Cho La or Cho-la () is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

in the Chola range of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

. It connects the Indian

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

with China's

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), often shortened to Tibet in English or Xizang in Pinyin, Hanyu Pinyin, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China. It was established in 1965 to replace the ...

. It is situated around four miles to the north-west of

Nathu La Nathu La(, Sikkimese language, Sikkimese: རྣ་ཐོས་ལ་) is a mountain pass in the Dongkya Range of the Himalayas between China's Yadong County in Tibet, and the Indian states of Sikkim. But minor touch of Bengal in South Asia. T ...

. Cho La used to be the main mountain pass between Sikkim and the

Chumbi Valley The Chumbi Valley, called Dromo or Tromo in Tibetan, is a valley in the Himalayas that projects southwards from the Tibetan plateau, intervening between Sikkim and Bhutan. It is coextensive with the administrative unit Yadong County in the T ...

(Yadong County), connecting the Sikkimese capital of Tumlong with the

Chumbi Chumbi (; ) is a historic village in the Chumbi Valley or the Yadong County of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It is in the valley of the Amo Chu River, where the route from Sikkim's Cho La Pass meets the Amo Chu Valley. The "Chumbi Va ...

town. Towards the end of the 19th century, the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

developed

Jelep La Jelep La (; ) elevation , is a high mountain pass between Sikkim, India and Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is on a route that connects Lhasa to India. The pass is about south of Nathu La and is slightly higher. It was frequently used for t ...

, and later

, as they were accessible from British India, and Cho La fell into relative disuse.

History

The Cho La pass was in regular used by the Sikkim royal family, which had a summer palace at Chumbi and used to spend summers there. The road between Tumlong and Chumbi via Cho La was kept in good condition. The route was also the main trading route between Sikkim and Tibet. The first Europeans to visit the Chola Pass were Archibald Campbell (Darjeeling superintendent) and

Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For 20 years he served as director of the Ro ...

(botanist) in 1849, who attempted to travel to Chumbi in order to visit the Dewan who was staying there. Sikkim had an agreement with Tibet not to allow foreigners into the Tibetan territory. The two men were arrested at the Chola Pass and detained for several weeks. Sikkim had to face retribution from the British Raj for the insult caused. The Cho La pass was one of the sites of the 1967

Nathu La and Cho La clashes The Nathu La and Cho La clashes, sometimes referred to as Indo-China War of 1967, Sino-Indian War of 1967, were a series of clashes between China and India alongside the border of the Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim, then an Indian protectorate. ...

between China and India, which concluded with Chinese withdrawal from both the

and Cho La passes.

Transport

On the Indian side, there is a fair-weather mountain road linking the pass to Changgu on the Nathu-la road. On the Chinese side, there is a

border outpost A border outpost, border out post, border observation post or BOP above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. Road to the outpost was repaved in 2016.

Tourism

Cho La is part of the Bharat Ranbhoomi Darshan initiative of the Indian Military which will boost border tourism, patriotism, local infrastructure and economy while reversing civilian outward migration from these remote locations, it entails 77 battleground war memorials in border area including the '' Longewala War Memorial, Sadhewala War Memorial,The Story Of Tanot Mata, The Deity Who Protected Our Soldiers From Pakistani Bombs In 1971 War
India Times, 16 Dec 2020. Siachen base camp,

Kargil Kargil or Kargyil is a City in Indian-administered Ladakh 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 WP:TERTIARY, tert ...

, Galwan,

Pangong Tso Pangong Tso or Pangong Lake (; zh, s=班公错, p=Bān gōng cuò; ) is an endorheic lake spanning eastern Ladakh and Ngari Prefecture, West Tibet situated at an elevation of . It is long and divided into five sublakes, called ''Pangong Tso' ...

Rezang La Rezang La iarchive:dli.pahar.3148/page/n1413, Note given by the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, to the Embassy of China in India, 26 July 1963. "The location of Rezang La (E 78° 51' 10" N 33° 25' 30" []) is well known... " is a moun ...

, Doklam, Bum La, Kibithu, etc.Add Galwan, Siachen to holiday plan. India is opening battle tourism bunker
India Today, 15 Jan 2025.

References

Bibliography

* {{Mountain passes of India China–India border Mountain passes of Tibet Mountain passes of China Mountain passes of Sikkim Mountain passes of India Mountain passes of the Himalayas Gangtok district Yadong County