Ladakh
Ladakh
Ladakh /ləˈdɑːk/ is a region administered by India as a union territory, and constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir
region, which has been the subject of dispute
between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. Ladakh is bordered by the Tibet
Autonomous Region to the east, the Indian
state of Himachal Pradesh to the
south, both the Indian-administered union territory of Jammu and
Kashmir and the Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan to the west, and the southwest corner of Xinjiang across the Karakoram Pass in the far north. It extends from the Siachen
Glacier in the Karakoram Range to the north to the main Great Himalayas to the south. The eastern end, consisting of
the uninhabited Aksai Chin plains,
is claimed by the Indian Government as part of Ladakh, and has been under
Chinese control since 1962.
In the past Ladakh gained importance from its strategic location
at the crossroads of important trade routes, but as the Chinese
authorities closed the borders between Tibet Autonomous Region and Ladakh in
the 1960s, international trade dwindled. Since 1974, the Government of India has successfully encouraged tourism in
Ladakh. As Ladakh is a part of the strategically
important Kashmir region, the Indian military maintains a strong presence in the region.
The largest town in Ladakh is Leh,
followed by Kargil, each of which
headquarters a district. The Leh district contains the Indus, Shyok and Nubra river valleys. The Kargil district contains the Suru, Dras and Zanskar river valleys. The main populated regions are the
river valleys, but the mountain slopes also support the pastoral Changpa nomads. The main religious groups in the region
are Muslims (mainly Shia) (46%), Tibetan Buddhists (40%), Hindus (12%)
and others (2%). Ladakh is one of the most sparsely populated regions in
India. Its culture and history are closely related to that of Tibet.
Ladakh was established as a union territory of India
on 31 October 2019, following the passage of the Jammu and Kashmir
Reorganisation Act. Prior to that, it was part of
the Jammu and Kashmir state.
Ladakh is the largest and
the second least populous union
territory of India.
|
Country |
India |
|
Union
territory |
31
October 2019[1] |
|
Capital |
Leh,[2] Kargil[3] |
|
Districts |
2 |
|
Government |
|
|
• Body |
Administration
of Ladakh |
|
• Lieutenant
Governor |
Radha
Krishna Mathur |
|
• Member
of Parliament |
Jamyang
Tsering Namgyal (BJP) |
|
• High
Court |
Jammu
and Kashmir High Court |
|
Area |
|
|
• Total |
59,146 km2 (22,836 sq mi) |
|
Highest elevation
|
7,742 m
(25,400 ft) |
|
(Saltoro
Kangri) |
|
|
Lowest elevation
|
2,550 m
(8,370 ft) |
|
(Indus
River) |
|
|
Population (2011) |
|
|
• Total |
2,74,289 |
|
• Density |
4.6/km2 (12/sq mi) |
|
Demonym(s) |
Ladakhi |
|
Languages |
|
|
• Official |
Hindi and English |
|
• Spoken |
Ladakhi and Purgi |
|
Time
zone |
UTC+05:30 (IST) |
|
ISO
3166 code |
IN-LA |
|
Vehicle
registration |
LA[6] |
|
Website |
ladakh.nic.in |
Names
The classiccal name Tibetan: ལ་དྭགས, Wylie: La dwags, THL: la dak means
the "land of high passes". Ladak is its pronunciation in several Tibetan dialects. The
English spelling Ladakh is
derived from Persian: ladāx.
The region was previously known as Maryul. Medieval
Islamic scholars called Ladakh the Great Tibet (derived from
Turko-Arabic Ti-bat,
meaning "highland"); Baltistan and
other trans-Himalayan states in Kashmir's vicinity were referred to as
"Little Tibets".
History
Ancient history
Rock carvings found in many parts of Ladakh indicate that the
area has been inhabited from Neolithic times. Ladakh's earliest inhabitants consisted
of a mixed Indo-Aryan population
of Mons and Dards, who
find mention in the works of Herodotus, and
classical writers as well as the Indian Puranas. Around the 1st century, Ladakh was a part of
the Kushan Empire. Buddhism spread into western Ladakh from Kashmir in the 2nd
century. The 7th-century Buddhist traveller Xuanzang describes the region in his
accounts. Xuanzang's term of Ladakh is Mo-lo-so, which has been reconstructed by academics as *Malasa, *Marāsa, or *Mrāsa,
which is believed to have been the original name of the region.
For much of the first millennium, the western Tibet
comprised Zhangzhung kingdom(s), which practised the Bon
religion. Sandwiched between Kashmir and
Zhangzhung, Ladakh is believed to have been alternatively under the control of
one or other of these powers. Academics find strong influences of Zhangzhung
language and culture in "upper Ladakh" (from the middle section of the
Indus valley to the southeast). The penultimate king of Zhangzhung is said
to have been from Ladakh.
From around 660 CE, Central Tibet and China started contesting
the "four garrisons" of the Tarim Basin (present
day Xinjiang), a struggle that lasted
three centuries. Zhangzhung fell victim to Tibet's ambitions
in c. 634 and disappeared for ever. Kashmir's Karkota
Empire and the Umayyad Caliphate too joined the contest for Xinjiang soon
afterwards. Baltistan and Ladakh were at the centre of these
struggles. Academics infer from the slant of Ladakhi chronicles that
Ladakh may have owed its primary allegiance to Tibet during this time, but that
it was more political than cultural. Ladakh remained Buddhist and its culture
was not yet Tibetan.
Early medieval history
In the 9th century, Tibet's ruler Langdarma was
assassinated and Tibet fragmented. Kyide
Nyimagon, Langdarma's great grandson, fled to West
Tibet c. 900 CE, and founded a new West Tibetan kingdom at the heart of
the old Zhangzhung, now called Ngari in
the Tibetan language.
Nyimagon's eldest son, Lhachen Palgyigon, is
believed to have conquered the regions to the north, including Ladakh and Rutog. After the death of Nyimagon, his kingdom was divided
among his three sons, Palgyigon receiving Ladakh, Rutog, Thok Jalung and an area referred to as Demchok
Karpo (a holy mountain near the present
day Demchok village). The second
son received Guge–Purang (called
"Ngari Korsum") and the third son received Zanskar and Spiti (to
the southwest of Ladakh). This three-way division of Nyimagon's empire was
recognised as historic and remembered in the chronicles of all the three
regions as a founding narrative.
He gave to each of his
sons a separate kingdom, viz., to the eldest Dpal-gyi-gon, Maryul of Mngah-ris, the inhabitants using
black bows; ru-thogs [Rutog]
of the east and the Gold-mine of Hgog [possibly
Thok Jalung]; nearer this way Lde-mchog-dkar-po [Demchok
Karpo]; ...
The first West Tibetan dynasty of Maryul founded
by Palgyigon lasted five centuries, being weakened towards its end by the
conquests of the Mongol/Mughal noble Mirza Haidar Dughlat. Throughout this period the region was called
"Maryul", possibly from the original proper name *Mrasa (Xuangzhang's, Mo-lo-so), but in the Tibetan
language it was interpreted to mean "lowland" (the lowland of Ngari).
Maryul remained staunchly Buddhist during this period, having participated in
the second diffusion of Buddhism from India to Tibet via Kashmir and Zanskar.
Medieval history
Between the 1380s and early 1510s, many Islamic missionaries propagated
Islam and proselytised the Ladakhi people. Sayyid
Ali Hamadani, Sayyid Muhammad Nur Baksh and Mir Shamsuddin Iraqi were three important Sufi missionaries who
propagated Islam to the locals. Mir Sayyid Ali was the first one to make Muslim
converts in Ladakh and is often described as the founder of Islam in Ladakh.
Several mosques were built in Ladakh during this period, including in
Mulbhe, Padum and Shey, the capital of Ladakh. His principal disciple,
Sayyid Muhammad Nur Baksh also propagated Islam to Ladakhis and the Balti
people rapidly converted to Islam. Noorbakshia
Islam is named after him and his followers are
only found in Baltistan and Ladakh. During his youth, Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin expelled
the mystic Sheikh Zain Shahwalli for
showing disrespect to him. The sheikh then went to Ladakh and proselytised many
people to Islam. In 1505, Shamsuddin Iraqi, a noted Shia scholar, visited
Kashmir and Baltistan. He helped in spreading Shia Islam in Kashmir and
converted the overwhelming majority of Muslims in Baltistan to his school of
thought.
It is unclear what happened to Islam after this period and it
seems to have received a setback. Mirza
Muhammad Haidar Dughlat who invaded and
briefly conquered Ladakh in 1532, 1545 and 1548, does not record any presence
of Islam in Leh during his invasion although Shia Islam and Noorbakshia Islam
continued to flourish in other regions of Ladakh.
King Bhagan reunited and strengthened Ladakh and founded
the Namgyal dynasty (Namgyal means "victorious"
in several Tibetan languages). The Namgyals repelled most Central Asian raiders
and temporarily extended the kingdom as far as Nepal. During the Balti
invasion led by Raja Ali
Sher Khan Anchan, many Buddhist temples and
artefacts were damaged. Ali Sher Khan took the king and his soldiers as
captives. Jamyang Namgyal was later restored to the throne by Ali Sher Khan and
given the hand of a Muslim princess in marriage. Her name was Gyal Khatun or
Argyal Khatoom. She was to be the first queen and her son was to become the
next ruler. Historical accounts differ upon who her father was. Some identify
Ali's ally and Raja of Khaplu Yabgo
Shey Gilazi as her father, while others identify Ali himself as the
father. In the early 17th century efforts were made to restore the
destroyed artefacts and gonpas by Sengge
Namgyal, the son of Jamyang and Gyal. He expanded
the kingdom into Zangskar and Spiti. Despite a defeat of Ladakh by the Mughals, who had already annexed Kashmir and Baltistan, Ladakh
retained its independence.
Islam begins to take root in the Leh area in the
beginning of the 17th century after the Balti invasion and the marriage of Gyal
to Jamyang. A large group of Muslim servants and musicians were sent along with
Gyal to Ladakh and private mosques were built where they could pray. The Muslim
musicians later settled in Leh. Several hundred Baltis migrated to the kingdom
and according to oral tradition many Muslim traders were granted land to
settle. Many other Muslims were invited over the following years for various
purposes.
In the late 17th century, Ladakh sided with Bhutan in
its dispute with Tibet which, among other reasons, resulted in its invasion by
the Tibetan Central Government. This
event is known as the Tibet–Ladakh–Mughal war of 1679–1684. Kashmiri historians assert that
the king converted to Islam in return for the assistance by Mughal Empire after
this, however, Ladakhi chronicles do not mention such a thing. The king agreed
to pay tribute to the Mughals in return for defending the kingdom. The
Mughals, however, withdrew after being paid off by the 5th Dalai
Lama. With the help of reinforcements
from Galdan Boshugtu Khan, Khan of the Zungar Empire, the Tibetans attacked again in 1684. The Tibetans were
victorious and concluded a treaty with Ladakh then they retreated back to Lhasa in December 1684. The Treaty of Tingmosgang in 1684
settled the dispute between Tibet and Ladakh but severely restricted Ladakh's
independence
Princely state of Jammu and Kashmir
In 1834, the Sikh Zorawar
Singh, a general of Raja Gulab Singh of
Jammu, invaded and annexed Ladakh to Jammu under
the suzerainty of the Sikh Empire.
After the defeat of the Sikhs in the First Anglo-Sikh War, the state of Jammu and Kashmir was established as a separate princely
state under British suzerainty. The Namgyal family was given the jagir of Stok, which it nominally retains to this day. European
influence began in Ladakh in the 1850s and increased. Geologists, sportsmen,
and tourists began exploring Ladakh. In 1885, Leh became the headquarters of a mission of the Moravian
Church.
Ladakh was administered as a wazarat during the Dogra rule, with a governor termed wazir-e-wazarat. It had three
tehsils, based at Leh, Skardu and Kargil. The headquarters of the wazarat was at Leh for
six months of the year and at Skardu for
six months. When the legislative assembly called Praja Sabha was established in 1934, Ladakh was given two
nominated seats in the assembly.
Ladakh was claimed as part of Tibet by Phuntsok Wangyal, a Tibetan Communist leader.
Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir
At the time of the partition
of India in 1947, the Dogra ruler Maharaja Hari Singh signed
the Instrument of Accession to
India. Pakistani raiders from Gilgit had
reached Ladakh and military operations were initiated to evict them. The
wartime conversion of the pony trail from Sonamarg to Zoji La by
army engineers permitted tanks to move up and successfully capture the pass.
The advance continued. Dras, Kargil and
Leh were liberated and Ladakh cleared of the infiltrators.
In 1949, China closed the border between Nubra and Xinjiang, blocking old trade routes. In 1955 China began to build
roads connecting Xinjiang and Tibet through the Aksai Chin area. The Indian effort to retain control of Aksai
Chin led to the Sino-Indian War of
1962, which India lost. China also built the Karakoram highway jointly with Pakistan. India built the Srinagar-Leh
Highway during this period, cutting the
journey time between Srinagar and Leh from 16 days to two. The route, however,
remains closed during the winter months due to heavy snowfall. Construction of
a 6.5 km (4.0 mi) tunnel across Zoji La pass is under consideration
to make the route functional throughout the year.
The Kargil
War of 1999, codenamed "Operation
Vijay" by the Indian Army, saw
infiltration by Pakistani troops into parts of Western Ladakh, namely Kargil,
Dras, Mushkoh, Batalik and Chorbatla,
overlooking key locations on the Srinagar-Leh highway. Extensive operations were launched in high altitudes by
the Indian Army with considerable artillery and air force support. Pakistani
troops were evicted from the Indian side of the Line of Control which the Indian government ordered was to be
respected and which was not crossed by Indian troops. The Indian government was
criticised by the Indian public because India respected geographical
co-ordinates more than India's opponents: Pakistan and China.
The Ladakh region was divided into the Kargil and Leh districts
in 1979. In 1989, there were violent riots between Buddhists and Muslims. Following
demands for autonomy from the Kashmiri dominated state government; the Ladakh
Autonomous Hill Development Council was
created in the 1990s. Leh and Kargil districts now each have their own locally elected
Hill Councils with some control over local policy and development funds. In
1991, a Peace Pagoda was erected
in Leh by Nipponzan Myohoji.
There was a heavy presence of Indian Army and Indo-Tibetan
Border Police forces in Ladakh. These forces
and People's Liberation Army forces
from China have, since the 1962 Sino-Indian War, had frequent stand-offs along the Lakakh portion of
the Line of Actual Control. Out of the
857-kilometre-long (533 mi) border in Ladakh, only 368 km
(229 mi) is the International Border, and the remaining 489 km
(304 mi) is Line of Actual Control. The
stand-off involving the most troops was in September 2014 in the disputed Chumar region when 800 to 1,000 Indian troops and 1,500
Chinese troops came into close proximity to each other.
Ladakh
Division
In February 2019, Ladakh became a separate Revenue and Administrative Division within Jammu and Kashmir, having previously been
part of the Kashmir Division. As a
division, Ladakh was granted its own Divisional Commissioner and Inspector General of Police.
Leh was initially chosen to be the headquarters of the new
division however, following protests, it was announced that Leh and Kargil will
jointly serve as the divisional headquarters, each hosting an Additional
Divisional Commissioner to assist the Divisional Commissioner and Inspector
General of Police who will spend half their time in each town.
Union territory of Ladakh
The people of Ladakh had been demanding Ladakh to be constituted
as a union territory since 1930s, because of perceived unfair treatment
by Kashmir and Ladakh's cultural differences with predominantly Muslim Kashmir
valley, while some people in Kargil opposed union
territory status for Ladakh. The first organized agitation was launched
against Kashmir's "dominance" in the year 1964. In late 1980s, a much
larger mass agitation was launched to press their demand for UT status.
In August 2019, a reorganisation
act was passed by the Parliament
of India which contained provisions to
reconstitute Ladakh as a union territory,
separate from the rest of Jammu and Kashmir on 31 October 2019. Under the
terms of the act, the union territory is administered by a Lieutenant
Governor acting on behalf of the Central
Government of India and does not have an elected legislative assembly or chief
minister. Each district within the union territory continues to elect an autonomous
district council as done previously.
The demand for Ladakh as separate Union Territory (UT) was first
raised by the parliamentarian Kushok
Bakula Rinpoche around 1955, which was later
carried forward by another parliamentarian Thupstan Chhewang. The former Jammu and Kashmir state use to obtain large allocation of annual funds from
the union government based on the fact that the large geographical area of the
Ladakh (comprising 65% of total area), but Ladakh was allocated only 2% of the
state budget based on its relative population. Within the first year of
the formation of Ladakh as separate union territory, its annual budget allocation
has increased 4 times from 57 crore to 232
crore.
Geography
Ladakh is the highest plateau in India with much of it being over
3,000 m (9,800 ft). It extends from the Himalayan to the Kunlun Ranges and includes the upper Indus
River valley.
Historically, the region included the Baltistan (Baltiyul) valleys (now mostly in Pakistani administered part
of Kashmir), the entire upper Indus
Valley, the remote Zanskar, Lahaul and Spiti to
the south, much of Ngari including
the Rudok region and Guge in the east, Aksai Chin in the northeast, and the Nubra Valley to the north over Khardong La in the Ladakh Range. Contemporary Ladakh
borders Tibet to the east,
the Lahaul and Spiti regions to
the south, the Vale of Kashmir, Jammu and Baltiyul regions
to the west, and the southwest corner of Xinjiang across the Karakoram Pass in the far north. The historic but imprecise divide
between Ladakh and the Tibetan Plateau commences in the north in the intricate
maze of ridges east of Rudok including
Aling Kangri and Mavang Kangri, and continues southeastward toward
northwestern Nepal. Before partition, Baltistan, now under Pakistani control, was a district in
Ladakh. Skardo was the winter
capital of Ladakh while Leh was the summer capital.
The mountain ranges in this region were formed over
45 million years by the folding of the Indian Plate into the more
stationary Eurasian Plate. The drift
continues, causing frequent earthquakes in the Himalayan region. The peaks
in the Ladakh Range are at a medium altitude close to the Zoji-la (5,000–5,500 m or 16,400–18,000 ft) and
increase toward southeast, culminating in the twin summits of Nun-Kun (7,000 m or 23,000 ft).
The Suru and Zanskar valleys form a great trough enclosed by the
Himalayas and the Zanskar
Range. Rangdum is
the highest inhabited region in the Suru valley, after which the valley rises
to 4,400 m (14,400 ft) at Pensi-la, the gateway to Zanskar. Kargil, the only town in the Suru valley, is
the second most important town in Ladakh. It was an important staging post on
the routes of the trade caravans before
1947, being more or less equidistant, at about 230 kilometres from Srinagar, Leh, Skardu and Padum.
The Zangskar valley lies in the troughs of the Stod and the Lungnak rivers. The
region experiences heavy snowfall; the Pensi-la is open only between June and
mid-October. Dras and the Mushkoh
Valley form the western extremity of Ladakh.
The Indus River is the backbone of Ladakh. Most major historical
and current towns – Shey, Leh, Basgo and Tingmosgang (but
not Kargil), are close to the Indus River. After the Indo-Pakistani War of
1947, the stretch of the Indus flowing through Ladakh became the only part of
this river, which is greatly venerated in the Hindu religion and culture that
still flows through India.
The Siachen
Glacier is in the eastern Karakoram Range in
the Himalaya Mountains along the disputed India-Pakistan border. The Karakoram
Range forms a great watershed that separates China from the Indian subcontinent
and is sometimes called the "Third Pole." The glacier lies between
the Saltoro Ridge immediately to the west and the main Karakoram Range to the
east. At 76 km (47 mi) long, it is the longest glacier in the
Karakoram and second-longest in the world's non-polar areas. It falls from an
altitude of 5,753 m (18,875 ft) above sea level at its source
at Indira Col on the China border
down to 3,620 m (11,880 ft) at its snout. Saser Kangri is the highest peak in the Saser Muztagh, the
easternmost subrange of the Karakoram Range in India, Saser Kangri I having an
altitude of 7,672 m (25,171 ft).
The Ladakh Range has no major peaks; its average height is a little
less than 6,000 m (20,000 ft), and few of its passes are less than
5,000 m (16,000 ft). The Pangong range runs parallel to the Ladakh Range for about
100 km (62 mi) northwest from Chushul along the southern shore of the Pangong
Lake. Its highest point is about 6,700 m
(22,000 ft) and the northern slopes are heavily glaciated. The region
comprising the valley of the Shayok and Nubra rivers is known as Nubra. The
Karakoram Range in Ladakh is not as mighty as in Baltistan. The massifs to the
north and east of the Nubra–Siachen line include the Apsarasas
Group (highest point at 7,245 m or
23,770 ft) the Rimo Muztagh (highest
point at 7,385 m or 24,229 ft) and the Teram Kangri Group (highest point at 7,464 m or
24,488 ft) together with Mamostong Kangri (7,526 m or 24,692 ft) and Singhi
Kangri (7,202 m or 23,629 ft). North
of the Karakoram lies the Kunlun. Thus, between Leh and eastern Central Asia
there is a triple barrier – the Ladakh Range, Karakoram Range, and Kunlun.
Nevertheless, a major trade route was established between Leh and Yarkand.
Ladakh is a high altitude desert as the Himalayas create
a rain shadow, generally denying entry to monsoon clouds. The main source
of water is the winter snowfall on the mountains. Recent flooding in the region
(e.g., the 2010 floods) has been attributed to abnormal rain patterns and
retreating glaciers, both of which have been found to be linked to global
climate change. The Leh Nutrition Project, headed by Chewang
Norphel, also known as the "Glacier Man", creates artificial glaciers
as one solution for retreating glaciers.
The regions on the north flank of the Himalayas – Dras, the
Suru valley and Zangskar – experience heavy snowfall and remain cut off
from the rest of the region for several months in the year, as the whole region
remains cut off by road from the rest of the country. Summers are short, though
they are long enough to grow crops. The summer weather is dry and pleasant.
Temperature ranges are from 3 to 35 °C (37 to 95 °F) in summer
and minimums range from −20 to −35 °C (−4 to −31 °F) in winter.
Zanskar is the main river of the region along with its
tributaries. The Zanskar gets frozen during winter and the famous Chadar
trek takes place on this magnificent frozen river.
Flora and fauna
Vegetation is extremely sparse in Ladakh except along streambeds
and wetlands, on high slopes, and irrigated places. About 1250 plant species,
including crops, were reported from Ladakh. The plant Ladakiella klimesii, growing up to
6,150 metres (20,180 ft) above sea level, was first described here and
named after this region. The first European to study the wildlife of this
region was William Moorcroft in 1820, followed by Ferdinand
Stoliczka, an Austrian-Czech palaeontologist, who carried out a
massive expedition there in the 1870s. There are many lakes in Ladakh such
as Kyago Tso.
The bharal or blue sheep is the most abundant mountain
ungulate in the Ladakh region, although it is not found in some parts of
Zangskar and Sham areas. The Asiatic ibex is a very elegant
mountain goat that is distributed in the western part of Ladakh. It is the
second most abundant mountain ungulate in the region with a population of about
6000 individuals. It is adapted to rugged areas where it easily climbs when
threatened. The Ladakhi Urial is another unique mountain sheep that
inhabits the mountains of Ladakh. The population is declining, however, and
there are not more than 3000 individuals left in Ladakh. The urial is
endemic to Ladakh, where it is distributed only along two major river valleys:
the Indus and Shayok. The animal is often persecuted by farmers whose crops are
allegedly damaged by it. Its population declined precipitously in the last
century due to indiscriminate shooting by hunters along the Leh-Srinagar highway.
The Tibetan argali or Nyan is the largest wild sheep in the world,
standing 1.1 to 1.2 metres (3.5 to 4 ft) at the shoulder with the horn
measuring 900–1,000 mm (35–39 in). It is distributed on the Tibetan
plateau and its marginal mountains encompassing a total area of
2.5 million km2 (0.97 million sq mi).
There is only a small population of about 400 animals in Ladakh. The animal
prefers open and rolling terrain as it runs, unlike wild goats that climb into
steep cliffs, to escape from predators. The endangered Tibetan
antelope, known as chiru in
Indian English, or Ladakhi tsos,
has traditionally been hunted for its wool (shahtoosh) which is a natural fibre of the finest quality and
thus valued for its light weight and warmth and as a status symbol. The wool
of chiru must be pulled out by hand, a process done after the animal is killed.
The fibre is smuggled into Kashmir and woven into exquisite shawls by Kashmiri
workers. Ladakh is also home to the Tibetan gazelle, which inhabits the
vast rangelands in eastern Ladakh bordering Tibet.
The kiang, or Tibetan wild ass, is common in the grasslands
of Changthang, numbering about 2,500 individuals. These animals are in conflict
with the nomadic people of Changthang who hold the Kiang responsible for
pasture degradation. There are about 200 snow leopards in Ladakh
of an estimated 7,000 worldwide. The Hemis High Altitude National
Park in central Ladakh is an especially good habitat for this predator as
it has abundant prey populations. The Eurasian lynx, is another rare cat
that preys on smaller herbivores in Ladakh. It is mostly found in Nubra,
Changthang and Zangskar. The Pallas's cat, which looks somewhat like
a house cat, is very rare in Ladakh and not much is known about the species.
The Tibetan wolf, which sometimes preys on the livestock of the Ladakhis,
is the most persecuted amongst the predators. There are also a
few brown bears in the Suru Valley and the area around
Dras. The Tibetan sand fox has been discovered in this
region. Among smaller animals, marmots, hares, and several types
of pika and vole are common.
Flora
Scant precipitation makes Ladakh a high-altitude desert with
extremely scarce vegetation over most of its area. Natural vegetation mainly
occurs along water courses and on high altitude areas that receive more snow
and cooler summer temperatures. Human settlements, however, are richly
vegetated due to irrigation. Natural vegetation commonly seen along
watercourses includes seabuckthorn (Hippophae spp.), wild roses of pink or yellow varieties,
tamarisk (Myricaria spp.), caraway, stinging
nettles, mint, Physochlaina praealta,
and various grasses.
Administration
Under the terms of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation
Act, Ladakh is administered as a union territory without
a legislative assembly or elected government. The head of government
is a Lieutenant Governor appointed by the President of
India who is assisted by civil servants of the Indian Administrative
Service.
Districts
Ladakh is divided into two districts:
|
Name of District |
Headquarters |
Area (km2) |
Population |
|
Kargil
District |
Kargil |
14,036 |
143,388 |
|
Leh
District |
Leh |
45,110 |
147,104 |
|
Total |
2 |
59,146 |
290,492 |
Demands have been raised for the creation of new districts in
Ladakh. The local BJP unit has hinted the creation of two new districts- Nubra and Zanskar. The
Ladakh Buddhist Association Zanskar (LBAZ) has also been demanding the creation
of Zanskar district.
Autonomous
District Councils
Each district of Ladakh is administered by an autonomous
district council, they are:
·
Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil
·
Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh
The two autonomous district councils work with
village panchayats to take decisions on economic development,
healthcare, education, land use, taxation, and local governance which are
further reviewed at the block headquarters in the presence of the chief
executive councillor and executive councillors. The government of Jammu
and Kashmir looks after law and order, the judicial system, communications and
the higher education in the region.
The two autonomous district councils continue to exist following
the formation of the union territory of Ladakh on 31 October 2019.
Law enforcement and justice
Ladakh is under the jurisdiction of the Jammu and Kashmir
High Court. The union territory of Ladakh has its own police
force headed by a Director general of police.
Ladakh in the Parliament of India
Ladakh sends one member (MP) to the lower house of
the Indian parliament the Lok Sabha. The MP for the Ladakh
constituency in the current Lok Sabha is Jamyang Tsering
Namgyal a candidate from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Economy
The land is irrigated by a system of channels which funnel water
from the ice and snow of the mountains. The principal crops
are barley and wheat. Rice was previously a luxury in the Ladakhi
diet, but, subsidised by the government, has now become a cheap staple.
Naked barley (Ladakhi: nas, Urdu: grim)
was traditionally a staple crop all over Ladakh. Growing times vary
considerably with altitude. The extreme limit of cultivation is at Korzok,
on the Tso-moriri lake, at 4,600 m (15,100 ft), which has
what are widely considered to be the highest fields in the world.
A minority of Ladakhi people were also employed as merchants and
caravan traders, facilitating trade in textiles,
carpets, dyestuffs and narcotics between Punjab
and Xinjiang. However, since the Chinese Government closed the borders
between Tibet Autonomous Region and Ladakh, this international trade has
completely dried up.
Indus River flowing in the Ladakh region is endowed with vast
hydropower potential. Solar and wind power potentials are also substantial.
Though the region is a remote hilly area without all-weather roads, the area is
also rich in limestone deposits to manufacture cement from the locally
available cheap electricity for various construction needs.
Since 1974, the Indian Government has encouraged a shift in
trekking and other tourist activities from the
troubled Kashmir region to the relatively unaffected areas of Ladakh.
Although tourism employs only 4% of Ladakh's working population, it now
accounts for 50% of the region's GNP.
This era is recorded in Arthur Neves The Tourist's Guide to Kashmir, Ladakh, and
Skardo, first published in 1911.
Transportation
There are about 1,800 km (1,100 mi) of roads in Ladakh of
which 800 km (500 mi) are surfaced. The majority of roads in
Ladakh are looked after by the Border
Roads Organisation. The third road to Ladakh is
the Nimmu–Padam–Darcha road, which is
under construction.
There is an airport in Leh, Kushok Bakula Rimpochee
Airport, from which there are daily flights to Delhi and weekly
flights to Srinagar and Jammu. There are two airstrips at Daulat Beg
Oldie and Fukche for military transport. The airport at
Kargil, Kargil Airport, was intended for civilian flights but is currently
used by the Indian Army. The airport is a political issue for the locals who
argue that the airport should serve its original purpose, i.e., should open up
for civilian flights. Since past few years the Indian Air Force has
been operating AN-32 air courier service to transport the locals during the
winter seasons to Jammu, Srinagar and Chandigarh. A
private aeroplane company Air Mantra landed a 17-seater aircraft at
the airport, in presence of dignitaries like the Chief Minister Omar
Abdullah, marking the first ever landing by a civilian airline company at
Kargil Airport.
Demographics
|
Population
of Leh and Kargil districts |
|||||||
|
Year |
Leh District |
Kargil
District |
|
||||
|
Population |
Percentage
change |
Females per
1000 males |
Population |
Percentage
change |
Females per
1000 males |
|
|
|
1951 |
40,484 |
— |
1011 |
41,856 |
— |
970 |
|
|
1961 |
43,587 |
0.74 |
1010 |
45,064 |
0.74 |
935 |
|
|
1971 |
51,891 |
1.76 |
1002 |
53,400 |
1.71 |
949 |
|
|
1981 |
68,380 |
2.80 |
886 |
65,992 |
2.14 |
853 |
|
|
2001 |
117,637 |
2.75 |
805 |
115,287 |
2.83 |
901 |
|
|
2011 |
133,487 |
690 |
140,802 |
810 |
|
||
The sex ratio for Leh district declined from 1011 females per
1000 males in 1951 to 805 in 2001, while for Kargil district it declined from
970 to 901. The urban sex ratio in both the districts is about 640. The
adult sex ratio reflects large numbers of mostly male seasonal and migrant
labourers and merchants. About 84% of Ladakh's population lives in
villages. The average annual population growth rate from 1981 to 2001 was
2.75% in Leh District and 2.83% in Kargil district.
Religion
People of Dard descent predominate in Dras and
Dha-Hanu areas. The residents of the Dha-Hanu area, known
as Brokpa, are predominately followers of Islam while small minorities
follow Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism and most Brokpa have
preserved much of their original Dardic traditions and customs. The Dards of
Dras, however, have converted to Islam and have been strongly
influenced by their Kashmiri neighbours. The Mons are believed to be
descendants of earlier Indian settlers in Ladakh, and traditionally worked as
musicians, blacksmiths, and carpenters. The region's population is split
roughly in half between the districts of Leh and Kargil. 76.87%
population of Kargil is Muslim (mostly Shia), with a total population of
140,802, while that of Leh is 66.40% Buddhist, with a total population of
133,487, as per the 2011 census.
An increasing number of non-Tibetan Muslim men are marrying Ladakhi Tibetan Buddhist women in Ladakh.
Religions
in Ladakh (2011) -
1.
Islam (46.41%)
2. Buddhism (39.65%)
3. Hinduism (12.11%)
4. Sikhism (0.83%)
5. Christianity (0.46%)
6. Jainism (0.05%)
7. Other (0.02%)
8.
Religion
not stated (0.47%)
Language
The predominant mother-tongue in Leh district is Bauti, a Tibetan
language. However, the Purkhi is the predominant mother-tongue
of Kargil district. Educated Ladakhis usually know Hindi, Urdu and often
English. Within Ladakh, there is a range of dialects, so that the language of
the Chang-pa people may differ markedly from that of
the Purig-pa in Kargil, or the Zangskaris, but they are all mutually
comprehensible.
|
Ladakh
(Kargil and Leh Districts): mother-tongue of population, according to the
2011 Census. |
|||
|
Mother
tongue code |
Mother
tongue |
People |
Percentage |
Culture
Ladakhi culture is similar to Tibetan culture.
Cuisine
Ladakhi food has much in common with Tibetan food, the most
prominent foods being thukpa (noodle
soup) and tsampa, known in
Ladakhi as ngampe (roasted
barley flour). Edible without cooking, tsampa makes useful trekking food. Strictly Ladakhi dishes
include skyu and chutagi, both heavy and rich soup
pasta dishes, skyu being
made with root vegetables and meat, and chutagi with leafy greens and vegetables. As Ladakh
moves toward a cash-based economy, foods from the plains of India are becoming
more common. As in other parts of Central Asia, tea in Ladakh is
traditionally made with strong green tea, butter, and salt. It is mixed in a
large churn and known as gurgur
cha, after the sound it makes when mixed. Sweet tea (cha ngarmo) is common now, made in
the Indian style with milk and sugar. Most of the surplus barley that is
produced is fermented into chang,
an alcoholic beverage drunk especially on festive occasions.
Music and dance
The music of Ladakhi Buddhist monastic festivals,
like Tibetan music, often involves
religious chanting in Tibetan as an integral part of the
religion. These chants are complex, often recitations of sacred texts or in
celebration of various festivals. Yang chanting,
performed without metrical timing, is accompanied by resonant drums and low,
sustained syllables. Religious mask dances are an important part of Ladakh's
cultural life. Hemis monastery, a leading centre of
the Drukpa tradition of Buddhism, holds an annual masked dance
festival, as do all major Ladakhi monasteries. The dances typically narrate a
story of the fight between good and evil, ending with the eventual victory of
the former. Weaving is an important part of traditional life in eastern
Ladakh. Both women and men weave, on different looms.
Sport
The most popular sport in Ladakh is ice hockey, which is
played only on natural ice generally mid-December through
mid-February. Cricket is also very popular.
Archery is a traditional sport in Ladakh, and many villages hold
archery festivals, which are as much about traditional dancing, drinking and
gambling, as they are about the sport. The sport is conducted with strict
etiquette, to the accompaniment of the music of surna and daman (shehnai and
drum). Polo, the other traditional sport of Ladakh, is indigenous to Baltistan
and Gilgit, and was probably introduced into Ladakh in the mid-17th
century by King Singge Namgyal, whose mother was a Balti princess.
Polo, popular among the Baltis, is an annual affair in Drass region
of Kargil district.
The Ladakh Marathon is a
high-altitude marathon held in Leh every year since 2012.
Held at a height of 11,500 to 17,618 feet (3,505 to 5,370 m), it is one of
the world's highest marathons.
Social status of women
A feature of Ladakhi society that distinguishes it from the rest
of the state is the high status and relative emancipation enjoyed by women
compared to other rural parts of India. Fraternal polyandry and
inheritance by primogeniture were common in Ladakh until the early 1940s
when these were made illegal by the government of Jammu and Kashmir. However,
the practice remained in existence into the 1990s especially among the elderly
and the more isolated rural populations. Another custom is known as khang-bu, or 'little house', in which
the elders of a family, as soon as the eldest son has sufficiently matured,
retire from participation in affairs, yielding the headship of the family to
him and taking only enough of the property for their own sustenance.
Traditional medicine
Tibetan medicine has been the traditional health system of
Ladakh for over a thousand years. This school of traditional healing contains
elements of Ayurveda and Chinese medicine, combined with the
philosophy and cosmology of Tibetan Buddhism. For centuries, the only
medical systems accessible to the people have been the amchi, traditional doctors following
the Tibetan medical tradition. Amchi medicine
remains a component of public health, especially in remote areas.
Programmes by the government, local and international
organisations are working to develop and rejuvenate this traditional system of
healing. Efforts are underway to preserve the intellectual property rights
of amchi medicine for
the people of Ladakh. The government has also been trying to promote
the sea buckthorn in the form of juice and jam, as some claim it
possess medicinal properties.
The National Research Institute for Sowa-Rigpa in Leh
is an institute for research into traditional medicine and a hospital providing
traditional treatments.
Education
According to the 2001 census, the overall literacy rate in Leh
District is 62% (72% for males and 50% for females), and in Kargil District 58%
(74% for males and 41% for females). Traditionally
there was little or nothing by way of formal education except in the
monasteries. Usually, one son from every family was obliged to master
the Tibetan script in order to read the holy books.
The Moravian Mission opened a school in Leh in October
1889, and the Wazir-i Wazarat (ex officio Joint Commissioner
with a British officer) of Baltistan and Ladakh ordered that every family with
more than one child should send one of them to school. This order met with
great resistance from the local people who feared that the children would be
forced to convert to Christianity. The school taught Tibetan, Urdu, English,
Geography, Sciences, Nature study, Arithmetic, Geometry and Bible
study. It is still in existence today. The first local school to provide
western education was opened by a local Society called "Lamdon Social
Welfare Society" in 1973. Later, with support from Dalai
Lama and some international organisations, the school, now known as Lamdon
Model Senior Secondary School, has grown to accommodate approximately two
thousand pupils in several branches. It prides itself on preserving Ladakhi
tradition and culture.
Schools are well distributed throughout Ladakh but 75% of them
provide only primary education. 65% of children attend school, but absenteeism
of both students and teachers remains high. In both districts the failure rate
at school-leaving level (class X) had for many years been around 85%–95%, while
of those managing to scrape through, barely half succeeded in qualifying for
college entrance (class XII). Before 1993, students were taught in Urdu until they
were 14, after which the medium of instruction shifted to English.
In 1994 the Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of
Ladakh (SECMOL) launched Operation New Hope (ONH), a campaign to provide
"culturally appropriate and locally relevant education" and make
government schools more functional and effective.
University of Ladakh and Eliezer Joldan Memorial
College, a government degree college, enables students to pursue higher
education without having to leave Ladakh. The Indian Astronomical
Observatory is located in Hanle and is operated by
the Indian Institute of Astrophysics.
In December 2019, the union minister of state for home affairs
Mr G Kishan Reddy, in a written response has stated in Parliament that the
Government of India has approved to establish a Medical College
and National Research Institute for Sowa-Rigpa in the district of
Leh.
Media
The government radio broadcaster All India
Radio (AIR) and government television
station Doordarshan have stations in Leh that broadcast local content
for a few hours a day. Beyond that, Ladakhis produce feature films that are
screened in auditoriums and community halls. They are often made on fairly
modest budgets.
There are a handful of
private news outlets.
·
Reach Ladakh Bulletin, a
biweekly newspaper in English, is the only print media published by and for
Ladakhis.
·
Rangyul or Kargil Number is a newspaper
published from Kashmir covering Ladakh in English and Urdu.
·
Ladags Melong, an
initiative of SECMOL, was published from 1992 to 2005 in English and Ladakhi.
·
Sintic Magazine, a
lifestyle and tourist magazine of Ladakh was started in 2018 in English.
Some publications that cover Jammu and Kashmir as a whole
provide some coverage of Ladakh.
·
The Daily Excelsior claims
to be "The largest circulated daily of Jammu and Kashmir".
·
Epilogue, a
monthly magazine covering Jammu and Kashmir.
·
Kashmir Times, a
daily newspaper covering Jammu and Kashmir.
Comments
Post a Comment