Rajadom of Ladakh

The Rajadom of Ladakh
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[[]] [[]] state flag coat of arms
[[]] map of Ladakh
Capital	Leh
Head of State	His Royal Highness
Head of Government	???
Demonym	Ladakhi
Religions
Official	Bön Buddhism
Other	Hinduism (Krishnaism) Sikhism
Languages
Official	Ladakhi 77% Hindi 8% Punjabi 5%
Founding	842
Independence	1842
Area	45,110 km² 17,417 mi²
Population	134,000
Ethnicities	Tibetans 72% Dards 15% Sikhs 8% Hindus 5%
Currency	1 Himalayan Rupee (Rs) = 20 sukaa (s) = 240 paisa (p)
Time zone	UTC +6:00
Telephone Code	???
Registration
Aviation	LDK
Amateur radio	LDK
Radio prefix	LDK
Organizations	Himalayan Confederacy
Sports
Official
Other

History

Texts in bold print are points of departure.

Rock carvings found in many parts of Ladakh show that the area has been inhabited from Neolithic times. Ladakh's earliest inhabitants consisted of a mixed Indo-Aryan population of Mons and Dards, who find mention in the works of Herodotus, Nearchus, Megasthenes, Pliny, Ptolemy, and the geographical lists of the Puranas. Around the first century, Ladakh was a part of the Kushan Empire. Buddhism spread into western Ladakh from Kashmir in the second century when much of eastern Ladakh and western Tibet was still practicing the Bön religion. One of the five principal spiritual schools of Tibetan Buddhism, it remains the predominant religion of the rajadom. The seventh century Buddhist traveler Xuanzang also describes the region in his accounts.

In the eighth century, Ladakh was involved in the clash between Tibetan expansion pressing from the east and Chinese influence exerted from Central Asia through the passes. Suzerainty over Ladakh frequently changed hands between China and Tibet.

In 842, upon the dissolution of the Tibetan empire, Nyima-Gon, a Tibetan royal representative, annexed Ladakh for himself and founded a separate Ladakhi dynasty. During this period Ladakh acquired a predominantly Tibetan population. The dynasty promoted the second spreading of Buddhism (the first being the one in Tibet itself), importing religious ideas from northwest India, particularly from Kashmir.

In 912, Nyi-ma-mon, a great-grandson of Langdarma, the last king of the Tibetan Kingdom of Tubo, established a kingdom in Ngari and annexed Purang and Guge. Before dying, he divided his lands into three parts. His eldest son, Dal-gyi-mon, became the ruler of Mar-yul (Ladakh), his second son, Bra-shis-mon, received Guge-Purang, and the third son, Le-tsug-mon, received Zanskar.

Faced with the Islamic intrusions into South Asia in the thirteenth century, Ladakh sought guidance in religious matters from Tibet. For nearly two centuries, until the beginning of the seventeenth century, Ladakh was subject to raids and invasions from neighbouring Muslim states, which led some Ladakhis to convert to Islam who then fled to India.

In 1470, Lhachen Bhagan, the king of Basgo, overthrew the king of Leh, reuniting and strengthening Ladakh. He took the surname Namgyal and founded the Namgyal dynasty which survives to today. The Namgyals repelled raiders from Central Asia and temporarily extended the rajadom as far as Nepal.

In the early seventeenth century efforts were made to restore destroyed artifacts and gompas and the rajadom expanded into Zanskar and Spiti. In 1616, Sengge Namgyal conquered many parts of the Tibetan Plateau to the west. He died in 1642 on his return from an expedition against the Mongols who had occupied the Tibetan province of Tsang and were threatening Ladakh. However, despite a defeat by the Mughals, who had already annexed Kashmir and Baltistan, Ladakh retained its independence.

In the late seventeenth century, Ladakh sided with Bhutan in its dispute with Tibet which resulted in its being invaded by Tibet. During the reign of Delegs Namgyal (1660–1685), the King of Kashmir, at the time a province in the Mogul Empire, arranged for the Tibetan army to leave Ladakh. As payment for the assistance, the king made conditions, one of which was to build a large Sunni Muslim mosque in Leh. He also required that the Ladakhi king convert to Islam. The Treaty of Tismogang in 1684 settled the dispute between Tibet and Ladakh, but severely restricted Ladakh's independence, although the king returned to the Bön religion.

In 1834, the Dogras under Zorawar Singh, a general of Ranjit Singh, invaded and annexed Ladakh. In 1842, a Ladakhi rebellion re-established the rajadom's independence and restored the Namgyal raja to the throne. During the period of occupation, the deposed raja had been given the jagir of Stok. This remained the personal property of the Raja of Ladakh.

Toponymy

The Tibetan name for the region is la-dwags meaning "land of mountain passes".

Government

Provinces (anchal)

Dzongdey	Capital	Area	Population	Dzongkhag	Notes
Leh	Leh	45,100 km²	117,000	Nubra Khalsi Leh Kharo Durabk Nyoma
Kargil	Kargil	14,086 km² 5,439 mi²	119,000	Sarku Chiktan Shargole Taisu Zanskar Drass Kargil

• Thus, the total area of the rajadom is 59,186 km², somewhat smaller than the American state of West Virginia.

Geography

Borders

Ladakh is bordered by on the:

North: Tibet
East: Tibet
South: Jammu
West: Jammu, Kashmir

Demographics

• The original inhabitants of Ladakh were Tibetans who immigrated into the region from the east. They still make up 72% of the population. They brought with them the variety of Buddhism known as Bön. An Indo-European people, known as Dards immigrated from the north. They make up about 15% of the population and have become Bön Buddhists.
• More recent immigrants from the south include Hindus and Sikhs. The Sikhs, 5% of the population, are the remnant of the brief occupation by the Sikh R.S. and are practitioners of the Udasi sect of Sikhism. They live mainly in the northern part of the Province of Kargil, although some live in the capital cities of Kargil and Leh. Most of them work in the business world or are in civil service. Their language Punjabi is one of the official languages of the Rajadom.
• The other group of immigrants from the south are the Indians, 8% of the population, who remained behind after the fall of the Moghul Empire. Most of them live in the southern part of the Province of Kargil and work the land. Their language Hindi is one of the official langauges of the rajadom. They are members of the Krishnaite sect of Hinduism.

Culture

National symbols

• National mammal: Markhor (Capra falconeri)
• National bird: Scarlet minivet (Pericrocotus flammeus speciosa]
• National flower: Brahma Kamal (Sausurrea obvallata)
• National tree: Himalayan cedar (Cedrus deodara)
• National dish: sku (noodle stew, with or without mutton)
• National emblem:
• National aviation roundel:
• National instrument: Wikipedia:

Ladakhi holidays

(Dates in italics are postponed)

Date	Name	Notes
14 February	Losar	New Year
	The King's Birthday
28 February	Chotrul Duchen	Butter Lamp Festival (2010 only)
21 March		Father's Day
27 May	Suga Dawa Duchen	The Buddha's Birth, Enlightenment, and Parinirvana (2010 only)
21 June	Guru Rinpoche's Birthday
15 July	Chokhor Duchen	The Buddha's First Sermon (2010 only)
24 August	Ulambana	Ancestor Day (2010 only)
23 September	Thri-bab	Blessed Rainy Day (2010 only)
17 October	Dashain	Victory of the Goddess Durga (2010 only)
29 October	Lhabab Duchen	The Buddha's Descent to Earth (2010 only))
6 November