Kangxiwar (; ) is the location of a deserted town on the southwest side of 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 ...

. It is on the bank of 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 ...

in the western

Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC: previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest of the country at the crossroads ...

of the

People's Republic of 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 ...

. It is also the base of the route to

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 ...

from the Karakash valley via the

Hindutash Hindu-tagh Pass, also known as Hindutash, is a historical mountain pass in the western Xinjiang, China. The pass cuts through the Kunlun Mountains connecting the now-deserted town of Kangxiwar in the Karakash River valley to the town of Push ...

pass. According to Chinese sources, Kangxiwar means "place with mine" in Uyghur. During 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, Kangxiwar served as the forward headquarters for the Xinjiang Military Command. The military cemetery of those killed in the war is still located here. There is also a highway maintenance crew house at Kangxiwar at the present time.

China National Highway 219 China National Highway 219 (G219; Chinese language, Chinese: ''Guódào219'') is a highway which runs along the entire western and southern border of the People's Republic of China, from Kom-Kanas Mongolian Ethnic Township, Kom-Kanas Mongolian et ...

(G219), the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway, runs through here. Following the G219 southeast will lead to

Dahongliutan Dahongliutan () or simply Hongliutan () is a village situated in Karakash river valley in the Hotan County, Hotan Prefecture, Xinjiang, China. It is located along the China National Highway 219, and is the town just north of the disputed Aksai Ch ...

and Tianshuihai, the latter of which is in

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 ...

. China National Highway 580 is under construction connecting Kangxiwar directly with

. It is scheduled to be completed in 2022. ''Kangxiwar Daban'' or ''Koshbel Pass'' () is a mountain pass located at the elevation of downstream to the west.

History

Before modern era, the area was a thoroughfare of the caravan trade route between

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 ...

and

Tarim Basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Xinjiang, Northwestern China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, Ch ...

. The

Pass, 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 ...

through the

is just north of here. This place was previously referred to as Sumgal. Literally meaning "three fords" in

Tibetic languages The Tibetic languages form a well-defined group of languages descending from Old Tibetan.Tournadre, Nicolas. 2014. "The Tibetic languages and their classification." In ''Trans-Himalayan linguistics, historical and descriptive linguistics of the ...

, it was a historical ford along with caravan camp. The caravan camp which had a shed was located slightly downstream to the west on the north bank of the

Another camp Ak-Koom was located slightly upstream to the east at the joining of two valleys. During the 1860s at the time of Dungan Revolt, lawlessness led to the valley being frequented by Kyrgyz robbers who would capture caravans and sell the caravaners into slavery in

Badakshan Badakhshan is a historical region comprising the Wakhan Corridor in northeast Afghanistan, eastern Tajikistan, and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in China. Badakhshan Province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Much of historic Ba ...

. A fort was set up by 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 ...

(part of the

British Indian Empire The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

) downstream near

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 ...

to help protect the caravans. By the 1930s, it was recorded by European travelers that a settlement of Kyrgyz nomads was located at Kangxiwar.

Sino-Indian war

During the 1962

, the

PLA Pla may refer to: People * Cecilio Plá (1860–1934), Spanish painter * Conrad Pla (born 1966), Canadian kickboxer and actor * Jim Pla (born 1992), French racing driver * Joan Baptista Pla (ca. 1720–1773), Spanish composer and oboist * Josefina ...

's Xinjiang Military Command set up the forward headquarters for its operations in the western sector (

) at Kangxiwar. It was commanded by the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Xinjiang Military Command. The 2nd Infantry Regiment of Xinjiang was stationed here and controlled the bases at

Tianwendian Tianwendian () is the name of a border outpost and a military defence area of China in the northern Aksai Chin region under its administration (as part of Xinjiang). The region is roughly equivalent to the portion of Depsang Plains under Chine ...

, Heweitan,

Kongka Pass The Kongka Pass or Kongka La () is a low mountain pass on the Line of Actual Control between India and China in eastern Ladakh. It lies on a spur of the Karakoram range that intrudes into the Chang Chenmo Valley adjacent to the disputed Aksai ...

and in Ngari. Certain activities were supervised directly by

PLA General Staff Department The Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission (JSDCMC) ( zh , s = 中央军委联合参谋部 ) is the command organ and the headquarters for the People's Liberation Army (PLA), superseding the former PLA General Staff Departm ...

. The Chinese soldiers who perished during the Indo-China war were buried at a

military cemetery A war grave is a burial place for members of the armed forces or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations. Definition The term "war grave" does not only apply to graves: ships sunk during wartime are often considered to ...

in Kangxiwar along the G219 highway. The cemetery contains the graves of over 100 PLA soldiers.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* {{citation , last1=Sandhu , first1=P. J. S. , last2=Shankar , first2=Vinay , last3=Dwivedi , first3=G. G. , title=1962: A View from the Other Side of the Hill , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=boBNCgAAQBAJ , year=2015 , publisher=Vij Books India Pvt Ltd , isbn=978-93-84464-37-0 Populated places in Xinjiang Hotan Prefecture

History

Sino-Indian war

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography