History of Ladakh
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Ladakh has a long history with evidence of human settlement from as back as 9000 b.c. It has been a crossroad of high Asia for thousands of years and has seen many cultures, empires and technologies born in its neighbours. As a result of these developments Ladakh has imported[clarification needed] many traditions and culture from its neighbours and combining them all gave rise to a unique tradition and culture of its own.
Earliest history
The first glimpse of political history is found in the
The Chinese pilgrim monk
In the 8th century, Ladakh was caught between Tibetan expansion pressing from the east, and Chinese influence exerted from Central Asia through the passes. In 719 a census was taken, and in 724 the administration was reorganized. In 737, the Tibetans launched an attack against the king of Bru-za (Gilgit), who asked for Chinese help, but was ultimately forced to pay homage to Tibet. The Korean monk Hyecho (704-787) (pinyin: Hui Chao), reached India by sea and returned to China in 727 via central Asia.[2] He referred to three kingdoms lying to the northeast of Kashmir which were:
"under the suzerainty of the Tibetans. . . . The country is narrow and small, and the mountains and valleys very rugged. There are monasteries and monks, and the people faithfully venerate the
Three Jewels. As to the kingdom of Tibet to the East, there are no monasteries at all, and the Buddha's teaching is unknown; but, in [these] countries, the population consists of Hu; therefore, they are believers. (Petech, The Kingdom of Ladakh, p. 10)."[3]
Rizvi points out that this passage not only confirms that, in the early 8th century, the region of modern Ladakh was under Tibetan suzerainty, but that the people belonged to non-Tibetan stock.
In 747, the hold of Tibet was loosened by the campaign of Chinese General Gao Xianzhi, who tried to re-open the direct communications between Central Asia and Kashmir. After Gao's defeat by the Qarluqs and Arabs on the Talas river (751), Chinese influence decreased rapidly and Tibetan influence resumed.
The geographical treatise inscriptions of about the same time are evidence of the importance of trade in this region. After the collapse of the Tibetan monarchy in 842, Tibetan suzerainty quickly vanished.
La-Chen/Gon dynasty:The first dynasty
After the breakup of the
Around the 13th century, due to
The Namgyal dynasty
Continual raids on Ladakh by the plundering Muslim states of Central Asia lead to the weakening and partial conversion of Ladakh.[7][8] Ladakh was divided, with Lower Ladakh ruled by King Takpabum from Basgo and Temisgam, and Upper Ladakh by King Takbumde from Leh and Shey. Lhachen Bhagan, a later Basgo king, reunited Ladakh by overthrowing the king of Leh. He took on the surname Namgyal (meaning victorious) and founded a new dynasty which still survives today. King Tashi Namgyal (1555–1575) managed to repel most Central Asian raiders, and built a royal fort on the top of the Namgyal Peak. Tsewang Namgyal temporarily extended his kingdom as far as Nepal.[8]
During the reign of
Many Muslim missionaries propagated Islam during this period in Ladakh and proselytised many Ladakhi people. Many Balti Muslims settled in Leh after the marriage of Jamyang to Gyal. Muslims were also invited to the region for trading and other purposes.[16][17]
Modern times
Princely state of Jammu and Kashmir
By the beginning of the 19th century, the
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.
Maharaja | Administrators
(a.k.a. Thanedar, Wazir Wazarat, Kardar, Governor) |
Start | End | Ref | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gulab Singh
(1846–1857) |
Magna Thanedar[a] | 1846 | 1847 | [18][19] | ||
Mehta Basti Ram | 1847 | 1860 | [20][19] | |||
Ranbir Singh
(1857–1885) |
Mehta Mangal Singh[b] | 1860 | 1865 | [21][22] | ||
Wazir Shibsarn | 1865 | 1867 | [21][23] | |||
Sayyid Akbar Ali | 1867 | 1868 | [21][24] | |||
Frederic Drew | 1868 | 1870 | [21][25] | |||
William H. Johnson | 1870 | 1881/83[26] | [21][25] | |||
Radha Krishen Kaul | 1885 | - | [27][25] | |||
Pratap Singh
(1885–1925) |
Chaudhri Khushi Mohammad | 1908 | 1909 | [27][25] | ||
Administrative borders of Ladakh, Gilgit and Baltistan undergo changes | ||||||
- | - | - | ||||
Hari Singh
(1925–1952) |
- | - | - | |||
Ladakh was claimed as part of Tibet by Phuntsok Wangyal, a Tibetan Communist leader.[28]
Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir
In 1947, partition left Ladakh a part of the Indian state of
In 1949, China closed the border between Nubra and Sinkiang, blocking the 1000-year-old trade route from India to Central Asia. In 1950, China invaded Tibet, and thousands of Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama sought refuge in India. In 1962, China occupied Aksai Chin, and promptly built roads connecting Xinjiang and Tibet, and the Karakoram Highway, jointly with Pakistan. India built the Srinagar-Leh highway during this period, cutting the journey time between Srinagar to Leh from 16 days to two. Simultaneously, China closed the Ladakh-Tibet border, ending the 700-year-old Ladakh-Tibet relationship.[8]
Since the early 1960s the number of immigrants from Tibet (including Changpa nomads) have increased as they flee the occupation of their homeland by the Chinese. Today, Leh has some 3,500 refugees from Tibet. They hold no passports, only customs papers. Some Tibetan refugees in Ladakh claim dual Tibetan/Indian citizenship, although their Indian citizenship is unofficial. Since partition Ladakh has been governed by the State government based in Srinagar, never to the complete satisfaction of the Ladakhis, who demand that Ladakh be directly governed from
In February 2019, Ladakh became a separate
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.[29]
Indian union territory of Ladakh
In August 2019, a
Map
Historiography
The main written source for Ladakhi history is the 17th century Ladakh Chronicles.[39][40]: 1, 3 [41]: 7 The Ladakhi Chronicles are one of only two surviving pre-19th century literary sources from Ladakh, with the other being the 1663 biography of sTag-ts'ah-ras-pa.[40]: 1, 3 Only seven original manuscripts of the chronicles are known to have existed, of which only two survive to the modern day.[40]: 1–2
Notes
- ^ Appointed by Zorawar Singh. "The system of administration introduced by Wazir Zorawar remained in force for some time."
- ^ "Kedaru Thanedar was followed by Wazir Labajoo of Kishtwar as Kardar of Baltistan in 1863. […] He was succeeded by Mehta Mangal whose decade long reign from 1875 to 1885 […]"
Footnotes
- ^ Li (1996), p. 121.
- ^ GR Vol. III (2001), p. 228.
- ^ Rizvi (1996), p. 56.
- ^ Flood, Finbarr Barry (2017). A Turk in the Dukhang? Comparative Perspectives on Elite Dress in Medieval Ladakh and the Caucasus. Austrian Academy of Science Press. pp. 231–243.
- )
- ^ "A Brief History of Ladakh:A Himalayan Buddhist Kingdom". Ladakh Drukpa.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
- ^ a b Petech, Luciano. The Kingdom of Ladakh c. 950 - 1842 A. D., Istituto Italiano per il media ed Estremo Oriente, 1977.
- ^ a b c d e f g Loram, Charlie. Trekking in Ladakh, Trailblazer Publications, 2004
- ISBN 9788173870866.
- ^ Rizvi, Janet. Ladakh - Crossroads of High Asia, Oxford University Press, 1996
- ISBN 9788173871245.
- ISBN 9788185182759.
- ISBN 9788173870576.
- ISBN 9788120814042.
- ISBN 9788179750124.
- ISBN 9788120814325.
- ISBN 9788120814042.
- ^ Kaul & Kaul 1992, p. 101.
- ^ a b Kaul 1998, p. 85.
- ^ Kaul & Kaul 1992, p. 101–102.
- ^ a b c d e Kaul & Kaul 1992, p. 102.
- ^ Kaul 1998, p. 85–86.
- ^ Kaul 1998, p. 86.
- ^ Kaul 1998, p. 86–87.
- ^ a b c d Kaul 1998, p. 87.
- ISBN 978-90-474-4334-6.
- ^ a b Kaul & Kaul 1992, p. 104.
- ISBN 978-0-231-14468-1.
- ^ "Ladakh division headquarters to shuttle between Leh and Kargil: Governor Malik". 15 February 2019.
- ^ Already, Rajya Sabha Clears J&K As Union Territory Instead Of State, NDTV, 5 August 2019.
- ^ "Article 370 revoked Updates: Jammu & Kashmir is now a Union Territory, Lok Sabha passes bifurcation bill". www.businesstoday.in. 6 August 2019.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "LAHDC Act would continue and the Amendments of 2018 to be protected: Governor". 30 August 2019.
- ISBN 9789004145511. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
- ^ Cunningham, Alexander (1854). Ladak, Physical, Statistical, and Historical; with notices of the surrounding countries. London: W. H. Allen & Co. p. 273.
- ISBN 9788123026480.
- ^ Sircar, Joydeep (1984). "Oropolitics" (PDF). British Alpine Journal. p. 78. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
- ISBN 9789004155961.
- ^ ISBN 9788863230581.
- ISBN 9789004145511.
References
- Cunningham, Alexander (1854). LADĀK: Physical, Statistical, and Historical with Notices of the Surrounding Countries. London. Reprint: Sagar Publications (1977).
- Francke, A. H. (1907) A History of Ladakh. (Originally published as, A History of Western Tibet, 1907). 1977 Edition with critical introduction and annotations by S. S. Gergan & F. M. Hassnain. Sterling Publishers, New Delhi.
- Francke, A. H. (1914). Antiquities of Indian Tibet. Two Volumes. (Calcutta. 1972 reprint: S. Chand, New Delhi.
- GR Vol. III (2001): Grand dictionnaire Ricci de la langue chinoise. 7 Volumes. (2001). Instituts Ricci (Paris - Taipei). ISBN 2-220-04667-2.
- Li Rongxi (translator). The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions. Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Berkeley, California. ISBN 1-886439-02-8.
- Rizvi, Janet. (1996). Ladakh: Crossroads of High Asia. Second Edition. Oxford India Paperbacks. 3rd Impression 2001. ISBN 0-19-564546-4.
- Schettler, Margret & Rolf. (1981). Kashmir, Ladakh & Zanskar, Lonely Planet: South Yarra, Victoria, Australia. ISBN 0-908086-21-0.
Further reading
- Zeisler, Bettina. (2010). "East of the Moon and West of the Sun? Approaches to a Land with Many Names, North of Ancient India and South of Khotan." In: The Tibet Journal, Special issue. Autumn 2009 vol XXXIV n. 3-Summer 2010 vol XXXV n. 2. "The Earth Ox Papers", edited by Roberto Vitali, pp. 371–463.