البلطية

Balti is a Western Tibetic language of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, and Kargil Ladakh, India. The Balti people are predominantly Shia Muslim and form one of the largest Tibetic-speaking communities outside ethnic Tibet, with the historic Balti kingdom (Skardu) being a key node on Silk Road / Karakoram trade routes. Balti preserves classical Tibetic vowel system and many archaic features lost in Central Tibetan (bo). Today the Tibetan script is used liturgically and culturally, but Perso-Arabic-script Balti is the standard for everyday writing and education in Pakistan. Linguistically, Balti is one of the Western Archaic Tibetic varieties, retaining initial cluster ʔo, ʁc, etc. that simplified in Lhasa Tibetan.