LADAKH

84/ 100
Ladakh became a Union Territory on 31st October 2019. The
Union Territory of Ladakh comprises two districts namely Leh and
Kargil. It is renowned for its remote mountain beauty and distinct
culture. The Indian-administered union territory
of Ladakh Coordinates: 34°10′12″N 77°34′48″E

Ladakh is a region administered by India as a union territory, and

constituting a part of the larger region of Kashmir, which has been the
subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. It
is bordered by Tibet to the east, the Indian state of Himachal
Pradesh to the south, Jammu and Kashmir and Baltistan to the
west, and the southwest corner of Xinjiang across the Karakoram
Pass in the far north.
The largest town in Ladakh is Leh, followed by Kargil, each of
which headquarters a district. The Leh district contains the Indus,
Shyok, and Nubra river valleys. The Kargil district contains
the Suru, Dras, and Zanskar river valleys.
 
HISTORY
Leh (Ladakh) was known in the past by different names. It was called
Maryul or low land by some Kha- chumpa by others. Fa-Hein referred
to it as Kia-Chha and Hiuen Tsang as Ma-Lo-Pho. It is said that the
first Immigrants to this land appears to have been the Brokpas from
Dadarstan who inhabited the lower reaches of the Indus Valley
popularly known as Sham. Another wave of Immigrants who came
from Karja (Kulu) were the Mons an Aryan type who first settled in
Gya and spread to Rong, Shayok, Sakti Tangtse and Durbuk, the area
extending from Martselang to Khaltsi. Gia was the seat of government
of the first Mon ruler having been elected by the whole tribe. His
kingdom included the villages mentioned above, all of which was
inhabited by the Mons people He was known by the title Gyapacho,
derived from his being the master of Gia.
The ancient inhabitants of Ladakh were Dards, an Indo- Aryan race.
Immigrants of Tibet, Skardo and nearby parts like Purang, Guge
settled in Ladakh, whose racial characters and cultures were in
consonance with early settlers. Buddhism traveled from central India
to Tibet via Ladakh leaving its imprint in Ladakh. Islamic
missionaries also made a peaceful penetration of Islam in the early
16th century. German Moravian Missionaries having cognizance of
East India Company also made inroads towards conversion but with
little success.
In the 10th century AD, Skit Lde Nemagon, the ruler of Tibet, invaded
Ladakh where there was no central authority. The lands divided in
small principalities were at war with each other. Nemagon defeated
them one by one and established a strong kingdom at Shey, 15 Kms
from Leh, as its capital. Ladakh was an independent country since the
middle of the 10th century.
King Singge Namgyal had consolidated the Ladakhi Empire into a
strong kingdom. He was not only a strong monarch but a statesman, a
diplomat and a builder. He built the historic 9- storeyed Leh palace
and made the other neighboring countries envy of such an elegant
palace. He also promoted horse polo in Ladakh.
In the ancient times the present Leh district was a part of Greater
Ladakh spread over from Kailash Mansarover to Swaat (Dardistan).
The Greater Ladakh was neither under the Domain of Tibet or its
influence. Not much information is available about the ancient
History of Ladakh. However, reference about the place and its
neighbourhood in Arab, Chinese and Mongolian histories gives an
idea that in the 7th Century A.D fierce wars were fought by Tibet and
China in Baltistan area of the Greater Ladakh in which deserts and
barren mountains of Ladakh was turned into battle fields for the
warring armies.
In the 8th century A.D Arabs also jumped into these wars and
changed their sides between China and Tibet. Around this period, the
ruler of Kashmir, Laltadita conquered Ladakh. In the 8th Century A.D
itself, The Arabs conquered Kashghar and established their control
over Central Asia which embraced Islam in the 9th century A.D and
thus a buffer state came into being between Tibet and China,
terminating the hostilities between the two warring countries. The
greater Ladakh also fell into pieces.
A thousand years ago before the control of Tibets rule, king Skitde
Nemagon, ruled over Ladakh which was known as Muryul (Red
Country), as most of the mountains and the soil in Ladakh wears a red
tinge. In the 10th Century A.D Skitday Nemagon, along with a couple
of hundred men, invaded Ladakh where there was no central
authority. The Land was divided in small principalities, which were at
war with each other. Nemagon defeated all of them and established a
strong central authority. Those days Shey, was the capital of Ladakh
became to be known as Nariskorsoom, a country of three provinces.
The present Ladakh was divided into two provinces while the third
comprised western Tibet. The area of western Tibet slipped away
from the kingdom but was reunited in 16th Century A.D. by the
famous Ladakhi ruler Sengge Namgyal. Ladakh was an independent
country since the middle of 10th century.
In the post-partition scenario, Pakistan and China illegally occupied
78,114 sq. km and 37,555 sq.km of the state, respectively while the
remaining part of the state acceded to India. Pakistan also illegally
gifted 5180 sq.kms of this area to China. Ladakh, comprising the
areas of present Leh and Kargil districts, became one of the seven
districts of the State. In 1979 when the reorganization of the districts
was carried out, the Ladakh district was divided into two full fledged
district of Leh and Kargil.
Ladakhi language

Ladakhi
ལ་དྭགས་སྐད་
La-dwags skad

Native to India, China

Region Ladakh

Native 110,826 (2011 census)

speakers Most speakers counted
under "Bhoti"

Language Sino-Tibetan
family
 Tibeto-Kanauri
o Bodish
 Tibeti
c
 L
a
d
a
k
h
i
–
B
a
l
 t
i


Writing Tibetan script

system
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Either:
lbj  – Ladakhi
zau  – Zangskari
Glottolog kenh1234   Kenhatic
ELP Ladakhi
The Ladakhi language is a Tibetic language spoken
in Ladakh, a region administered by India as a union territory. It
is the predominant language in the Buddhist-dominated district
of Leh. Though a member of the Tibetic family, Ladakhi is not
mutually intelligible with Standard Tibetan.
Ladakhi has approximately 30,000 speakers in India, and
perhaps 20,000 speakers in the Tibet Autonomous Region of
China, mostly in the Qiangtang region. Ladakhi has several
dialects: Lehskat after Leh, where it is spoken; Shamskat,
spoken in the northwest of Leh; Stotskat, spoken in the Indus
valley and which is tonal unlike the others; and Nubra, spoken
in the north of Leh. It is a distinct language from the
related Purigi and Balti spoken in the adjacent Kargil district.

The Ladakhi language (Tibetan: ལ་དྭགས་སྐད་, Wylie: La-dwags skad)

is also called Bhoti or Bodhi. However, since Bhoti and Bodhi
sound like “Buddhist” and can alienate Ladakhi Muslims who
speak the same language, most Ladakhis usually refer to their
language as Ladakhi.
Classification
Nicolas Tournadre considers Ladakhi, Balti, and Purgi to be
distinct languages on the basis of mutual
intelligibility (Zangskari is not as distinct). As a group they are
termed Ladakhi–Balti or Western Archaic Tibetan.
Zangskari is a dialect of Ladakhi spoken in Zanskar and also
spoken by Buddhists in the upper reaches of Lahaul (Himachal
Pradesh) and Paddar (Paldar). It has four subdialects, Stod,
Zhung, Sham, and Lungna. It is written using the Tibetan script.