The Ladakh Range is a mountain range in central

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...

in India with its northern tip extending into

Baltistan Baltistan (); also known as Baltiyul or Little Tibet, is a mountainous region in the Pakistani-administered territory of Gilgit-Baltistan and constitutes a northern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a dispute bet ...

in Pakistan. It lies between the

Indus The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans- Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northwest through the dis ...

and Shyok river valleys, stretching to 230 miles (370 km).

Leh Leh () is a city in Indian-administered Ladakh in the Kashmir#Kashmir_dispute, disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the WP:TE ...

, the capital city of Ladakh, is on the foot of Ladakh Range in the Indus river valley.

Geography

The Ladakh Range is regarded as a southern extension of the

Karakoram The Karakoram () is a mountain range in the Kashmir region spanning the border of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwestern extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range is withi ...

Range, which runs for 230 miles (370 km) from the confluence of the

and Shyok rivers in

to the Tibetan border of Ladakh in the southeast.Ladakh Range
Encyclopedia Britannica, retrieved 22 April 2018. The southern extension of the Ladakh Range is called the Kailash Range, especially in Tibet. The Ladakh Range forms the northeastern bank of the

Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayas, Himalayan river of South Asia, South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northw ...

and the western bank of the

Shyok River The Shyok River (sometimes spelled Shayok) is a major tributary of the Indus River that flows through northern Ladakh in India and into Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan. Originating from the Central Rimo Glacier in the eastern Karakoram, it runs f ...

. The Ladakh Range has an average height of about 6,000 metres and has no major peaks. Some of its peaks are less than 4,800 metres. The main mountain passes are Chorbat (5,090 metres), Digar La (5,400 metres), Khardung La (5,602 metres), Chang La (5,599 metres) and Tsaka La (4,724 metres).

Habitation

The city of

lies in the

Indus Valley The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans- Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northwest through the disp ...

at the foot of the Ladakh Range. Leh is a historic trading town with trade routes to

Yarkand Yarkant County,, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also Shache County,, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also SASM/GNC ro ...

and

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

on the one hand, and

Srinagar Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...

and rest of the Indian subcontinent on the other. The summer route from Leh to Yarkand passed through Khardung La to pass into the Nubra valley and thence to Yarkand via the

Karakoram Pass The Karakoram Pass () is a mountain pass between India and China in the Karakoram Range. It is the highest pass on the ancient caravan route between Leh in Ladakh and Yarkant County, Yarkand in the Tarim Basin. The name 'Karakoram' comes from ...

and Suget Pass (in the

Trans-Karakoram Tract The Trans-Karakoram Tract (), also known as the Shaksgam Tract (), is an area of approximately north of the Karakoram watershed, including the Shaksgam valley. The tract is administered by China as part of its Taxkorgan and Yecheng counties ...

). The winter route passed through Digar La to reach the Shyok river valley and, again, reach the Karakoram Pass. The trade route to Tibet went via

Gartok Gartok () is made of twin encampment settlements of Gar Günsa and Gar Yarsa (, Wade–Giles: ''Ka-erh-ya-sha'') in the Gar County in the Ngari Prefecture of Tibet. Gar Gunsa served as the winter encampment and Gar Yarsa as the summer encampment ...

in the Indus river valley at the foot of the Kailash Range. By the Treaty of Tingmosgang signed in 1684, Ladakh had the exclusive right to trade in the pashmina wool from Tibet, which led to its prosperity. Leh was for centuries trade centre for fine pashmina wool (once worth its weight in gold); yak and pony caravans brought in pashmina from Tibet, turquoise, coral and silver from

and

Kashgar Kashgar () or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is a city in the Tarim Basin region of southern Xinjiang, China. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, located near the country's border with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. For over 2,000 years, Kashgar ...

, spices, fabrics from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

from

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

. Two English explorers, William Moorcroft and George Trebeck visiting Leh in 1820, were stunned seeing a town of such wealth located in midst of obviously arid desert land. The nomadic Changpa rely mostly on sheep and yak herding for subsistence in the Ladakh Range. Tibet's Chang Tang plain, most remote section of Himalayas, is extreme high country; here the valleys are about 14,000 feet above sea level. Ladakh is a desert region. Culturally/geographically close to Tibet, it has few resources with an extreme climate. The

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Ladakhis with their traditions and intimate knowledge of local environment have survived and actually prospered, in spite of centuries of invasions from the

Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...

(from central Asia), the Baltis (from west), the Dogras (from south) and even

Tibetans Tibetans () are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 7.7 million. In addition to the majority living in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans live in t ...

(from east). The mixed ethnic origins are reflected in their faces. The extension of the Ladakh Range into China is known as Kailash Range.

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

* * Romesh Bhattacharji
Maps of ''Ladakh: Changing yet Unchanged''
via Bame Duniya blogspot, 19 March 2013 {{Authority control Landforms of Ladakh Geography of Ladakh Mountain ranges of India