Hindu-tagh Pass, also known as Hindutash, is a historical

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 western

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The pass cuts through the

Kunlun Mountains The Kunlun Mountains constitute one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending for more than . In the broadest sense, the chain forms the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau south of the Tarim Basin. Located in Western China, the Kun ...

connecting the now-deserted town of Kangxiwar in the

Karakash River The Karakash or Black Jade River, also spelled ''Karakax'' (, , Қарақаш Дәряси), is a river in the Xinjiang autonomous region of the People's Republic of China that originates in Aksai Chin. It passes through the historical settlemen ...

valley to the town of Pusha in the Pusha Jilga valley (; formerly Bushia). It also connects to the road to the city of

Hotan Hotan (also known by other names) is a major oasis town in southwestern Xinjiang, an autonomous region in Northwestern China. The city proper of Hotan broke off from the larger Hotan County to become an administrative area in its own right i ...

(formerly Khotan or Ilchi; see adjacent maps). is under construction connecting Kangxiwar directly with

. It will tunnel under Hindutash, connect with the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway G219 to the south after numerous hairpin turns. It is scheduled to be completed in 2022. "Hindu-tagh" means "Indian Mountain," and "Hindu-tash," "Indian stone" in the Uyghur dialect of Xinjiang.

History

In 1857, the explorer Robert Schlagintweit crossed this pass from camping grounds in Sumgal ("three fords"), on the banks of the Karakash river, approximately upstream from Kengshewar and estimated its height to be . At the top of the pass (), there is a steep glacier with many crevasses. The eastern Kunlun range, which is in the southern region of the

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

of Xinjiang, is cut by two other passes: the Sanju Pass, near the small staging post of

Xaidulla Shahidulla, also spelt Xaidulla from Mandarin Chinese, (altitude ca. 3,646 m or 11,962 ft), was a nomad camping ground and historical caravan halting place in the Karakash River valley, close to Khotan, in the southwestern part of Xinjiang ...

, formerly Shahidulla, northwest of Hindu-tagh, and the ''Ilchi Pass'', southeast of Hindu-tagh, just north-east of the village of Dahongliutan, itself just north of the now disputed

Aksai Chin Aksai Chin is a region administered by China partly in Hotan County, Hotan Prefecture, Xinjiang, and partly in Rutog County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibet, and constituting the easternmost portion of the larger Kashmir regio ...

area (see second map on right). The former pass had been much used historically, and provided the traditional means of entry from the south into the ancient

Kingdom of Khotan The Kingdom of Khotan was an ancient Buddhism, Buddhist Saka kingdom located on the branch of the Silk Road that ran along the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim Basin (modern-day Xinjiang, China). The ancient capital was origina ...

. The latter was traversed in 1865 by W. H. Johnson of the

Survey of India The Survey of India is India's central engineering agency in charge of mapping and surveying.Hermann Schlagintweit, August 1856. Lithographed by Sabatier, printed in oil-colours by Lemereier, Paris. The Hindu-tagh Pass is the break in the mountains on the right. Image:Yarkand River in the Western Kunlun Shan, seen from the Tibet-Xinjiang highway.jpg, Yarkand River in the Western Kunlun Range, seen from the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway Image:Kunlun_IMG_0541.jpg, View of Western Kunlun Range from the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway

Maps

Image:NWFP-Kashmir1909-a.jpg, A lower-resolution 1909 Map of the Princely State of Kashmir and Jammu. Sumgal in the valley below the Hindu-tagh Pass is shown in the top right corner. Image:China India western border 88.jpg, 1988

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

map of Aksai Chin. Hindutash is just north of the town of Kangxiwar,

shown at the top of the map, north of Aksai Chin. Image:Yangi-hindutash-aurel-stein-map-1911.jpg, Map of

Aurel Stein Sir Marc Aurel Stein, (; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at Indian universities. ...

(1911) based on that of the Survey of India showing the "Hindutash Dawan" in the Kunlun Mountains

Notes

References

*. *. *. *. *. {{Mountain passes of China Kunlun Mountains Mountain passes of Xinjiang Mountain passes of China

History

Maps

See also

Notes

References