Intimate Encounters with Baobab King and Last Turtuk King

a travel blog post. The original post with lots of pictures appears here: www.ilovegettinglost.wordpress.com

*note: The original post with lots of pictures appears here: www.ilovegettinglost.wordpress.com

I've been particularly lucky with running into kings of different dynasties this year. First the Baobab King in Adjara, a village in Benin bordering Nigeria, then the direct descendent of King Yagbo in Turtuk, a village in Nubra Valley, India bordering Pakistan.

1. Baobab King (Adjara, Benin, West Africa) 

If you don’t know what’s baobab, it is the most spectacular tree ever to be found in Africa. In the dry season, the leafless tree gives off a melancholy beauty, with bomb-size baobab fruits hanging off the branches. When nestled behind Tata Somba, centuries-old mud castles in the north of Benin and Togo, baobab trees seem to take on a nurturing role.  Found in all sizes and shapes, a few baobab trees are so gigantic that make me look like a peanut. Dissolve the white pulp of the fruit, essentially baobab powder, in a bit of water for a cup of thick, sour sweet mix.

Yes, baobab is my second favorite tree next to banyan tree (speaking of that, the biggest banyan tree located in Kolkata, India can stretch a park with its tentacles). That’s why I ventured all the way to the north of Benin, Boukoumbe, to meet my dream tree, just as I was adamant about meeting the world’s biggest flower Rafflesia, my dream flower, in Borneo Malaysia. Yet never did I dream that right after my return from the north would I discover that right in the heart of my village in south of Benin concealed two very very old baobab trees.

Not just any two, but a special twin. Old enough to have served and protected 5 royal generations to this date.

Once upon a time, tracing back centuries, the first king of Atawe Kingdom planted two baobab tress above his underground palace. Born and raised together, these twin baobab trees grew to soaring height and symbolize the almighty holy gateway reserved for the king. Every day, the king passes through the gap between the twin baobab, then exits from it. No one else is allowed to trod upon the holy gateway.

Five kings have lived in the Baobab Palace, and the tradition continues.

“Have you seen bigger trees than these two?” Baobab King's attendant asked.

“Yeah. The one in Kouaba on the way from Natitingou to Boukombe was so huge!” I replied as matter of a fact.

“Bigger than these?"

“Yea……” I started to sense something wasn’t right, and added immediately, “I mean these ones are definitely very special. I’ve never seen such trees before in pairs."

“That’s right!! Because it’s holy! Because only the king can pass through the holy gateway!” His attendant exclaimed.

I nodded, and asked tentatively. “Can I take a picture of the king with the baobab tree?"

“You can take a picture of the king with one baobab tree but not both, because it’s holy."

Surprisingly, the king excused himself to change into a more ceremonial outfit, a splendor of white dotted with blue patterns, for the photo shoot. Just when I was about to put the camera back in my pocket, the king suddenly changed his mind and broke the record by bestowing on me the special privilege to take a photo of him standing between both baobab trees. So the truth is, no matter how holy they are, even the king can’t resist the temptation of being the star! The next thing I knew I was standing next to him between the twin baobab trees, basking in the glory of divineness.

Baobab King’s attendant led us further to the royal cemetery, where the former four kings rest in peace. Each king was buried in one mud house resembling a room from the tata somba. The heartwarming reception did not end there. Next we were taken to a lobby where the king ensconced himself in the holy seat and we sat on the floor. I was implored to help them transform their palace, so that they could share more of their plentiful legends, as the stories of Adjara were intertwined with those of Ouidah. I listened and took notes. I felt a strong urge to help preserve this hidden treasure of Adjara.

So how did I stumble upon the Baobab Palace? After returning from the north, I brought baobab powder to my host mom. Delighted at receiving this gift from the north, she revealed, “But there are baobab trees in Adjara! Not far from here. It’s inside the maternal school which has been abandoned for years."

That abandoned maternal school turned out to be the Baobab Palace.

Good karma goes around.

~How to get there~

1. Take a shared taxi from Cotonou to Porto Novo for 500-1000CFA
2. Take a moto taxi from Porto Novo to Adjara for 250-300CFA
3. Continue to walk on the main road until you reach a mosque and cross a teeny tiny inconspicuous bridge, and on the left, you should see two baobab trees emerging from behind a compound. Turn left and walk around to the entrance. (for personal guidance, let me know and I’ll ask my friend if she can show you)

4. Admission fee? Up to you.

*note: I personally crowned the king with the honorary, affectionate title of “Baobab King” and his residence “Baobab Palace". Officially, he resides in the Royal Palace of Adjara and descends from the Kingdom of Atawe, Royal Dynasty of Sovon d’Agbodjèkou.

2. Turtuk King (Nubra Valley, Ladakh, India)

"On the night of December 13, 1971, the people of this village went to sleep in Pakistan. The next morning, they woke up in India.” Just 6km from the Line of Control that separates Pakistan and India, Turtuk is a land of hidden treasures. Turtuk, a part of the Baltistan region, is situated in the Karakoram mountains just to the south of K2, the world’s second highest mountain. Previously known as Little Tibet, Baltistan was converted to Muslim in the 14th century. That’s why despite the predominant Muslim population, the Balti language spoken there is largely related to Tibetan and on the hill perched a modest yet solemn Tibetan monastery with splendid views of the Shyok Valley and K2. Nowadays, Turtuk is the largest apricot producing village in Ladakh (apricot jam here is sublime).

Baltistan was divided into three distinct parts ruled by different kingdoms: Makspon dynasty in Skardu, Amchaq Dynasty in Shigar, and Yabgo Dynasty in Khapulu. We were about to meet the direct descendent of the Yabgo Dynasty that ruled Baltistan from 800 AD to 1800 AD, over 1000 years! Who would’ve imagined that his royal house, now a private museum, was just a five-step walk from that apricot tree in our Balti guesthouse, where a bomb was dropped in 1999 during the Kargil War…

The Last Turtuk King, Yagbo Modh Khan Kacho, graciously showed us his precious collection of royal artefacts, from traditional arrows and bows to ceremonial hats and rings. From a letter attached to a photograph of Shyok Valley facing the K-2 mountain in Pakistan, we learned that this house was forcefully occupied by Pakistani Army at one point after India’s Independence. Yagbo Modh Khan's grandpa wrote a letter to the Supreme Court of Pakistan requesting them to leave, and phew, they left.

To my delight, I was given the honor of snapping a picture of the Last Turtuk King standing before the wall illustrated with an extensively detailed "Pedigree of Rajas of Yabgo Dynasty Chhorbat Khapulu Baltistan". Chhorbat refers to the area along the banks of the River Shyok, which flows into the Indus River. In the Yarkandi Uighur dialect, River Shyok literally means “the river of death”.

A few questions you may have:

1) How old is the Last Turtuk King? He was born in 1958 and adopted the 'zamindaris' occupation, which basically means farming. His son Yagbo J.H. Khan was born in 1998.

2) Why was the Dynasty called Yagbo? Yagbo was the surname of the Prince of Ghaz Tribes of Kazakhstan. He ruled the Western Turkistan known as Khakaan, encompassing Afghanistan to Chinese Turkistan.

3) Who was the First Turkuk King? The Prince of Ghaz Tribes of Kazakhstan, Raja Beg Manthal, invaded Baltistan and conquered Khaplu after coming through Sattoro from Chinese Turkistan. He founded Yabgo Dynasty at Khaplu and ruled from 800AD to 850AD.

4) Who helped a famous Yagbo King amass wealth? Yagbo Behram Roy (1494-1550) Shah Behram, a famous Raja of Yabgo Dynasty, invaded Skardo Shighar and Ladakh with the aid of Sultan Saad Khan Raja of Kashgar, the westernmost city in the Xinjiang Province of China.

5) Was it the largest kingdom of Baltistan? Nah it was the second-largest and guarded the trade route to Ladakh along the Shyok River.

6) Anything else I need to know? Ali Sher Khan Anchan, a famous king of Baltistan, expanded the empire to the frontiers of Ladakh and western Tibet in the east, and to the borders of Ghizar and Chitral in the west. He also married the daughter of King of Ladakh.

In 1840, Maharaja Ghulab Singh of Jammu ordered his army to invade Baltistan, and that marked the end of the Yagbo Dynasty.

~How to get there~

1. Arrange your Inner Line Permit for Nubra Valley
2. Take a bus from Leh all the way to Turtuk, the last stop of Nubra Valley.
3. Look for Balti Guesthouse.
4. Ask the guesthouse staff to show you the 'palace'. It’s literally next door.
5. Admission fee? Up to you. We paid 50 rupee each.