Trans-Himalayan-Highways Speak


(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) P icking up the last thread, let me very briefly remind you dear readers that in the preceding three write-ups, we were conversing, in general, about the Gurez-Ladakh-Baltistaan belt in relation to Central Asia. Today we will focus on the trade of those times; with sprinklings of other interesting related-things here and there, just for additional flavour. Yes I agree with one reader's suggestion: It is high time that, with the incorporation of
post-1990-notes, my first book
Jewel in the Lotus: Ladakh,
has to be re-launched, with all seriousness, in near future.

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R andomly picking the thread of history from 1400 AD we find that amongst the early kings of Ladakh Dynasty
Lhachen-Gragspa -Bhum
ruled over lower Ladakh,
Sham,
province and from 1500-1532AD
Bkra-Sis-Rnam-Rgyal
i:e Tashi Namgyal ruled. Latter built the
Leh Namgyal Tsemo
castle and during his reign he first valiantly defeated the Turk (Hor)
invasion and it is said buried the dead bodies of some slain Turk soldiers under the feet of
Guardian Divinities (Mgon-khan)
in the Namgyal Tsemo of Leh. But later suffered disastrously when Khan of Kashghar initiated the Turko-Mongol invasion as, what they called, 'a holy war against Buddhist Infidels'. He was killed by Turkomans in 1582. A portrait, along with inscription, of this king Tashi Namgyal exists in the
Mgon-Khan
temple at Leh as well as in
Alchi Monastery
(Tsun-Tsek Temple).During 17th century we hear about Lha-chen Nima Namgyal who ruled from 1680-1720. He was the one who for the first time introduced the concept of
Advisory Council of Elders,Ghanmi Tookchoo,
for running the affairs of the state. This king Nima Namgyal, too had a muslim wife, zizi khatoon of Purig. Noteworthy also
is the fact that the“Latin Bible found by William Moorcroft in Ladakh, in 1820-22 is believed to have been left in Leh by The Jesuit Visitor, Ipolito Desideri in 1715 AD” ; my readers might recall, these names find mention in my earlier part of the write up, titled
EARLY GUESTS ON THE MOONLAND OF YORE
& ONE
STAAN...MORE,
that appeared in the pages of Kashmir Observer on 28 Sept, 2024. To that I may add
W.Moorcroft (1767-1825) was an English explorer, employed by East India Company who travelled extensively; wrote the travelogue, in collaboration with George Trebeck, that was
published by Asiatic Society, after the author's death.

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Baltistaan or
Balti-yul-also called Little Tibet by some writers, in one point of history/past, that largely constitutes, at present, northern portion of Larger-kashmir-Region, whose major-portion is Pakistaan-administered- territory-of-Gilgit / Baltistaan since 1947, and is bound by Karakoram, Gilgit, Xinjiang of China and Ladakh & Kashmir; where-in population is said to be over 3 lakh souls. Major languages spoken in this area are
Balti, Purgi, Shina, Broksķat and Changthang besides Urdu & English.

Long back in history some Dardi-tribes are believed to have come to this Baltistaan region, who came later to be known as
people of Skardu, Shiger and khaplu,
are believed to have been distinctly
Dards.

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In 686, Baltistaan came to be controlled by theTibetan
kings and around the 10th Century the ruling dynasty of Khaplu assumed the Turkish title of
Yahbhu. In the Central Asian region, Arabs had conquered the Kashgar of Chinese- Turkistaan in the 8th century. Within the next century, the whole of Central Asia was under Arabs. Baltistaan and Ladakh, however, maintained their historical ties with the central asian countries. In the 14th century, Shah-e-Hamadaan spread Islam here. More so after the visits of Mir Shamsudin Araqi and Syed Noor Baksh to Baltistaan. By the end of the 17th century, the Shia-Sect (Noor Bakhshi sect)
became dominant here. In between we know, Ali Sher Khan of
Skardu
had conquered
Khaplu
in 1600 and this continued till 1840; Robert Shaw a British Official of repute wrote in 1871 in his book
Yarkand and kashgar
that he found Baltis owning land in
Yarkand, that they used for growing melons and tobacco.
Namgyal dynasty
of Ladakh ruled over Baltistaan too but when Dogra General Zorawer Singh raised his sword in 1830's everything changed and so did the events of 1947-48.

G eographical setting of Ladakh shows it as being
bound by the
Central Asian Countries
on the north, by Tibet on the east, Himachal state on the south and on the west by the valley of Kashmir. It must have occurred to my readers that it's positioning on the
crossroads of Asia
allowed Ladakh to be an important Trade Outlet towards the South-Asian countries, from the world's great trans-Asian-highway,
The Silk Route-that connected imperial Rome with distant China.

In addition to their being high altitude regions, both Ladakh and Baltistaan shared a number of routes between them, through which both were bound strongly in economic/ trading activities. Some writers assert that much of the credit goes to the visiting- Buddhist-saint- of Mahayana-sect: Padma Sambhava, who it is believed first planted
apricot
plants in the Shighar valley of Baltistaan(- accepted to be the principal apricot producing area of the world), thereby
blessing both Ladakh & Baltistaan.
These two regions were this way also bound to Tibet,(- largest consumer of apricots) and Tibetans called it
the fruit of Gari khambu..an
old name of Ladakh, too. And we know Lamaistic Buddhism was the main religion of both.

I n the barter trade the main item of Balti's was dried Apricots and butter;
that of Ladakhi's wool. Since Ladakh was the great Central Asian trading centre, frequent visits to Leh were made by Baltis and also by traders from other connected areas, who not only brought their produce and what they needed, i:e for sale, purchase and distribution into Ladakh but also used it as transit point for onward trading-travel. So Ladakh was a transit point too. It is said apart from dried Apricots, dried turnips,butter, wool, pashmina, was traded. Cotton cloth and other items from North India too reached Ladakh and likewise from all other sides surrounding Ladakh & Baltistaan.

Between Baltistaan and Ladakh alone many preferred routes existed. Kharul kargil to Khapulu Skardu favoured by Baltis. Bogdang-Turtuk- khapulu favoured by Ladakhis. Traders from Central Ladakh preferred Chorbat La Hanu khapulu Skardu.

Common religion between Ladakh, Tibet etc and presence of a considerable chunk of Buddhist population in regions like Himachal, Arunachal as well as countries like Sikkim, Bhutan, Mongolia (-as part of Russia) and possibly China too, all contributed in building ties of all sorts, of trade-goods, of ideas & practices of faith, of craftsmen and the craft items, including those of day to day use; cloth -woollen, silk, cotton; woven, felt-items;
wood items, metal-ware, in short purchasing items of need and selling produce of individual areas; mostly surplus or that in demand-fetching-more and also for religious pilgrimage, missionary work and for cultural exchange too,
routes have existed from time immemorial, everywhere. Didn't the Buddhist Missionaries of king Ashoka travel
to Central Asia via Kashmir and through Ladakh? Just like Shahe Hamdan travelled from kashmir to Chinese Turkistaan/ modern
Xinjiang through Ladakh. Apart from commercial links didn't Ladakh get involved in power politics of Tibet right from 7-8th century; or when Arab plus Tibetians stood together against China, or when, Explorer-Missions of various countries; British, French, German visiting Gobi Desert region hired the services of hardy mountain people of Ladakh & Baltistaan; travelled via their passes, via their routes .

In post 9th century period, when instead of Pamir, new passes like Karakoram came to be preferred,
silk, carpets, animal hides, velvet, satin, brocade, tobacco, hashish, grains, spices, ghee, shoes, turquoise, coral, pearls and many items travelled through the roads of Ladakh and Baltistaan; using the services of locals. It is said that by 1920 trade worth ninety three lakh Rupees happened via Ladakh. Wait please. Turk muslims proceeded for Haj via Ladakh. Highest pass Daulat Beigh oldy named after the rich central Asian trader who died while crossing it.

Racially the population of Ladakh and Baltistaan has been defined to be the Mongolian stock with an admixture of Aryan blood. Both remained, until the 10th century, under the suzerainty of Tibet. Their language and food habits are the same; their dialects are both of Tibetan origin. One more aspect. Kings of Ladakh and Sikkim considered themselves to be descendants of the ruling Tibetan dynasty. It is
true that they shared the name Namgyal (victorious) also.

Folk epic
Kesar Saga &
other folklore items of Tibet, Ladakh, Baltistaan and others show cultural commonality. Festivals show a lot of resemblance and so do Monastery Fairs reveal similarity of a dozen more aspects of life. Apparently a small similarity it
seems: I mean the dress (-of men) in Ladakh, Sikkim,Mongolia, China resembles and seems to have been borrowed from Genghis Khan of Mongolia. Dress of Mughal Kings wasn't different, some say.

Thus Trans-Himalayan- Highways shaped various aspects of life in such a way that they speak of the historic-age-old social, cultural and economic bond of neighbouring lands.

Parting Shot

It is said that the major language spoken within the lap of Gilgit-Baltistaan-Chitral- Kohistaan-Hunza -Chilas and Gurez-Tulail- Neelam/ Kishenganga and Drass- kargil(Ladakh) is called shina. Further, experts opine that Kashmiri (Koshur) language and Shina both belong to Dardic Indo Aryan branch and the former is said to be bedecked with the Indo-Iranian elements as well as Sanskrit. Ponder!

Adieu, dear readers.

  • The author can be reached at [email protected]

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