The Old British Cemetery in Gilgit holds the graves of British officers, explorers, and administrators who died in this remote posting during the colonial era. Gilgit was a British Political Agency — effectively a forward base in the Great Game — and the cemetery reflects the hazards of that posting: mountain accidents, disease, and occasionally violence.
The graves are well-maintained and the inscriptions tell a compressed history of the region's colonial period. It is a quiet and thoughtful place, especially when you understand how far from home these men had come. The cemetery sits near the Gilgit River and is easily combined with a visit to the polo ground.