accurate historical record of the origin of the village, though it is estimated to be around 700 years old. According to local folklore, there were settlements here while the lake was still in existence, this area being used as pastureland in summer. The name is derived from two words of the local Wakhi dialect, Ghulk''', meaning 'well' and 'kin', meaning 'whose'. Being an area of low rainfall, the most vital requirement is water for