Ladakh Wazarat was the largest administrative unit of the princely state of

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

, comprising modern day

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and until 1901,

Gilgit Gilgit (; Shina language, Shina: ; ) is a city in Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan, Gilgit–Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kas ...

and Astore. With an area of around in 1941, it comprised more than half of the princely state.Census of India 1961. Volume VI: Jammu and Kashmir. PART II-A: GENERAL POPULATION TABLES. Published 1964. pp. 3. Jammu and Kashmir in 1946 map of India by National Geographic

Jammu and Kashmir in 1946 map of India by National Geographic

Ladakh and Baltistan had been conquered by the

Dogra __NOTOC__ Dogras, or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic community of Pakistan and India. Dogra, Dogras or Dogri may also refer to: * Dogra dynasty, a Hindu dynasty of Kashmir * Dogri language, a language spoken by Dogras and other ethnic commu ...

general Zorawar Singh during 1835–1840.

Gulab Singh Maharaja Gulab Singh Jamwal (1792–1857) was the first Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir and the founder of the Dogra dynasty. Originally a commander of the Sikh Empire, he sided with the British in the First Anglo-Sikh War and briefly became ...

, the first maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, was confirmed on his possession of these regions by the British under the 1846

Treaty of Amritsar A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

. The administrative setup of Ladakh Wazarat itself is dated to 1860s, during the governship of Mehta Basti Ram, while the Wazarat (alternatively translated to district or province) of Ladakh was established only in 1889. Before it the local administration was in the hands of the local rajas. The official appointed to Ladakh was known as ''Wazir-i-Wazarat,'' and his status was similar to the governors of other districts of the state. Ladakh Wazarat was a district of the Jammu province until 1901, when the Frontier District Wazarat was abolished and the then existing unit was divided into Gilgit Wazarat (comprising Gilgit and Astore) and Ladakh Wazarat. A new

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

, Kargil, was created from the

Purig Kargil district is a district 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 tertiary source ...

and

Kharmang The Kharmang Valley (), also known as Kartaksha, is one of the five main valleys in Gilgit-Baltistan, Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan. The area became a district in 2015, with its temporary headquarters at the town of Tolti. The valley is l ...

''ilaqas'' of Skardu and the

Zanskar Zanskar, Zahar (locally) or Zangskar, is the southwestern region of Kargil district in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. The administrative centre of Zanskar is Padum. Zanskar, together with the rest of Ladakh, was briefly a part of the kin ...

''ilaqa'' of

Kishtwar Kishtwar is a town, municipality and administrative headquarter of the Kishtwar district in the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. The district was carved out of the Doda district in 2007. and is located in the Jammu division. The town ...

district. The ''Wazir-i-Wazarat'' was made directly accountable to the Revenue Minister. After the

First Indo-Pakistani war First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

in 1948 parts of the Ladakh Wazarat, containing Skardu Tehsil and a portion of Kargil Tehsil, came under Pakistani control, with Indian control over the remainder.

came under the Chinese control after the

Sino-Indian War The Sino–Indian War, also known as the China–India War or the Indo–China War, was an armed conflict between China and India that took place from October to November 1962. It was a military escalation of the Sino–Indian border dispu ...

of 1962.

References

Sources

* * {{Cite book , last=Dani , first=Ahmad Hasan , author-link=Ahmad Hasan Dani , url= , title=History of Northern Areas of Pakistan , date=1991 , publisher=National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research, Quaid-i-Azam University , isbn=978-969-415-016-1 , edition=2nd , location=Islamabad , pages=6, 419, 420 , language=en , orig-date=1989 History of Ladakh Geography of Ladakh Districts of Ladakh