| Leh Palace |
| Leh, capital of Ladakh 1857 |
| Thiksey (Gompa) Monastery |
| Leh Palace |
| Leh Palace |
| Laddakhi women in traditional dress |
| Mask dance at Hemis Monastery |
| Leh |
| Prayer Flags |
| Leh Palace at night |
| Hemis Monastery in Leh, Laddakh |
| Laddakh Landsacpe
HISTORY
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Leh (Ladakh) was known in the past by different names. It was called Maryul or low land by some Kha- chumpa by others. FaHein 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 peices. A thousand years ago before the contol 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.
GEOGRAPHICAL :-
District Leh is situated roughly between 32 to 36 degree north latitude and 75 to 80 degree East longitude and altitude ranging from 2300 mtrs to 5000 mtrs above sea level. District Leh with an area of 45100 Sqs Kms makes it 2nd largest district in the country after Kutch (Gujrat) with an area 45652 Sqs Kms in terms of area. the district is bounded by Pakistan occupied Kashmir in the west and china in the north and eastern part and Lahul Spiti of Himachal Pardesh in the south east. It is at a distance of 434 Kms from State capital (Summer) Srinager and 474 Kms from Manali(HP).
Topographically, the whole of the district is mountainous with three parallel ranges of the Himalayas, the Zanskar, the Ladakh and the Karakoram. Between these ranges, the Shayok, Indus and Zanskar rivers flow and most of the population lives in valleys of these rivers. According to the provisional geographical area figures supplied by Surveyor General of India, the total area of Leh district is 82,665sq. Kms. Out of the total area of 37,555 sq.kms is under the illegal occupation of China leaving 45110 sq. kms with India. As per the village Papers, the area under the occupation of India is 44,000 sq. Kms only. The district is divided into 9 CD Blocks namely Leh, Khaltsi, Nyoma, Durbuk, Kharu, Nubra, Saspol, Panamic and Chuchot and divided into 3 tehsils namely Leh, Sumoor and Khaltsi. Leh is the district headquarter and the only township in the district. There are 93 panchayat halqa in the district. Whole district has been declared as a tribal district.
APPROACH ROADS
Ladakh is called the Hermit Kingdom due to its remoteness and in accessibility. Ladakh is connected to the main land through two roads namely Leh-Srinagar national highway and LehManali road. These two roads remains open only during summer months and during the winter it remains closed for more than 7 months due to closure of the passes (Zojila, Rotang Pass, Baralacha, Changla) . Leh District is connected to the Block Headquarter by roads, through a network of roads. The average distance of the block headquarter from Leh is 180 Kms. Bus services and other means of communication is very poor.
Border roads organization maintains most of the highway connecting the block head quarter and PWD maintains a road length of 1060 Kms. As some of the roads to the block head quarter passes through the world highest motorable roads, it is frequently closed due to the avalanches and snowfall in the passes. Durbuk block and Nubra Block remains closed in winter months due to closure of Khardongla and the Changla Pass. The transport service comprises of roads, motor vehicles, civil aviation, railways, and water transport. . All this constituents form the base of economic infrastructure. The adequate availability of this infrastructure leads to rapid economic development, though the railways and water transport does not
exist in the district.
The road transport is the major and principle mode of mobility of men and material in the district. Roads are thus considered as arteries of our economy, which plays crucial role in sustaining economic growth and is vital for the development of all segments of the society. Due to difficult terrain of the district, it is very difficult to provide road facilities, however Public Works Department has constructed and maintained substantial road network in the district. Out of 113 villages of the district, 97 stands connected with the motorable road by ending March 2009. The Border Road Organization (Project Himank) is also contributing a lot in the economic development of the district by constructing/maintaining a huge chunk of road network, connecting the border areas.
AIR SERVICES
Then the only route accessible to Ladakh during the winter is air, Indian Air Lines operates daily flight services form Leh to Delhi and return besides Jet airway and airgo. Moreover in winter months the air services is not frequent as there are too many cancellations of flights due to fog in Delhi and snowfalls in Leh. Life in Ladakh comes to a stand still in winter months and remains cut off from the rest of the world. There are two Airports in the district namely K.G Bakula Airport at Leh and army Airport at Thoise Nubra. Leh airport connects the national capital of Delhi and state capital of Srinagar and Jammu.
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Taken from the website of LAHDC Leh
The Official Website of Laddakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (Leh)
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