Ladakh means “Land of high passes”. A Ladakh is a land that has been dream of travelers in search of peace and solitude. Ladakh region lies in between the Kunlun Mountains Range and Main Great Himalayas. People lives in Ladakh is of Indo – Aryan and Tibetan descent, that is why it is also known as “Little Tibet”. Ladakh is surrounded from Tibet to east, Trans – Kunlum territory of Xinjiang to north, Valley of Kashmir, Jammu and Baltiyul regions to west and Lahul and Spiti to south.
Ladakh is spread over an area of 96,701 sq. kms with an altitude of 2750 mtrs at Kargil to 7672 mtrs at Sasar Kangri in the Karakoram. The tourism in Ladakh has started from 19th century onwards. At that time, agencies were set to specialize in sports like hunting, fishing and trekking. Now 18000 tourists visit Ladakh every year. Ladakh remains close from November to June as Srinagar- Ladakh and Ladakh- Manali highway receives a heavy snowfall. As Ladakh is situated in between the two mountains, it is a popular place for adventurous tourism.
Ladakh is divided into two districts of Leh and Kargil. Ladakh has 47.4% Buddhist population, 45.9% Muslims, 6.2% Hindus and 0.5% are others.
History
Ladakh was one of the provinces of Tibetan kingdom in past, governed by an independent prince. In 1st century, Ladakh was a part of the Kushan Empire. In 399- 400 A.D. Fa – Hian, a Chinese pilgrim travelled to Ladakh. Buddhism culture was spread from Kashmir to Western Ladakh in 2nd century. From A.D. 1080 till A.D. 1110, Lhachan Utpala reigned in Ladakh, during which Alchi monastery was built. During 17th century, Muslim ruler Ali Mir, marched upon Ladakh and destroyed many historical monuments and records. In 1610 A.D. Singee Namgyal builds the Hemis, Chemre, Temisgam and other monasteries. In 1670 A.D. Tartars from Baltistan invaded Ladakh, which forced the ruler (Deldan Namgyal) to escape to Kashmir and take military help from Ibrahim Khan. Ibrahim Khan helped him to push out the Tartars. Deldan after this war embraced Islam, which got a foothold to Islam, since then.
Great General Zorawar Singh starts invasion of Ladakh from 1834 but was defeated every time. At last he invaded the Ladakh and later on invaded Yarkand for its Pashmina wool trades and rich monasteries. During 1841, Chinese force move towards Zorawar Singh and occupied Leh and other areas. Chinese rule last for 6 weeks and it was again come under king Dogra. In 1846, Basti Ram took control over the region. The history of Ladakh remains same till 1947, when King Hari Singh chose to join the Indian Domain.
Monasteries of Ladakh
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