Scribd
Upload
26 views3 pages

Etymology: Zanskar or Zahar (Locally) or Zangskar Is A Subdistrict or

Zanskar is a subdistrict of the Kargil district in the union territory of Ladakh, India. It covers an area of around 7,000 square kilometers along the upper reaches of the Zanskar River and its tributaries. The Zanskar Range separates Zanskar from Ladakh, and access to the region is difficult due to its high altitude mountain terrain. The capital and largest town of Zanskar is Padum.

Uploaded by

JayantYadav
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
26 views3 pages

Etymology: Zanskar or Zahar (Locally) or Zangskar Is A Subdistrict or

Zanskar is a subdistrict of the Kargil district in the union territory of Ladakh, India. It covers an area of around 7,000 square kilometers along the upper reaches of the Zanskar River and its tributaries. The Zanskar Range separates Zanskar from Ladakh, and access to the region is difficult due to its high altitude mountain terrain. The capital and largest town of Zanskar is Padum.

Uploaded by

JayantYadav
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

Zanskar or Zahar (locally) or Zangskar is a subdistrict or tehsil of the Kargil district, which lies in

the Indian union territory of Ladakh. The administrative centre is Padum. Zanskar, together with
the neighbouring region of Ladakh, was briefly a part of the kingdom of Guge in Western Tibet.
The Zanskar Range is a mountain range in the union territory of Ladakh that separates Zanskar
from Ladakh. Geologically, the Zanskar Range is part of the Tethys Himalaya, an approximately
100-km-wide synclinorium formed by strongly folded and imbricated, weakly metamorphosed
sedimentary series. The average height of the Zanskar Range is about 6,000 m (19,700 ft). Its
eastern part is known as Rupshu.

Contents

 1Etymology
 2Geography
o 2.1Flora and fauna
o 2.2Climate
 3Population
 4Religion
 5Livestock
 6History
 7Tourism
 8Languages
 9Footnotes
 10References
 11External links

Etymology[edit]
Zanskar (ཟངས་དཀར zangs dkar་) appears as “Zangskar” mostly in academic studies in social
sciences (anthropology, gender studies), reflecting the Ladakhi pronunciation, although the
Zanskari pronunciation is Zãhar. Older geographical accounts and maps may use the alternate
spelling "Zaskar". An etymological study (Snellgrove and Skorupsky, 1980) of the name reveals
that its origin might refer to the natural occurrence of copper in this region, the Tibetan word for
which is "Zangs". The second syllable however seems to be more challenging as it has various
meanings: "Zangs-dkar" (white copper), "Zangs-mkhar" (copper palace), or "Zangs-skar" (copper
star). Others claim it derives from zan = copper + skar = valley.[1] Crook (1994) partly shares this
interpretation but suggests that the origin of this name might also be "Zan-mKhar" (food palace),
because the staple food crops are so abundant in an otherwise rather arid region. The locally
accepted spelling of the name in Tibetan script is zangs-dkar.
Some of the religious scholars of the district, also cited by Snellgrove and Skorupsky (1980) and
Crook (1994), hold that it was originally "bzang-dkar", meaning good (or beautiful) and white.
"Good" would refer to the triangular shape of the Padum plain, the triangle being the symbol
of Dharma and religion; "white" would refer to the simplicity, goodness, and religious inclinations
of the Zanskaris. Thus, even if etymologically it would be more correct to use "Zangskar", the
most frequently found spelling for this region is undoubtedly "Zanskar".

Geography[edit]
Zanskar covers an area of some 7,000 square kilometres (2,700 sq mi), at an elevation of 3,500-
7,135 metres (11,500–23,409 feet). It consists of the country lying along the two main branches
of the Zanskar River. The first, the Doda, has its source near the Penzi-la (4,400 m) (14,450 ft)
mountain-pass, and then flows south-eastwards along the main valley leading towards Padum,
the capital of Zanskar.
Shingo La

The second branch is formed by two main tributaries known as Kargyag river, with its source
near the Shingo La (5,091 m) (16,703 ft), and Tsarap river, with its source near the Baralacha-
La. These two rivers unite below the village of Purney to form the Lungnak river (also known as
the Lingti or Tsarap river). The Lungnak river then flows north-westwards along a narrow gorge
towards Zanskar's central valley (known locally as jung-khor), where it unites with the Doda river
to form the Zanskar river.
For locals and trekkers alike, the Shingo La is technically one of the easiest 5000m passes in
Indian Himalaya, involving no glacier trekking nor steep climbs.
"The Shingo La, the main route into Zanskar from Lahaul, is an unpleasant pass. It isn't
particularly high, at just 17,000 feet, but it is squalid and sordid and lacks grandeur."[2]

Zanskar River meeting the Indus

The Zanskar river then takes a north-eastern course until it joins the Indus in Ladakh. High
mountain ridges lie on both sides of the Doda and Lingti–kargyag valleys, which run north-
west to south-east. To the south-west is the Great Himalayan Range which separates
Zanskar from the Kisthwar and Chamba basins. To the north-east lies the Zanskar Range,
which separates Zanskar from Ladakh. The only outlet for the whole Zanskar hydrographic
system is thus the Zanskar river, which cuts the deep and narrow Zanskar Gorge through the
Zanskar range.
These topographical features explain why access to Zanskar is difficult from all sides.
Communication with the neighbouring Himalayan areas is maintained across mountain
passes or along the Zanskar river when frozen. The easiest approach leads
from Kargil through the Suru valley and over the Penzi-La. It is along this track that in 1979
the only road in Zanskar was built to connect Padum with the main road from Srinagar into
Ladakh. One of the first Tibetologists to spend an extended period in the region
was Alexander Csoma de Koros,(Hungarian Scholar) who spent over a year living in the
region in 1823. After being integrated into the newly formed state of India in 1947, Zanskar
and the neighbouring region of Ladakh were both declared restricted areas and only opened
to foreigners in 1974. The first colour film of life in Zanskar was shot in 1958 by an expedition
of three British housewives

You might also like