INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR LADAKH STUDIES

LADAKH STUDIES
22

July 2008

ISSN 1356-3491
THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR LADAKH STUDIES
Patrons: Tashi Rabgias and Kacho Sikander Khan
President: John Bray, 1208 2-14-1; Furuishiba, Koto-ku; Tokyo, Japan
[email protected]

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:
Honorary Secretary:
Dr. Monisha Ahmed
Praneta, Flat 2, 23 B Juhu Tara Road,
Mumbai 400 049 INDIA
[email protected]

Honorary Editor:
Prof. Kim Gutschow
Departments of Religion and Anthropology
North Building #338
Williams College
Williamstown, MA 01267 USA
[email protected]

Honorary Treasurer and Membership Secretary:

Francesca Merritt, 254 West End Road; Ruislip, Mx; HA4 6DX United Kingdom

ADVISORY COMMITTEE:
Ravina Aggarwal (USA) Rev. E.S. Gergan (LSC) Maria Phylactou (UK)
Monisha Ahmed (India) Kim Gutschow (USA) Mohd. Raza Abbasi (LSC)
John Crook (UK) Clare Harris (UK) Janet Rizvi (India)
Mohamed Deen Darokhan Mohd. Jaffar Akhoon (LSC) Abdul Ghani Sheikh (LSC)
(LSC) Jamyang Gyaltsen (LSC) Harjit Singh (India)
David Sonam Dawa (LSC) Erberto Lo Bue (Italy) Sonam Wangchuk (LSC)
Philip Denwood (UK) Seb Mankelow (UK) Tashi Morup (LSC)
Thierry Dodin (Germany) Gudrun Meier (Germany) Tashi Ldawa Tshangspa
Kaneez Fatima (LSC) Gulzar Hussain Munshi (LSC) (LSC)
Uwe Gielen (USA) Nawang Tsering (LSC) Thupstan Paldan (LSC)
Mohd. Salim Mir (LSC) Nawang Tsering Shakspo (LSC)

LADAKH SUBCOMMITTEE (LSC) OFFICERS:

Dr. Nawang Tsering (Chairman), Principal, Gulzar Hussain Munshi (Hon.Treas., Kargil
Central Institute of Buddhist Studies, Choglamsar Distt.) 147 Munshi Enclave, Lancore, Kargil
194103
Abdul Ghani Sheikh (Hon. Sec., Yasmin Hotel, Tashi Morup (Hon. Treas. Leh Distt) Room 9
Leh- Ladakh 194101) Hemis Compound, Leh-Ladakh 194101

For the last three decades, Ladakh (made up of Leh and Kargil districts) has been readily accessible for
academic study. Yet in that short time, it has been the focus of scholarship in many disciplines. Research on
Ladakh includes but is not limited to the fields of anthropology, sociology, Buddhsit studies, history,
geography, environmental studies, ecology, agricultural studies, development studies, etc. The first
international Colloquium on Ladakh was organised at Konstanz in 1981 and 13 have been held since then in
various European countries and in Ladakh. Proceedings of these have been published or are in press. In
1987 the International Association for Ladakh Studies (IALS) was formed to provide contacts between all
who are interested in the study of Ladakh, and to disseminate information about proposed and completed
research and publications. Membership is open to all who are interested in Ladakh; for more information
please apply to the membership secretary.
 INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR LADAKH STUDIES

LADAKH STUDIES

NR. 22 JULY 2008

Contents

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Kim Gutschow 2

NEWS FROM THE IALS:
The IALS Website and Blog. Seb Mankelow and Kim Gutschow 3
Conference Report, Rome 2007. John Bray 5
OBITUARIES:
Kacho Sikander Khan. John Bray 9
Peter Marczell. John Bray 11
Keith Ball. John Bray 14
Robert Roaf. Roger Croston 17
ESSAYS:
Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Integrity of Indigenous
Cultures and Regions. Dick Lee 20
Balti Folksongs with Reference to Ladakh. Syed Bahadur Ali Salik 23
NEWS FROM LADAKH 26
BOOK REVIEWS:
J. Bray’s, Ladakhi Histories: Local and Regional Perspectives.
Reviewed by Pascale Dollfus 48
P. Marczell’s Alexander Csoma de Körös. Reviewed by Neil Howard. 52
Tobdan and Dorje’s Moravian Missionaries in Western Trans-Himalaya
(Lahul, Ladakh, and Kinnaur). Reviewed by John Bray 55
LADAKH BIBLIOGRAPHY SUPPLEMENT No 18. John Bray 58

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

This issue begins a new editorship as I continue the work that Henry Osmaston and Martijn
Van Beek so faithfully accomplished for nearly two decades. The little red newsletter
known as Ladakh Studies has long been both a professional and a personal journal, filled with
tidbits of information and news primarily of interest to those who work on or in Ladakh.
While I plan to continue to offer detailed pieces that focus their lens enclusively on Ladakh, I
aim to interest a broader audience in the research of our IALS community.

The task of soliciting such a broader readership is manifold, yet a few concerns appear
paramount. Ideally, articles should be reader-friendly and make reference to broader themes
and topics beyond Ladakh as well. If you feel there are issues missing from the newsletter---
write about them! I hope to see more on gender, class, ethnicity, nationality, and economics
as much as the more familiar ones of art, culture, and geography. I look forward with
anticipation to your submissions and aim to craft the journal in response to our changing
membership as the association moves into its third decade.

If you have not already done so, I urge you to visit the new IALS website and blog and make
your voice heard. For it is only through communication that your concerns can effect in the
community. Many of the materials for this issue were solicited before I was elected editor at
the IALS conference in Rome. Thus, both the tone and persons who appear in the newsletter
will be familiar to many. While I will continue to welcome familiar authors, I am especially
keen to open up the newsletter to newer voices and concerns.

The journal, the website, and the blog are in an exciting and unprecendented period of
renewal and review. We will continue to debates issues such as ‘Whither Ladakh Studies?’
and ‘Whither the IALS?’ This period offers an opportunity to reconsider what we hope to
achieve through these forums and how they might engage our community in the broadest
manner possible.

Two pressing concerns are the ratification of our constitution and the print or electronic
dissemination of the newsletter. We intend to discuss and hopefully ratify the constitution at
the next IALS meeting in Leh in the summer of 2009. The blog and the newsletter are ideal
forums for hashing out some of the more contentious issues before the meeting itself. Please
check the website for an update on these forums and a call for papers or contributions in LS.
Our newsletter will be soon available to members either as pdf file or in print, but not both. I
hope to raise some discussion of the constitution and the way that we distribute our
newsletter in the next issue of Ladakh Studies. I welcome your ideas and contributions on
these and other matters.

Kim Gutschow
Honorary Editor
Williamstown, MA. USA

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NEWS FROM THE IALS

IALS Website and Blog

––Seb Mankelow and Kim Gutschow

Two web-based initiatives have been launched to improve the IALS’ presence on the Internet
and raise the Association’s profile through the posting of information detailing publications,
colloquia, research, news and events. The IALS website and blog provide an online
environment for the exchange of information between all parties interested in Ladakh. It is
hoped that members will regularly visit and contribute to both sites thus promoting the IALS
and even continuing online the academic and social discussion and debate that up until now
has largely been restricted to the biennial colloquia.

IALS website: http://www.ladakhstudies.org

Initially conceived by Thierry Dodin and revised by Henry Osmaston, the IALS website has
undergone an extensive facelift through the efforts of Seb Mankelow and Kim Gutschow.
Web design and maintenance has now been pulled in-house with the primary objective of
providing the IALS with a regularly updated presence on the internet. Membership
registration and renewal is now possible online; news stories (both members’ and current
affairs from Ladakh) are posted several times a month; and colloquia and details about
Ladakh Studies as well as other publications alert visitors to IALS activities and the benefits
of membership. There is also a Ladakh Links resource and a fledgling photo gallery.

Ladakh Studies Blog: http://ladakhstudies.blogspot.com

As part of the initiative to improve the IALS presence on the Internet we have created the
Ladakh Studies Blog, an ongoing narrative where members can initiate or contribute to online
debate and discussion. If you are unsure about how to participate or what the benefits of a
blog are, please read Kim Gutschow’s blog post Why should the IALS Blog? You do not
need a google username but can post a response anonymously or using a URL you choose.

For those of you who have not blogged before, a blog can be a forum for a number of people
to engage in an online conversation. Although the initial posts in the blog are made by the
authors of the blog---in this case myself and Seb Mankelow---the responses to such posts can
be made by anyone, anywhere, and at anytime in the world who has a connection to the
internet. It is in the responses that the blogs can flatten previous barriers to communication
because of distance, economy, and access.

While not completely democratic---a computer and the English language remain entrance
requirements ---a blog does allow a far-flung set of users a unique forum they might
otherwise not have. In bringing disparate voices in a shared and informal conversation that
takes place over days or weeks, the blog encourages cross-fertilization of ideas and tolerance
of difference in its members. We hope that the IALS blog can become a tool that strengthens
as much as expands the IALS community. Please feel free to email Kim or Seb with
questions about how to participate, or if you would like to be a blog author.

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Suggestions for Website and Blog Submissions:

We encourage members to get involved and contribute to our website and blog, as both
regular publication of good content. We especially encourage the following types of
submissions:

x General Ladakh news – share interesting news stories that you have found in the
media. http://ladakhstudies.org/News_files/category-ladakh-news.html

x Gallery and illustrative pictures for use throughout the website. Many IALS members,
through their often intimate and privileged access to Ladakh, have unusual images
that they might like to share with others. Please supply with a detailed picture caption.
An example of the kind of submission we are looking for can be found under the
Gallery link on the IALS website. See http://ladakhstudies.org/gallery.html

x Members’ news – keep others up-to-date with your research interests and publications
or share your personal news, whether it is taking up a new employment post or
announcing the arrival of a new baby. See http://ladakhstudies.org/News.html

x If you would like to publicise your latest book please feel free to submit details (cover
image, publisher, contents etc) for our website section “Other publications from
IALS Members.” See http://ladakhstudies.org/otherpublications.html

x Links – Please send details if you would like to add a link or report a bad link.
See http://ladakhstudies.org/ladakhlinks.html

x Maps – we are aware that the website is in need of a better Ladakh map. We have had
a kind offer of replacements from the author of the Olizane Ladakh maps but
unfortunately these do not cover the full extent of Ladakh. If anyone has any
suggestions for appropriate maps that we could publish, please contact us.

x Feedback – If you have any feedback or suggestions to better the website or blog, we
would like to hear from you.

Website and Blog submission guidelines.

If possible please submit all images as JPEG files and text as an unformatted Microsoft Word
Document. If you are submitting a news story that can be found online then please also
attach the full URL. Images selected for inclusion on the website will be appropriately
resized for online publication.

Please direct all website correspondence to Seb Mankelow ([email protected]).

Please direct all blog correspondence to Kim Gutschow ([email protected]) or go
directly to the blog at: http://ladakhstudies.blogspot.com

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Conference Report: The 13th IALS Colloquium, Rome 2007
––John Bray

The 13th IALS Colloquium took place in Rome under the auspices of the Università di Roma
«Sapienza» from 7-11 September 2007. Rome was a particularly appropriate venue for an
international conference, given the city’s central role in the history of European civilisation
and its strong tradition of Tibetan and Himalayan studies. As Enzo Gualtiero Bargiacchi
reminded us, the Italian Jesuit Ippolito Desideri was among the first Europeans to visit
Ladakh on his way to Lhasa in the early 18th century, and his reports from the region remain
an important historical source. Moreover, one of the greatest names in Tibetan studies has
been Giuseppe Tucci, who visited Ladakh and Western Tibet in the 1930s. Tucci’s pupil
Luciano Petech published his thesis on the Ladakhi royal chronicles in 1939 as well as the
definitive history, The Kingdom of Ladakh (c.950-1842 AD) in 1977. Elena de Rossi
Filibeck, the Rome-based convenor of the colloquium, was a pupil of Professor Petech.

Papers
We were particularly pleased to welcome 11 scholars from Ladakh itself. Altogether, more
than a dozen nationalities – and nearly as many academic disciplines - were represented
among the 60-odd conference participants. This variety was reflected in the range and high
quality of the 40 papers presented. While it is impossible to do full justice to all the papers
certain contributions and themes stood out as samples of the colloquium’s riches. The
excellent panels on art history and architecture called attention to the urgent need to preserve
a remarkable heritage offering deep insights into the history, trade, and economics of the
region. The historical panel focussed on Islam, illuminating little known sects like the
Nurbakshi and the Sufi in historical perspective. The music panel brought us beautiful
digitally produced soundscapes of chants as well as Bollywood music, while the geography
panel used powerful new mapping technology to discuss environmental change and food
security issues. Sobering analyses of livelihoods in Kargil and wildlife on the Changthang
showed dramatic changes and illustrated encroachments by tourists and climactic changes.
Finally, the medical panel offered focussed insights on changing patterns of maternal and
infant health as well as the state of infectious disease in Ladakh.

Roman hospitality
The majority of the conference participants stayed in the Villa Aurelia to the south of the
river Tiber, and within sight of the dome of St Peter’s Cathedral. The first session opened at
the Villa Aurelia, while later sessions were held at the Villa, at the Facoltà di Studi Orientali
of the University, and at the Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale «Giuseppe Tucci». Moving
between these three locations created certain logistical challenges, but enabled us to gain
more of a flavour of the city of Rome. The baroque splendour of the lecture room at the
Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale was particularly impressive. The Museum kindly arranged
an exhibition of photographs taken by early Italian explorers—notably the early 20th century
scholar Filippo de Filippi—in Ladakh and the Karakoram region.

As in previous IALS colloquia, the conference provided an opportunity for exchanges

between local Ladakhi researchers and their international colleagues, and between
representatives of a wide range of different, but complementary academic disciplines. The

5
Oriental Faculty was particularly generous in its sponsorship of the lunches at a nearby hotel,
with an excellent view of roof-top Rome.

Publication proposals
Three publications are planned as a result of the conference:

x The Oriential Faculty of Università di Roma «Sapienza» has agreed to publish a

selection of papers from the humanities in a supplement to the Rivista degli Studi
Orientali.
x Subject to the final agreement of an external publisher (with whom negotiations are
currently under way), we hope to bring out a separate volume of papers on art history
and architecture under the editorship of Erberto Lo Bue.
x Dr Richard Lee is leading a team which plans to produce a volume of papers on the
ecology and medicine of Ladakh, drawn both from the Rome colloquium and from
previous conferences.

IALS general meeting

A new Executive Committee was elected during the IALS general meeting by all members
present.
x John Bray succeeds the late Henry Osmaston as President of the IALS.
x Monisha Ahmed was elected the Honorary Secretary.
x Kim Gutschow was elected to succeed Martijn van Beek as Honorary Editor of
Ladakh Studies.
x Francesca Merritt remains Honorary Treasurer.
x Seb Mankelow and Kim Gutschow will manage the IALS website and blog while
Martin Mills will serve as the Assistant Secretary.

Acknowledgements
We are grateful for the financial and practical support of the Oriental Studies faculty of
Università di Roma «Sapienza», Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente (IsIAO), the Museo
Nazionale d’Arte Orientale « Giuseppe Tucci », and Carlo Cristi of Arte Orientale Tessli. We
all owe a special debt of thanks to Elena de Rossi Filibeck, the co-convenor of the conference
without whom we would never have come to Rome; to Francesca Merritt for her patient
organisation of the financial arrangements; and to our fellow members of the conference
committee, Monisha Ahmed, Martijn van Beek, Erberto Lo Bue and Martin Mills.

ROME PROGRAMME

Friday, September 7: Culture & Society

Petra Maurer (Heidelberg)—Sa bdag and tortoise. A survey of the tradition of Geomancy in
Ladakh.
Elena De Rossi Filibeck (Rome)—Reflections on the cultural meaning of the Ladakhi
marriage songs: a case study on the Wamle bag ston gi glu.
Bettina Zeisler (Tübingen) "Ci songkhani dra (onomatopoeia): giving a voice to the event".
Erberto Lo Bue (Bologna)—Notes on Buddhist funerary practices in Indian Tibet
at the dawn of the 21st century.

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Mohammad Raza (Kargil)—The Pakistani shelling of Kargil, 1997-1999

Saturday, September 8: Keynotes and Key Themes

Enzo Gualtiero Bargiacchi (Rome)— Ippolito Desideri’s first remarks on Ladakh

Monisha Ahmed (Mumbai)—From Benaras to Leh—the trade and use of silk-brocade
Nawang Tsering Shakspo (Leh)—Ladakhi folk-dance
John Harrison (Wales)—Conservation of architectural heritage of Ladakh
Sonam Wangchok (Leh)-Inventory of cultural resources in Ladakh
Martin A. Mills (Aberdeen)—Charting the Shugden Ban in Ladakh
Harjit Singh (New Delhi)—Changing Ladakh: some observations on environment, society
and population parameters of Leh district.

Saturday, September 8: History of Art and Architecture

Phuntsog Dorjay (Hannover)—Introduction of Buddhism and Buddhist art in Ladakh: a study

through ancient rock art.
Neil and Kath Howard (Birmingham)—Archaeological ruins of rGya Valley.
Gerald Kozicz (Graz)—A 12th century Stupa in the neighbourhood of the monastic complex
of Nyarma.
Deborah Klimburg-Salter (Vienna)––The life of the Buddha at Alchi in regional perspective
Chiara Bellini (Bologna)—The mGon-khang Paintings in dPe-thub
Filippo Lunardo (Rome/Bologna) Tshogs zhing: a wall painting in the new ’Du khang of
Spituk (dPe-thub).
Kacho Mumtaz Ali Khan—History of Chiktan Razi Khar (castle) and its preservation and
reconstruction
Wolfgang Heusgen (Graz)—New knowledge about the construction of Wanla temple.
Andreas Catanese (Leh)—The Leh Old Town Project: conservation, challenges and
discoveries

Sunday, September 9: History

Georgios T. Halkias (London)— Modern Pasts:Tracing the 1679 Tibet-Bashahr Treaty

Christian Jahoda (Vienna)—Spiti and Ladakh in the 17th-19th centuries: views from the
periphery.
Arik Moran (Oxford)—Shifting alliances? British imperialism on the Ladakhi frontier.
John Bray (Tokyo)—Regional perspectives on the lo-phyag mission from Ladakh to Lhasa
Pascale Dollfus (Paris)—Who are "Those of the Black Castle"? Discussing the past of a
nomadic group inhabiting the south-eastern edge of Ladakh.

Sunday, September 9: Islam in Ladakh

Shahzad Bashir (Palo Alto)—The Nurbakshis of Baltistan and Ladakh: observations on

historical sources.
Abdul Ghani Sheikh (Leh)—Traditions of Sufism in Ladakh

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Gulzar Hussain Munshi (Kargil)—Imambaras, khanqas and mosques of Kargil: The
confluence of Buddhist and Islamic art and cultural heritage
Poul Pedersen (Aarhus)—Traditionalism in Ladakh: Marco Pallis and Abdul Wahid Radhu

Monday, September 10: Music and the Performing Arts

Valentina Cataldo (Bologna)—Music in Tibetan Buddhist rituals in Ladakh

Patrick Sutherland (London)—The Spiti Sound Archive: Recording the Hirrip
Balwant Thakur (Jammu)—Changing trends in the performing arts of Ladakh

Monday, September 10: Agriculture, Sustainability, Ecology

Blaise Humbert-Droz – Can Ladakh’s biodiversity withstand the impact of tourism?

Dorje Dawa & Davide Genelellti (Trente)—Developing an environmental GIS database for a
remote mountainous area. A regional-scale study in Ladakh, Indian Himalaya
Tashi Morup (Leh)—The Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary Act and future concerns among
nomads
Seb Mankelow—Seeds of Change: Contemporary agrarian trends in Central Zangskar.
Kaneez Fatima (Kargil)—Women and agriculture in Ladakh
Mohammad Saleem Mir (Kargil)—Sustainable agriculture production in Ladakh
Juliane Dame (Heidelberg)—Food security in Ladakh: subsistence-oriented resource
utilisation and socio-economic transformation.

Monday, September 10: Medicine

Christopher C. Wahlfeld (Buffalo)—Fieldwork: patterns of reproductive health at two

hospitals in the Leh district of Ladakh.
Kim Gutschow (Williamstown) & Padma Drolma (Leh)—Birth in Ladakh and Zangskar:
from home to hospital
Richard Lee (Buffalo)—Emerging Infectious diseases and the integrity of indigenous cultures
and regions.

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OBITUARIES

KACHO SIKANDAR KHAN SIKANDAR, 1917-2007

––John Bray

Kacho Sikandar Khan Sikandar, who died on 14th June 2007, was one of the great scholars of
Ladakh, and had made a major contribution to the study of the region’s history. At the time
of the IALS colloquium in Kargil in 2005, he was already too frail to take part in the main
proceedings, but attended an evening celebration organised by the Hill Council, and
graciously agreed to serve as Joint Patron of the association. We were greatly honoured by
his support. The following details of Kacho Sikandar’s life are based on information
supplied by his son Kacho Mumtaz Ali Khan, together with Abdul Ghani Shiekh.

Kacho Sikandar hailed from a distinguished Purig family, and was born and brought up in
Yokma Kharbu in Kargil district. He was educated at Sri Pratap College and Amar Singh
College in Srinagar at a time when the only access from Kargil to Kashmir was by foot over
the Zoji-la. After his graduation, he taught at the Middle School in Leh. Abdul Ghani Sheikh
remembers what it was like to be one of his pupils:

One day in the late 1940s, when I was in the fourth or fifth class, a handsome teacher
came to teach Urdu. We had studied the language with other teachers, but his method
was unique. He started with a poem in praise of God, waving his arm gracefully. He
recited the poem melodiously and explained the meaning of the verses. We were
carried away by his style. The teacher was Kacho Sikandar Khan. In the winter
vacation he went to his native village, Yokma Kharbu, and was unable to return to
Leh because of the occupation of Kargil by the Gilgit Scouts who had invaded Ladakh
on behalf of Pakistan. We students missed him badly.

Kacho Sikandar later joined the Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS) and remained in
government service for 34 years until his retirement in 1980. He served in a number of
responsible positions, including Tehsildar, Settlement Officer and Assistant Commissioner.

Kacho Sikandar’s first publication was a translation into Urdu of the Ladakhi epic Nurbu
Zangpo and Ithoq Lhamo. This is the story of the love of Prince Norbu Zangpo (believed to
be one of the earlier incarnations of the Buddha) and the goddess Lhamo. His next book,
Qadim Ladakh (1977), is a major study of Ladakhi history from the earliest times until the
post-independence period. He followed it up with a study on Ladakh in the Mirror of Her
Folklore (1997) which, after a broad survey of Ladakhi culture, includes English translations
and transliterations into Roman script of 100 Ladakhi folksongs. His fourth book, Afkar-e-
parishan, is an autobiography which also contains a number of Urdu poems. Kacho Sikandar
was pained by the erosion of Ladakh’s traditional communal harmony, the deterioration of
moral values and growing corruption in society. His autobiography sheds light on his views
on these matters. Kacho Sikandar left one more text, Gachu Lha Brok, which is to be
published soon. Gachu is the name of the brok (summer pasture) of Yokma Kharboo, the
village where he spent his childhood, and it has many features that are related to the Kesar
Saga. The text also contains the names and details of some of his contemporaries.

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At a recent meeting, Tashi Rabgias, who had served as Joint Patron of the IALS together with
Kacho Sikandar, recalled his deep love for Ladakhi culture. In the 1950s a portion of the front
facade of Leh palace had crumbled. Deeply pained, Kacho Sikander had written a long poem
in which he describes the collapse as the closure of a glorious chapter in Ladakh’s history.
The poem is included in his autobiography.

During last year’s IALS colloquium in Rome, Abdul Ghani Sheikh recalled Kacho Sikandar
as “a polite, social and honest person – a man of integrity.” Similarly, Kacho Mumtaz
remembered his father as a “very kind and noble human being who always worked for the
universal brotherhood and unity of Ladakh.” He will be greatly missed.

Publications by Kacho Sikandar Khan

1978 Nurbu Zangpo aur Ithoq Lhamo. Jammu & Kashmir Cultural Academy.
1987. Qadim Laddakh tarikh va tamaddun. Yokma Kharbu: By the Author. 733 pp.
1997. Ladakh in the Mirror of her Folklore. Kargil: Kacho Publishers. 255 pp.
2004. Afkar-e-parishan.
Forthcoming. Gachu Lha Brok.

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PETER MARCZELL, 1936-2007
–– John Bray

Peter Marczell, who died late last year, was a member of the IALS International Advisory
Committee, and an international authority on the life and works of the great Hungarian
scholar Alexander Csoma de KĘrös (Csoma KĘrösi Sándor – 1784?-1842). Csoma began his
studies of Tibetan in Ladakh in the 1820s and, since the publication of his Essay Towards a
Dictionary Tibetan and English in 1834, has been regarded one of the founders of modern
Tibetan and Himalayan studies in the West.

Born in Hungary, Peter left his homeland as a political refugee, and settled in Geneva. He
earnt his living as an economic adviser and market researcher, an activity which evidently
involved wide international travel. It seems that his interest in Buddhism – and ultimately in
Csoma de KĘrös – was first sparked in the course of a visit to Sri Lanka in the 1980s. In
passing, he once remarked that his professional activities had included an unsuccessful
attempt to promote the products of hibiscus plants from Sudan. He was clearly a man of
many parts: his other interests included a parallel life as a film critic and habitué of
international film festivals.

Peter first came into contact with IALS in 1992 when he played a leading role in promoting
what became the 5th IALS colloquium at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
in London. It was Peter’s idea to hold a conference to mark the 150th anniversary of Csoma
de KĘrös’s death. Philip Denwood, who was then Lecturer in Tibetan at SOAS, took up the
suggestion and decided to give the conference a particular focus on Ladakh in association
with the IALS.

Peter himself read the first paper of the conference, “Bodhisattva Csoma de KĘrös”: myth or
reality?” This was a characteristically shrewd assessment of the legend that Csoma had been
‘canonised’ as a Bodhisattva by Taisho University in Japan during the 1930s. His overall
argument was that the ‘canonisation’ owed more to political opportunism than to religious
devotion, and that the legend should therefore be treated with great care.

Peter never went to Japan but his researches took him to a number of other places which
either were directly associated with Csoma or contained important archives. He was a
frequent visitor to London where, together with his wife, he stayed at a hotel near the British
Museum. In Oxford’s Bodleian Library he was particularly excited to find a set of
manuscripts associated with Csoma which had been donated by his friend, Rev Solomon
Caesar Malan. Malan had studied Tibetan with Csoma in Calcutta between 1840 and1842,
and afterwards went to England where he lived the life of a scholarly country parson in
Broadwindsor, Dorset. Malan had donated an important set of Csoma documents to the
Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest, but kept back three pieces. These included two
Tibetan texts and ‘an outline of a Tibetan dictionary’ written in a particularly fine hand –
possibly by Csoma’s Zangskari teacher, Sangye Phuntsog. In 1994, I was able to accompany
Peter to a small ceremony in Broadwindsor church to mark the unveiling of a memorial
plaque to Malan in the name of “grateful Hungarians”.

11
Peter’s other travels took him to Csoma’s birthplace in Transylvania (now part of Romania),
the University of Göttingen (where Csoma had studied), the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
in Budapest, the National Archives in Delhi, the Asiatic Society in Calcutta and to Zangskar
itself. He presented the results of his findings at the IALS conferences in London (1992), Leh
(1993), Bonn (1995), Aarhus (1997), Leh (1999) and Oxford (2001), and at a series of other
conferences including those organised by International Association of Tibetan Studies
(IATS). His IALS publications are included in the select list below.

In 2003 Peter published a Hungarian-language collection of papers on Csoma. In early 2007

he brought out a second book on the Hungarian traveller László Berzenczey who – partly
inspired by Csoma – had travelled to Chinese Turkestan and across the Karakoram to Ladakh
in 1875. However, his crowning achievement was the publication later in 2007 of his two-
volume study of Alexander Csoma de KĘrös, which is reviewed elsewhere in this issue of
Ladakh Studies. The first volume assembles Peter’s most important essays on Csoma, and the
second is a collection of source documents.

Peter had been suffering from a chronic illness for some years, and this no doubt accounted
for his gaunt appearance. Happily, he was able to take part in the IALS colloquium in Rome
last September and, although obviously frail, seemed to be in good heart. He was carrying
copies of his books, and radiated a quiet satisfaction that this work had at last been
completed.

In late September and early October Peter travelled to Hungary to visit friends and continue
his researches. However, soon after his return to Geneva, he reported in successive e-mails
that he felt “awfully weakened” and that a medical examination had “yielded very alarming
results.” It seems that he passed away soon afterwards. His wife Viviane had died a year
earlier and, although Peter rarely spoke about personal matters, it was clear that she had been
greatly mourned.

Peter could be scathing of other writers who - out of an excess of admiration, personal
ambition or ignorance – had distorted the memory of Csoma de KĘrös with implausible
legends. His own writing was well sourced and carefully argued. At the same time, while he
always claimed a critical detachment, it is obvious that Peter felt a special affinity with a
subject who – like himself – had been a wandering expatriate Hungarian, and had been
sustained by high ideals. We must be grateful to him for communicating his findings to the
rest of us with such enthusiasm and care.

Select list of publications by Peter Marczell

1995. “Bodhisattva Csoma de Kôrös: Myth or Reality?” In Recent Research on Ladakh 4&5,
pp. 383-396. Edited by Henry Osmaston and Philip Denwood. London: SOAS; Delhi:
Motilal Banarsidass.
1996. “William Moorcroft’s Commercial Pilgrimage to Manasa Sarowara in 1812.” In Recent
Research on Ladakh 6, pp. 161-178. Edited by Henry Osmaston and Nawang Tsering.
Bristol: Bristol University Press; Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
1997. “William Moorcroft’s Pioneering Memorandum to the Secretary of the Asiatic Society
of Bengal on the Letters, Writing, Language and Culture of Tibet and its Vicinity.” In

12
 Recent Research on Ladakh 7, pp. 271-296. Edited by Thierry Dodin and Heinz
Räther. Ulm: Universität Ulm.
1999. “Csoma KĘrösi’s Guides in Tibetan Learning from Rdzong khul dgon-pa, Zangs dkar,
with Special Reference to Tshul khrims rgya mthso.” In Ladakh: Culture, History and
Development, between Himalaya and Karakoram. Recent Research on Ladakh 8, pp.
271-281. Edited by Martijn van Beek, Kristoffer Brix Bertelsen and Poul Pedersen.
Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.
2001. “Csoma de Kôrös: Himalayan Hermit or Nationalist Activist?” Himalayan and Central
Asian Studies 5, No. 2, pp. 23-53.
2001. “The Tibetan MSS of the Malan Bequest in the Bodleian and their Relation to the Life
and Works of Csoma KĘrösi”. Studia Asiatica 2, Nos. 1-2, pp. 55-71. Bucharest.
2003. A valósabb Körösi Csoma-képhez: adatok, terepvizsgálatok, találkozások.
Budapest: Puski. 445 pp. illus., maps.
2005. “Dr. James G. Gerard’s Unfulfilled Ambition to Visit Ladakh.” In Ladakhi Histories:
Local and Regional Perpectives, pp. 183-202. Edited by John Bray. Leiden: Brill
2005. “Csoma KĘrösi’s Pseudonym.” In Ladakhi Histories: Local and Regional Perpectives,
pp. 203-216. Edited by John Bray. Leiden: Brill.
2007. Adventures in Central Asia: a Hungarian in the Great Game / L. Berzenczey. New
Delhi: Pentagon Press. xx, 223 pp. illus., maps.
2007. Alexander Csoma de KĘrös. Vol.1. Csoma KĘrösi’s Planet. 302 pp.; Vol. 2. British-
Indian Source Documents. 593 pp. Calcutta: Asiatic Society.

13
DR KEITH BALL, 8th December 1915 – 10th January 2008.
–– John Bray

Dr Keith Ball’s connection with Ladakh dates back to 1980 when – already well into his 60s
– he joined the Bristol University expedition to Zangskar. Over the following decade and a
half he built up a wide circle of Ladakhi friends and – together with Dr Tsering Norboo and
other colleagues – conducted pioneering research into Ladakhi health conditions. Among
other activities, he helped set up two local NGOs: Ladakh Action on Smoking and Health
(LASH) and Ladakh Institute of Prevention (LIP – www.lipladakh.org).

An interest in preventative medicine had been one of the main themes of Keith’s earlier
career in Europe. Born in 1915, he graduated from the Middlesex Hospital Medical School in
1938. During the Second World War he was senior registrar at the Middlesex Hospital until
1944 when he joined the newly established United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation
Authority. As his obituary in The Times (London) observed, “His experiences in working
with this organisation to provide medical and other help for people who had been displaced
in forced labour camps, concentration camps and those who were refugees, imprinted
indelibly on him the social sources of disease.”

On returning to Britain after the war, he became consultant physician at the Central
Middlesex Hospital, with which he remained associated for the rest of his career. When he
reached the age of 60, he retired from clinical work and moved to an academic post as senior
lecturer in the department of community medicine at London University.

In Britain, Keith is best known for his campaigning on smoking. Through his influence, the
Royal College of Physicians published an influential report on Smoking and Health. In 1971
Keith helped start the lobby group Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) – the UK
predecessor to LASH - and became its first Honorary Secretary. He also did similar work in
the field of coronary prevention.

Keith’s official role in the 1980 Bristol University expedition to Zangskar was as medical
advisor. John Crook, who led the expedition, remembers him as “a patient doctor to us all”
and notes that “his warm personality soon attracted villagers to him.” John recalls Keith
sitting in an upstairs room in sTongde village surrounded by a complicated array of pipes and
other equipment for his various respiratory tests. The tests involved a lot of huffing and
puffing into the pipes to test lung power, and provided a great source of amusement for his
Zangskari friends.

Together with Jonathan Elford, Keith subsequently contributed a chapter on “Health in

Zangskar” to Himalayan Buddhist Villages, the set of research papers on Zangskar edited by
John Crook and Henry Osmaston. The chapter reports on the findings of the initial visit to
sTongde in 1980, a return visit to Kumik in 1981, and a visit to Leh in 1985. In sTongde
Keith had exchanged notes with the local amchi who, by feeling his ulnar pulse, had been
“tactful enough” to suggest that he would live to the age of 80. Happily, he exceeded this
target by a full 12-year cycle.

14
Keith returned to Ladakh several times after that initial visit, and developed a particularly
close association with Dr Tsering Norboo of the Sonam Norbu Memorial Hospital in Leh.
One of their most important contributions was to identify the link between environmental
dust and high rates of silicosis in the Indus valley, as well as the damaging effects of kitchen
smoke on health. Together with other colleagues, they wrote a series of research papers on
silicosis, high-altitude oedema, tetanus and respiratory illness in Ladakh.

Keith was also able to give advice on the development of community medicine. He was as
firm in his opposition to smoking as he had been in England, and in 1986 he helped set up
LASH together with Dr Tsering Norboo. In one of his papers on health in developing
countries, Keith cited a report from Dr Norboo following the 1988 “World No Smoking
Day”:

Every section of society was involved in the anti-smoking campaign. All-India Radio
broadcast anti-smoking slogans in Hindi and Ladakhi regularly before the news,
which is the most popular listening period. Radio talks and discussions were arranged.
All the schools in Leh and the surrounding villages started the prayer period with a
15-20 min talk on the topic. Young boys are approaching me for literature on the sub-
ject. LASH, the Lion's Club, and the Health Department organized a very
successful meeting with the help of the Development Commissioner. All the
headmasters, principals, presidents of various clubs, village heads, and a variety of
other leaders were present. The radio gave complete coverage, and I now expect
wider acceptability of smoke-free homes and work places.

Keith subsequently worked with Dr Norboo and others to set up the Ladakh Institute for
Prevention (LIP) to coordinate educational and research activities on preventative
health. Over the years, he inspired, encouraged and supported many younger Ladakhis to
pursue an interest in public health. Among them is Shabir Banday who is currently working
in Scotland and speaks warmly of Keith’s “keen interest and continuous dedication.”

In remembering Keith, Martijn van Beek recalls a characteristic incident from the 1980s:

I’ll always remember Keith giving Ladakhis working at LEDeG a hard time about
their smoking—firm, but always with a smile. One time in 1987 or 1988 he walked
into a restaurant when a LEDeG staff member had just lit up. Seeing Keith, he tried to
hide his cigarette in his fist, which he put in his pocket. I am sure Keith must have
seen his agony and the smoke curling up from his trouser pocket, but he kept up a nice
chat for several minutes before leaving. His victim had to run off to the kitchen to
pour water on his burned hand. . . It shows the kind of respect Keith commanded, I
suppose, as well as his sense of humour.

In more recent years, Keith had been unable to travel, but retained a close interest in Ladakh
and his friends there. He died on 9 January after suffering from a long deteriorating illness.

Everyone who knew Keith - whether in India or in Europe - will remember him for his
qualities of warmth, patience and careful research. We send our condolences to his wife
Francesca and their three daughters.

15
Select list of publications with contributions by Keith Ball.

1988. Tsering Norboo and Ball, Keith. “High Altitude Pulmonary Oedema in the
Himalayas: a preventable condition.” The Practitioner 232, 557-560, 9-5-1988.
1990. Dolma, T. and T. Norboo, M. Yayha, R. Hobson & K. Ball. “Seasonal Koilonychia in
Ladakh.” Contact Dermatitis Feb 1990, No. 2, pp. 78-80.
1991. T Norboo, PT Angchuk, M Yahya, SR Kamat, FD Pooley, B Corrin, IH Kerr, N
Bruce and KP Ball. “Silicosis in a Himalayan village population: role of
environmental dust.” Thorax 46, 341-343.
1991. Norboo, T.; M.Yahya, N.G. Bruce and K.P. Ball. “Domestic Pollution and
Respiratory Illness in a Himalayan Village.” International Journal of Epidemiology
20, No. 3, pp. 749-757.
1992. “How Doctors in Developing Countries can Control Tobacco Consumption.” Control
of Tobacco-related Cancers and Other Diseases. International Symposium, 1990.
Edited by Prakesh C, Gupta et al. Bombay: Oxford University Press.
1994. Keith Ball & Jonathan Elford. “Health in Zangskar.” In Himalayan Buddhist
Villages, pp. 405-432. Edited by John Crook and Henry Osmaston. Bristol: Bristol
University Press.
1994. Keith Ball, Tsering Norboo, Usha Gupta & Shuja Shafi. “Ladakh: is tetanus rare at
high altitudes?” Tropical Doctor 24, 78-80.
1998. Keith Ball. “Sandstorms, Smoke and Chest Disease in Ladakh.” Ladakh Studies 10,
pp. 14-15.
2004. T. Norboo, H. N. Saiyed, P. T. Angchuk, P. Tsering, S. T. Angchuk, S. T. Phuntsog,
M. Yahya, Steve Wood, N. G. Bruce and K. P. Ball. “Mini Review of High Altitude
Health Problems in Ladakh.” Biomedicine & Pharmacoptherapy 54, No. 4, pp. 220-
225.

16
PROFESSOR ROBERT ROAF, 25th April 1913 – 16th February 2007
–– Roger Croston

Professor Robert Roaf, was a reknowned spinal surgeon and one of the last British pre-war
Himalayan climber, who first came to Ladakh with Marco Pallis. He took part in the fourth
IALS colloquium, which was held in Bristol in 1989, and read a paper on “Ladakh in 1936”.
He subsequently re-visited Ladakh, and described his experiences in a short paper published
by the Tibet Society in 1992. He remained in contact with the IALS and to the end of his life
retained a deep interest in Ladakh and the wider Himalayan region.

Professor Robert Roaf Roaf’s early childhood was spent in London. Aged 13, he won a
scholarship to Winchester, and in 1931 won a further scholarship to Balliol College, Oxford,
to study physiology and biochemistry.

In 1935 Marco Pallis invited Roaf to join his forthcoming Himalayan expedition as medical
officer. The plan was to climb in Sikkim and to travel from there to Tibet. As Roaf explained,
“… the one condition [was] that I learn enough Tibetan to handle all the local patients who
inevitably turn up in camps. Looking back I’m not sure why I accepted as it really wasn’t a
good career move.”

Pallis had climbed extensively without guides in the Alps and had led a previous Himalayan
expedition. A gifted musician and fine linguist, he became interested in Tibet in 1933 and
became an outstanding Buddhist scholar. His climbing companions Richard Nicholson and
Jake Cook joined him, along with Freddy Spencer-Chapman, a man with immense powers of
endurance. Pallis subsequently wrote up his account of the 1936 expedition in his book Peaks
and Lamas (1939).

Roaf found Sikkim an exceptionally beautiful country, it being possible to go from tropical to
arctic conditions in two days: “From Mangan one can see the river Teesta at 2,000 feet
together with the summit of Kanchenjunga at over 28,000 feet. The main difficulty on the
trek to base camp was leeches. The first we knew of them would be our heads dripping with
blood or our boots filled with it.”

Reaching Lachen village at 10,000 feet the expedition was blessed by a saintly Tulku, and
recruited 30 more porters for work on the Zemu glacier: “The village headman was a skilled
negotiator and drove a good price. He consulted me, complaining that when he drank excess
brandy his eyes watered. A previous English doctor had made the foolish suggestion that he
should drink less and he hoped I was not equally silly.”

Having acclimatised, an attempt was made on the northwest ridge of Simvu. While the
climbing party attempted the summit – they failed due to an impassable chasm – Roaf
returned to base with the porters where he found a crisis developing between arguing
Darjeeling and Garhwali porters. Some had decided the climbers would all be killed on the
mountain and so they could steal all their possessions. When Roaf returned alone: “They
were convinced all other British were dead. The only problem was how to dispose of me and
I had a very anxious night. Fortunately, by pure chance news came that a Lt. Harrison, whose

17
seriously ill climbing companion was being carried down to Gangtok, would arrive soon
hoping to join us. No more plotting after that.”

Unable to travel on to Tibet, the expedition decided instead to turn to Ladakh, travelling there
via Lahore and Kashmir. Roaf had an outstanding visual memory of Leh in that period. As he
recalled during the 1989 IALS conference:

Leh was a magnificent sight. It was much smaller in area than nowadays, and the
relatively few houses were surrounded by orchards, fields and trees… On our journey
we had met many Tibetans and Yarkandis and in Leh we saw many different races
each with their characteristic dress and culture. The Yarkandis were fine-looking men
with lager horses. Although they had typical Mongolian features, many had fair
complexions and hair, and green or blue eyes. In their caravans there was always at
least one Samovar strapped on the back of a pony or mule.

Roaf’s party were privileged to meet many of the most prominent Ladakhis of the time. He
recalled meeting Haji Mohammed Siddiq, “a highly respected head of a trading business with
links with Lhasa, Central Asia and Kashmir”. Joseph Gergan, who had nearly completed his
Bible translation, made an equally strong impression. At Spituk, they met Dawa, the bursar,
whom Roaf described as “a man of outstanding ability and spirituality, who also had a
trenchant sense of humour.” At Phyang monastery they took lessons in thangka painting from
Konchog Gyaltsen, one of the outstanding religious artists of his generation.

One day while sitting on the floor talking to Lama Gyaltsen in Phyang, Roaf happened to
lightly land his feet on the massive black tome of Prof. Boyd’s Textbook of Pathology to
which he had just referred. The lama stopped in the middle of his discourse and said in
shocked tones, “Excuse me, you may not know it, but you are treading on a book!” Roaf at
once apologised, picked up the precious volume and laid it in a safe place. Pallis thought its
learned author would have been surprised at such respect – an honour it probably never
received from his students in his own laboratory at home.

Nearly 70 years later, in 2005, Roaf met a monk from Phyang who was visiting North Wales
and reminisced about his time there and the great philosophers he had met. The monk asked
him his age. He replied, “92.” The monk said he was “29.” Both laughed heartily at this
reversal of figures, both well knowing the importance of auspicious numbers in Tibetan
culture.

Raof’s expedition to the Himalayas had a lasting impact on his career: “In India I saw many
medical conditions virtually unknown in England, especially deformities. This may have
influenced me to become an orthopaedic surgeon. Also, then, long before anti-biotics, there
were very few effective treatments and orthopaedics had good results.”

Roaf completed his Oxford degree six months after returning to England. Becoming a Quaker
in 1939 he registered as a conscientious objector at the outbreak of the Second World War.
After air raids on Liverpool, though, he decided he could not continue to eat food brought to
Great Britain at the expense of sailors’ lives and joined the Merchant Navy as Ship’s

18
Surgeon. He was invalided home at the end of 1943 with recurrent undulant fever and worked
the last two war years in an emergency hospital in Winwick, near Warrington.

Next, after taking a degree in orthopaedic surgery at Liverpool, he was appointed assistant
surgeon at the Liverpool Royal Infirmary in 1946. Early in 1947 he was appointed to the
Robert Jones and Evans Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, Oswestry. Also, in 1947 he began to
develop new methods of operating through the chest to correct spinal deformities from the
front. These took years to be accepted but are now standard procedure worldwide.

In 1952 Roaf was approached to set up a post-graduate training programme for 18 months at
the Irwin Hospital, Delhi, India, as part of the Colombo Plan. He encountered a vast number
of unexpected problems but made many life-long friends as well as deepening his interest and
knowledge of Indian arts and culture. Returning home in 1955, Roaf was appointed Director
of Clinical Studies and Research at Oswestry. In 1963 he was appointed Chair of Orthopaedic
Surgery at Liverpool University at the age of 50. He was later appointed Pro Vice Chancellor,
and retired aged 63 in 1976.

In retirement Roaf visited Tibet and the Indian Himalayas on several occasions, often to visit
Tibetan refugee settlements, usually accompanied by one or more of his family. His last visit
to the Himalayas was in 1998 at the age of 85. In 2003 he was delighted to receive
researchers from the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, Gangktok, Sikkim, who interviewed
him about his experiences of their country in 1936. In 1939 Roaf married “an extremely
tolerant wife”, née Ceinwen Roberts, from Anglesey. She predeceased him, aged 94, by a
week. They are survived by their four children.

References

Pallis, Marco. 1939. Peaks and Lamas. London: Cassell & Co.
Spencer-Chapman, Frederick. 1940. Helvellyn to Himalaya. London: Chatto & Windus.
Roaf, Robert. 1992. “Return to Ladakh.” Tibet Society of the U.K. Newsletter, Summer 1992,
pp.11-12. London.
Roaf, Robert. 1995. “Ladakh in 1936.” In Recent Research on Ladakh 4&5, pp. 177-179.
Edited by Henry Osmaston and Philip Denwood. London: SOAS; Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Roaf, Robert. 2001 “Sikkim 1936. Climbing with Marco Pallis, Freddy Spencer Chapman
and others, in the Zemu Valley.” Alpine Journal, pp. 173-180.

19
ESSAYS

Emerging Infectious Diseases and the

Integrity of Indigenous Cultures and Regions
–––Richard V. Lee, M.D. Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics and Obstetrics; Adjunct
Professor of Anthropology and Social and Preventive Medicine; Director: Division of
Maternal & Adolescent Medicine; Director: Division of Geographic Medicine, State
University of New York at Buffalo

During 2007 and 2008, there were reports of cases of human infection with the plague
bacillus in Mongolia. A recent case report of a young man infected with plague and cured
with antibiotics, from killing and skinning an affected Himalayan marmot, started me
thinking about the marmots that populate the Pir Panjal, Zanskar, Ladakh, and Karakoram
ranges that shape the landscape and climate of Ladakh.

Ruminations led to speculation about the occurrence of epidemic and pandemic infections in
the region in the past and perhaps in the future. These ruminations were fed by the history of
trans-Himalayan trade and travel so ably described by Janet Rizvi.1,2

Although I know of no documented early accounts of plague in the Western Himalaya,

considering the documentation of travel by monks seeking scripture and enlightenment in
Central Asia and the western mountains long before the Mongol conquests in the West and
the burst of plague in Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries, it is likely the plague spread south
and west from the steppes of Mongolia into the trade routes that make up the web of travel
that constitutes the larger map of the “Silk Road.”3 I do not know that marmots of Ladakh
and Kashmir are reservoirs of the plague bacillus, but considering the endemicity of plague in
rodent colonies, and their attendant fleas, in Asia and North America, it certainly seems a
reasonable hypothesis, easily proven by bold but careful examination of local marmots.

An unusual and perhaps frivolous speculation to be sure, but more importantly, it brought out
the naive and dangerous misconception I shared with others that Ladakh, contained within its
mountain and spiritual fortresses, was somehow preserved from the infections of a distant
world filled with dangerous pathogens like smallpox, tuberculosis, plague and others.
Misplaced expectations that somehow the people and animals that subsist in the region are
highly susceptible to presumed novel infections is fostered by the notion that Ladakh and the
Western Himalaya are an island—an undiscovered and uncontacted remoteness separated by
distance and sea, something like the Americas before 1492.

Ladakh and the Western Himalaya have been alive with migrating birds, transhumance
pastoralist nomads, religious and trading caravans from South, Central, and East Asia for
time out of mind. Ladakh would not have been spared the epidemic infections of the ancient,
urbanizing and traveling world. Measles and influenza along with smallpox and plague would
have been frequent visitors from the growing urban centers of trade along the “silk roads.” In
fact there are modern clues to the history of cosmopolitan infections in Ladakh: for example,
the old ChangPa couple with evidence of two old infections, the man with Potts disease or
TB of the spine and the lady milking a yak with old scars of cowpox on her hands.

20
The history of travel and trade through Ladakh destroys the notion that the region is the
equivalent of a remote island. Ladakh has protected and maintained its traditional culture for
more than a millennium despite the waxing and waning of plagues and invaders. Its stability
is perhaps because it was remote enough to be left alone most of the time but accessible
enough for the old, established infectious pathogens to circulate and maintain
immunocompetence throughout the population. In fact, the “old” diseases become an integral
component of traditional culture. Consider the ubiquitous consumption of tea and chang as a
behavior to reduce the risk of gastroenteric infections and to provide an important source of
calories for children and adults.

The events of the past century, however, have dramatically reduced the movement of
animals, people, and pathogens along Ladakh’s northern and western boundaries, and have
opened the southern and eastern boundaries to rapid expansion of tourism and military
intrusion. The current situation has magnified the risks for importation of infectious
pathogens that have emerged as novel infections in the highly urbanized and motorized
world.4 It is highly mobile infections, like HIV and SARS, that are likely to be most
dangerous and harmful to the indigenous Ladakhi populace.

HIV and SARS traveled quickly around the globe around transportation routes by airplane
and truck traffic. Rapid expansion of motor roads throughout Ladakh has increased mobility
and access to modern services and technology. However, one of the less welcome
consequences of road building is the emergence of sexually transmitted infections, illicit
substance usage, and tobacco and alcohol addiction in traditional communities ill prepared to
mitigate the consequences of development.

Mobility and access will have substantial impact upon reproductive tradition, practice, and
outcome. Impacts that are important for the two papers by Kim Gutschow and Chris
Wahlfeld given at the IALS meeting in Rome, September 2007. Access to medical and
obstetric care may produce changes in choices for prenatal care and delivery, especially for
women in villages distant from hospitals with obstetric services. Family size and traditional
reproductive choices are likely to be adapted to improvements in maternal and neonatal
mortality, access to contraceptive care, and improved detection and treatment of sexually
transmitted infections. The advent of HIV infection will appear early among women of
reproductive age and as a public health sentinel should be under active surveillance.

The majority (60-75%) of human infections, especially contemporary emerging infections,

have their origin in animals and birds.5 The importance of zoonotic infections and
agricultural practice and tradition have been dramatically illustrated by the origin of SARS in
2002-2003 and the steady advance of H5N1 avian influenza over the past decade from
Southern China. Ladakh’s Buddhist villages are not comparable to the small, multispecies
farms of Southern China and Southeast Asia nor do they share comparable food sources and
selection. It seems to me unlikely that Ladakh will be a source of similar pandemic
infections. Nevertheless, Ladakhis would be highly susceptible to these emerging pathogens
and because of the capacity of avian influenza viruses to infect and persist in wild waterfowl,
the migratory birds, such as bar headed geese and black necked cranes, would be possible

21
vectors and victims. The papers about the birds of Rupshu document the fragility of the
wetlands and the wetland avian population.

Villagers and transhumance nomads are at risk for gastroenteric infections such as E. coli
0157:H7 since these organisms can become normal flora in ruminants (sheep, goats, yaks,
cows, etc.). Range fed animals not fed with antibiotic supplemented feeds may pose less risk
than animals fed supplemental grain and growth promoting feeds. Hanle Basin has
experienced episodes of hemorrhagic diarrhea similar to the hemolytic-uremic syndrome of
Shigella toxin producing E. coli. The unique ecology of the Hanle region fosters the
persistence of toxigenic E. coli and the transmission to humans.6

Ladakh has to be more afraid of pathogens carried by human beings entering by airplane or
motor vehicle than pathogens that are endemic among the regional animals and people. The
impact of novel infections in a remote, but not isolated, region like Ladakh will surely
produce morbidity and mortality, but perhaps the greatest harm will descend upon traditional
behaviors and communal stability. Epidemic infection superimposed upon the spread of
roadways and the transformation of rural and urban relationships may destroy the fabric of
Ladakhi society most of us have come to study and admire.

REFERENCES

1. Rizvi J. Ladakh: Crossroads of High Asia. Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1983.
2. Rizvi J. TransHimalayan Caravans: Merchant Princes and Peasant Traders in
Ladakh. New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1999.
3. Ray C, Collinge SK. Potential effects of a keystone species on the dynamics of sylvatic
plague, in Collinge SK and Ray C (editors), Disease Ecology: Community Structure
and Pathogen Dynamics. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2006.
4. Lee RV. Maladies, malaise and modernization: health and development in Ladakh.
Asian Affairs 2001; 32(old series 88):300-306.
5. Wolfe ND, Dunavan CP, Diamond J. Origins of major human infectious diseases.
Nature 2006; 447:279-283.
6. Lee, RV, Ariya, R, Lee, MV, Lippes H, Wahlfeld C, Expedition Report: Hanle Basin,
Ladakh. Ladakh Studies 2006; 20: 34-38

22
Balti Folksongs with Reference to Ladakh
–––Syed Bahadur Ali Salik

Folksongs are the soul of Balti and Ladakhi folk culture, and have played an important role in
conveying the ways and traditions of one generation to the next. Many are popular in both
Baltistan and Ladakh. The majority of existing songs relate to the gyal tus, the period of local
rulers before 1840 A.D. More than a hundred folksongs have been published in Ladakh by
Kacho Sikandar Khan Sikandar while about a hundred more have been discovered in
Baltistan. Some of these relate to historical events, while countless others deal with all
imaginable human emotions: joy and sorrow, love and hatred, pride and prejudice, hope and
frustration, remorse and pity.

In Balti folksongs, the poet does not disclose his or her name. Instead, he or she prefers to use
expressions such as “I, the youth,” “I, the girl” etc. These folksongs contain stories about the
eternal love of husband and wives, bitterness between daughters and mothers-in law, the
prayers and good wishes of mothers for their offspring, and the affection of lovers, as well as
bravery and cruelty. The songs show the natural beauty of Baltistan and Ladakh as well as the
ancient culture and customs of the region. They are also a treasure of Balti vocabulary.

The people of Baltistan know the backgrounds so well that they have only to mention the
titles of particular songs to convey messages about their feelings. For example, the song of
Shing Khan Kufa stands for faithlessness while Tsan Thaqring is a symbol for waiting
anxiously. Langdukpa refers to the demand for justice; Bono Marym is a call to the nation to
be alert; and Khrizom Bono is an admiration of human beauty.

In Baltistan there are no new folksongs. When people adopted Islam, the local Rajas adopted
Persian as an official language, and the Balti language was neglected. After the partition of
the Indian sub-continent, Urdu was adopted as the national language of Pakistan, and
flourished accordingly, while poets only rarely wrote in Balti. The present stock of songs is
old and we have to protect them as an important asset of our common Balti and Ladakhi
heritage.

Khrizom Bono

This song is a story of separation and belongs to the Ladakh region. It is a love story of a
couple, and Khrizom was the name of the girl. The legend goes that the girl’s parents sent her
to another region in an arranged marriage, and the two young people were unable to resist
them. Although they were separated, they longed to see each other again. The lover sings of
his beloved:

If someone brings me news about my beloved Khrizom, I will present him with my
turban.
My love is so strong that even if the crow becomes old and turns white, I will cherish
your love in my heart.
If someone brings to me news about my beloved Khrizom, I will present him with my
gun that saves me from my enemies.

23
 Oh my beloved, if rivers become dry and only sand is in them, even then I will keep
your love deep in my heart.
If someone brings news of my beloved, I will present him with the rings from my
fingers.
Even if the mountains become old and crumble, my love will be everlasting.
If someone brings news of my beloved Khrizom, who is dearer to me than my own
life, I will present him with my belt full of cartridges.
My love is so long-lasting that even if the round stones of the river become old and
hair grows on them, your love will remain enshrined in my heart.

Aano Dalmo Suk

This song is the story of a deer and her fawn. The mother deer is wounded by a hunter’s
bullet on the top of a rocky hill. The young one, who has been sitting alongside his mother, is
terrified by the booming sound of the gun from which the bullet was fired. Seeing his
mother’s condition, the fawn asks:

Fawn Oh mother, what is the matter? You are looking very sad today.
Mother I am tired because of the change of weather, and nothing else.
Fawn Oh mother, I see men in this valley today.
Mother Oh my son, they are not men. They are scarecrows erected by hunters.
They are called thoyour. They look like men from far away. Nothing has
happened, my son.
Fawn Oh mother, who is climbing up with a gun on his shoulder?
Mother Oh my son, don’t worry. They are shepherds looking after their herds
with sticks in their hands and nothing else.
Fawn Oh mother, what is that red spot on your shoulder, and why are those red
drops trickling from your shoulder?
Mother My son, there is nothing to worry about. I happened to lie down in the flower
beds for a while. The red flowers stuck to me, and are now dropping from my
body. This is the only reason—there is nothing to worry about.

The heart of the young deer is throbbing with fear and misgiving, but the mother does not tell
him that she is perishing. The hearts of all who listen to this pathetic folksong are filled with
grief and sympathy.

Sara Begum.

The song relates to a couple—Sara Begum and Ali Murad Khan—who love each other
intensely. The song tells of the lovers’ plight, and the passions of love and separation. When
the two part from one another, the beloved describes her condition. She tries to console
herself. She utters words of prayer for her lover again and again. She prays for his long life
and that they will meet again:

I pray that Sara Begum turns into a golden hen. If I am transformed into a hen, I will
go to the fields of Ali Murad Khan on the pretext of searching for grains and then I

24
 will live there. I am not yet disappointed. I am full of hope. I am sending you my
compliments.
If Sara Begum becomes a beautiful pigeon, she will sit in the fields of her lover and
will be absorbed in his thoughts and will thus try to pacify her heart. Oh God bless Ali
Murad Khan with long life like the stars in the sky.
If God turns me into a beautiful ring, I will creep onto the finger of Ali Murad Khan
and adorn his hand. Oh my lover, I am waiting for you, and I salute you.
Oh God, if you turn me into a beautiful handkerchief I will adorn the pocket of Ali
Murad Khan. Oh God, please grant long life to Ali Murad Khan, like the grass and
plants on the land
Oh God, if you turn me into a shoe, I will adorn the feet of Ali Murad Khan and will
cling to his toes. I will keep waiting for the coming times. I send you my Salaam.
If Sara Begum becomes a pen or pencil, she will fix herself into the fingers of Ali
Murad Khan and will make him write love letters to her liking, and pacify her heart.

It can be seen how subtly this song expresses the sentiments of love, passion and hope for a
future reunion

Conclusion

In the light of these three Balti folksongs, among many others, we can say that the cultures of
the Ladakh and Baltistan regions are very close to one another. These folksongs are presented
to the Ladakhi people on behalf of the people of Baltistan as a message of love and
friendship.

Acknowledgements

I am greatly obliged to the late Qasim Kanday who sang these folksongs and explained their
background. I would like to acknowledge the sincere help of the renowned scholar and writer
Hassan Hasrat, as well as the late Kacho Sikandar Khan Sikandar of Kargil, whose book
Ladakh in the Mirror of her Folklore helped me in the preparation of this article.

25
NEWS FROM LADAKH
––Thanks to Nasir Khan and Tashi Morup for finding these stories.

Scientists find palm fossils in Ladakh. New Delhi, March 28, 2007: Zeenews

The frozen deserts of Ladakh once had a coastal environment millions of years ago with palm
trees dotting its landscape and scientists have discovered yet another evidence of it in the
form of plant fossils.

Palaeobotanists scouring the icy heights of Jammu and Kashmir came across a set of plant
fossils near Tsokar in the Eastern Ladakh region a proof of the existence of a coastal
environment in the region.
"The fossils belong to the middle-late Eocene period, anywhere between 45-33 million years
ago," S K Paul, a senior scientist with the Dehradun-based Wadia Institute of Himalayan
Geology said.

The fossils were discovered near Shingbuk, about 12 km from Tsokar which lies in the Indus
Suture Zone which divides the Himalayas from the Karakoram Mountains as well as the
Tibetan plateau. The scientists claim that the fossil specimen discovered by them is different
from all the known species of Palmacites and have described it as a new species --'Palmacites
tsokarensis', named after the locality from where it was collected.

"Its presence not only indicates that palms were abundant during the middle-late Eocene in
the region, but also suggests that the area had not attained as much height as it has today
(about 5,000 meters above mean sea level)," he said.

Paul, along with co-authors of the study -- Ram Awatar, Binita Phartiyal, A Sharma and R C
Mehrotra of the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow, reported their findings in
the latest issue of journal 'Current Science'. Palaeobotanists have found fossils of palm trees
and even a variety of rhinoceros from the Ladakh region suggesting existence of a coastal
environment and later a luxuriant vegetation in the area.

"In the tectonic interpretation it can be said that a large gap of the Tethys Ocean was
consumed along this zone as a result of collision of the Indian plate with the Eurasian plate,"
the scientists said in their report. The Tethys Ocean existed in the Mesozoic era, the period
between 250 and 65 million years ago, between the continents of Gondwana and Laurasia.

The leaf impressions were collected from the Indus Suture Zone's Hemis Formation which is
considered to belong to the middle-late Eocene period. "The fossil remains are of a fine
quality and preserved in the finer part of the siltstone horizons," Paul said.

A team of Palaeobotanists led by R N Lakhanpal had discovered palm fossils -- Livistona

wadiai -- in the 1980s from northeast of Hemis Gompa, a famous Buddhist temple situated
about 50 km southeast of Leh. "The present fossil, along with Livistona, indicates tropical
conditions during the depositional period," Paul said The fossils are of a fan-shaped leaf, with
the preserved lamina length of about 34 cm and a preserved width of 20 cm.

26
Ladakh's nomads could lose lifeline to sanctuary. April 28, 2007: Down to Earth
The decision by Jammu and Kashmir’s Leh district to declare the Changthang region a
highaltitude wildlife sanctuary has put Ladakh’s Changpa nomads in a fix. The nomads have,
for long, been using the land for grazing their livestock including their famous pashm goats.
They say the decision will hem them in, though they have, for centuries, been living in
harmony with Changthang’s ecosystem. The administration’s decision has threatened other
communities too. The move to create the wildlife sanctuary, through a notification issued by
the Leh district magistrate in January 2007, is part of the administration’s plan to strictly
implement the Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1978.

The notification is in compliance with a Supreme Court order of September 2002, restricting
human activities in protected wildlife areas and also follows a visit of the Central Empowered
Committee (cec) to the Pangong lake—an important biological reserve pool for many species
of migratory birds—last summer.

The act was not properly implemented in the state because of a shortage of staff at the
wildlife department. The state government has already identified a 4,000-sq km tract for the
sanctuary. Other areas coming under the plan include the Pangong Lake, Chushul, Sato-
Kargyam and Anley marshes, and the Loma-Skagjung pastures.

Changthang, meaning eastern flat land, is located east of Leh on the India-China border. The
average altitude of the area, which is home to wild animals and rare birds, is around 14,600 m
above sea level. The proposed plan has been mooted as an immediate measure to save the
biodiversity of the region which is under threat, say authorities. “Many of our tents are near
the lake and we fear that they won’t let livestock graze in the area,” says Konchok Stobgais
of Man Merag village. The pastoral people say if the area is declared protected, they will
have no place to go.

Problem proposal
Others, too, say the plan has shortcomings. “All of Changthang has been outlined for the
sanctuary, instead of being practical by pinpointing the focus areas of biological importance,”
says Rinchen Wangchuk, a wildlife activist with Snow Leopard Conservancy, an ngo in the
region. “The authorities should have consulted local people and taken them in confidence
while surveying for the sanctuary demarcation,” says Urgain Rangdol of Koyoul village.
“The areas apart from the ‘biological hotspots’ will be excluded during the process of
settlement of rights,” says Jigmet Takpa, a conservator with the wildlife department in
Ladakh. But many including the nomads are not convinced. On March 13, people from
Changthang sub-division, including members from Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development
Council (lahdc), met the district magistrate seeking withdrawal of the plan. They argued
protected zones would deny them access to the region’s resources. The authorities asked them
to constitute a committee and come up with recommendations.

All for tourism?

“The sanctuary is intended to benefit those in the tourism business. They have nothing to lose
like us,” says Tsering Angchuk from Chushul. The Changpas accuse the thriving tourism
business and the military activities near the line of actual control of harming the fragile

27
ecology of the region. “We always co-existed with the wildlife and with the army who dump
waste and set up buildings near lakes,” says

Ladakh to get roads on ‘war footing’. May 05, 2007: The Indian Express

With the Rs 12,123-crore Special Accelerated Road Development Project (SARDP) for
accelerating road connectivity to the Northeast well under way, the government has identified
Ladakh as the next region for development of border roads on a “war footing”.

In a significant move, a high level delegation of MEA and MoD officials accompanied
Defence Minister A K Antony on his first visit to Leh to draw up a masterplan for integrated
road development in the region. The delegation, headed by Special Envoy to the Prime
Minister, Shyam Saran, will survey the region for the next few days and identify vital
projects to be brought under an accelerated development plan. “We will be conducting a
survey in the region to see where infrastructure can be improved. The aim is to get
developmental work done at a fast pace,” Saran said.

He added that the project would be modelled around North-East’s SARDP. Significantly, an
official from MEA’s China desk is also part of the delegation to identify vital projects in the
area. Concerned with the growing land transport network on the Chinese side across the
border, the delegation will be looking to increasing black topped roads for “end point
connectivity” till the international border. While BRO will be handling all road projects, the
idea is not just to meet defence needs. “It will not be just to increase security. Communication
as a whole will get benefited in the region,” Saran.

The roads will also help local law enforcement authorities reach remote locations, an official
added. The defence minister has also thrown his weight behind the project. “They (Border
Roads Organisation) must complete border roads on a war footing. We will give top priority
for both equipment and manpower,” the Defence Minister said.

Complete strike in Kargil. Kargil, May 11, 2007: UNI

Life was today crippled by a strike called by a number of organisations in protest against
alloting three more seats to Zanaskar in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council
(LAHDC), Kargil. Shops and business establishments were closed in the town and other
major areas of the district in response to strike call given by Anjuman-e-Jamaitul-Ulma and
Islamia School Kargil.

Streets wore a deserted look as transport remained off the roads. Even the convoy of the
security forces was not allowed to move. Work in Government, semi Government and
financial institutions was also paralysed as employees stayed away. The educational
institutions also remained closed. The sponsores of the strike alleged that during the
delimitation by the Government, the Zanaskar was allotted three more seats in the LAHDC,
Kargil, when they already have four members in the Council.
They alleged other areas, which has more population were ignored by the administration
during the delimitation.

28
New farm tech turns Ladakh green. May 14, 2007. The Financial Express

The cold desert area of Ladakh is now a thing of the past. The area has undergone
transformation successfully through what we may call a “green revolution”. Today, the area
produces 63 tuber and leafy vegetable crops in summer in open fields. Some exotic crops are
also grown in this region.

The technology developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
has made the transformation possible. Even in winter when the temperature falls below 50
degree Celsius, about 18 fruits and vegetables in greenhouses and semi-underground
trenches, said the DRDO director for life sciences, RC Sawhney. “At present 50% of the
vegetable and 100% of the fodder needs for troops deployed at the line of actual control are
met through crops grown in the region,” he said.

The usually low summer temperature in the Ladakh region, makes it possible, winter crops
grown in rest of the country to be grown in this region. Potato is grown in summer in Ladakh
region, particularly during May to September.

“Potatoes grown in the region meet 75% of the needs of the troops,” said agri scientist Sanjay
Kumar Dwivedy. RDO has a field research laboratory (FRL) located in Leh in Ladakh. The
FRL has standardised agro-techniques for 65 vegetables including tropical, sub-tropical and
temperate ones suitable for growing in the region. The standardised technology was
demonstrated and transferred to farmers. New vegetables crops like parsley, celery, sarda
melon, Japanese bunching onion, sweet turnip, karam sag, chenopodium and garlic have been
introduced and farming practices have been standardised.

FRL also standardised seed production technology and transferred it to farmers. One of the
significant seed production technology developed by FRL is that of garlic aerial true to type
seed bulbil technology which saves up to 15 quintal per hectare planting material. About 54
genotypes of indigenous apricot from the cold arid regions of Ladakh have been identified,
evaluated and conserved. FRL has developed vegetative methods for propagation of apricot
by grafting, chip budding and top working. It has set up a scion bud wood bank and progeny
orchard of apricot. A gene bank for apricot, apple, seabuckthorn, cherry, walnut, strawberry
and mulberry has been set up.

“Cherry, walnut are grown in the neighbouring region which is about 9,000 feet below Leh.
Farmers are successfully growing apricot, strawberry and apples,” said Dwivedy.

Solar-based greenhouses including low cost double walled polytrenches have been set up
along the line of actual control in Kargil and Siacen for round the year vegetable cultivation.
Terrace farming with integrated irrigation system with drip, sprinkler system has resulted in
50% water use efficiency. Underground storage techniques for perishables have been
developed for use in winter. The Ladakh Development Council provides Rs 50,000 subsidy
to farmers for setting up greenhouses. Triple layered polycarbonate greenhouses are found to
be most suitable to grow early seedlings (from first week of April) for protected cultivation to
take early crop and also for ensuring 300% cropping intensity. “Our technology has
improved the livelihood option of farmers. Earlier, barely any crop was grown in this region.

29
Today, the farmers are encouraged to grow a number of crops. The defence forces are also
benefited by getting organic food produced locally,” said Dwivedy.

On being asked what prices the crops are purchased from farmers, Sawhney said, “Before we
introduced our techniques of cultivation in Ladakh, food had to be transported from
Chandigarh by air. Transportation is costly. It increases the cost of vegetable by about Rs 27
per kg. The army purchases most of the fruits and vegetables from farmers in the region. The
farmers have formed cooperative societies of their own. They negotiate the price at which
would they like to sell.

The purchase price is usually little less than the cost of the food transported from Chandigarh
and is quite remunerative for farmers”. FRL has also developed post-harvest and processing
technology for various crops grown in the region and has transferred it to the industry.
A number of processing units have come up in the region, particularly for jams, jelly, nectar,
juice and pickles. The industry in the region provide employment opportunities. FRL has also
developed cold arid poultry production technology for boosting availability of meat and eggs.
“There is some constraints in poultry farming. As Ladakh is predominantly populated by
Buddhists, the poultry farming did not get the desired boost,” said Dwivedy.

Congress, NC-backed candidates win Ladakh Hill Council polls . Kargil, May 28, 2007:
Kashmir Times

A ruling Congress candidate and an independent supported by the main opposition National
Conference (NC) today emerged victorious in the by-elections to the Hill Development
Councils for Leh and Kargil respectively.

The bypolls to the Lower Leh constituency in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development
Council (LAHDC-Leh) and Ranbirpura Drass seat in the LAHDC-Kargil were held on
Saturday. In Lower Leh, Sonam Dorjay of the Congress defeated Phunchok Wangdan, an
independent candidate supported by the Ladakh Union Territory Front (LUTF), in a straight
contest by 2142 votes. The Lower Leh seat fell vacant after Thupstan Chawang got elected to
Parliament.

Ghulam Rasool Nagvi, an independent candidate backed by the NC, won Ranbirpura Drass,
defeating his nearest rival Ghulam Qadir, a Congress-supported independent nominee, by
about 700 votes. Mohammad Ismail Bhaji of the Peoples Democratic Party and independent
Abdul Hameed were also in the fray.

The byelections to the Ranbirpura Drass constituency was necessitated due to the death of
councillor Haji Abdul Majeed in a road accident in July last year.An estimated 78 per cent
and 60 per cent polling was recorded in the elections for Lower Leh and Ranbirpura Drass
constituencies respectively on Saturday. The polling had passed off peacefully as no
untoward incident was reported from any part of the two constituencies.

30
Centre to set up University in Leh. Leh, June 8, 2007: Excelsior Correspondent

The Centre has agreed to open a University in Leh on the pattern of Shillong University in
North East. This was stated by Chief Executive Councilor (CEC) Ladakh Autonomous Hill
Development Council ( LAHDC) Leh, Chering Dorje while addressing an inaugural session
of the two-day General Council Meeting that began here today.

Dorje said that with the setting up of such a University, the long standing educational
aspiration of the people of Ladakh will be met. The CEC informed that the Centre has also
included Leh district among the list of 25 districts across the country to introduce special
intervention programme whereunder such additional funds are expected to receive.

LAHDC Leh to give top priority to road connectivity. Leh, June 9, 2007: Daily Excelsior

After discussing the schemes of Annual Plan 2007-08 for two days in its General Council
Meeting, the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Leh today resolved
to give top priority to connect the unconnected areas like Singhelalok, Urbees, Skyu Markha
and Sumda.

During two days discussion and deliberations, LAHDC Leh approved Rs 21.35 crore for
PWD, Rs 4.07 crore for health, Rs 2.96 crore for education, Rs 1.42 crore for agriculture, Rs
2.92 for PHE and Rs 2.39 crore for urban development sectors in Leh district during 2007-08.
Besides, Rs 3.12 crore will be spent on councilors constituency development funds during the
same period. Under this scheme, Rs 10 lakh has been alloted to each Councilor to develop the
constituencies.

Quoting the unemployment problem, Councilor Skyu-Markha Rigzin Spalbar, who is the
Opposition leader in the House, stressed for raising job opportunities by introducing
information technology schemes. The Deputy Commissioner Leh M K Dwivedi said that
maximum vacancies have been filled up in the offices except 100 superior posts and 222
posts of Class IV. He added that interviews of the Junior Assistants and Stenographers are
being taken shortly but the filling up of Class IV posts may take sometime as more than
12000 applications were received for 222 posts of orderlies.

Executive Councilor Agriculture and Education Tsering Norboo Lampa said that Hill Council
was bent upon to increase local products while Executive Councilor Health Dorje Motup said
that more health infrastructure would come up in Leh. Executive Councilor Tourism
Tsewang Rigzin said that due publicity would be made about tourism potential in Ladakh.
Executive Councilor Forest said that Council has productive plan for promotion of fisheries.
The CEO assured that LAHDC would come upto the people’s expectations and disclosed that
NABARD, ADB and Japan Bank of International Development have been approached for
taking up of many developmental schemes in Leh.

Kargil to get Rs 28 crore for tourism promotion. Srinagar, July 11, 2007: PTI

The Kargil district is all set for a facelift, thanks to a Rs 28 crore plan for promotion and
development of tourism here, in the next three years. The State Tourism Department would

31
spend the funds on various sporting activities like white water rafting, ice skating, ice hockey
and skiing to attract more domestic and foreign tourists and adventure sport fans to the area,
Director of State Tourism Farooq Ahmed Shah said yesterday.

A Kargil Development Authority was put in place to work in this regard, he said after visiting
the area. Further, Rs 1.5 crore would be spent on development of Drass, the second coldest
place in the world, and Kanka village in the district. The Army has also assured of help in
identifying and developing tourist places including the suru valley to make the district a
major attraction for global tourism.

Tourist Boom Brings Threat to Leh’s Tibetan Architecture. Leh India August 19, 2007:
AFP

Perched high above the Himalayan town of Leh, a warren of traditional mud-brick houses
squats by the ruins of the royal palace and a monastery, appearing to grow out of the
mountainside. These homes in the capital of India's Buddhist Ladakh region which have
stood for centuries are regarded as some of the best remaining examples of urban Tibetan-
style architecture.

But conservationists are increasingly fretting about the survival of these medieval buildings
in the Old Town which are now sadly dilapidated. The New York-based World Monuments
Fund in June put Leh's Old Town on a list of the world's 100 most endangered sites, citing a
host of factors as cause for concern, including more rain from climate change in the usually
arid region. But although Leh last year received unusually heavy downpours that caused
several of the flat roofs to cave in, a walk through the old area shows that decades of plain
neglect are more to blame than anything else.

"Since the last 15 years people have been moving away," said conservationist Andre
Alexander, head of the Tibet Heritage Fund, which has been working for the last four years to
restore buildings in Old Leh. "There's been a build-up of infrastructure in the modern town.
The contrast has helped to convince people there's no future in Old Town." In the past, when
Leh was more dependent on farming, people cultivated land in the valley and lived on the
hillside. But in the past decade tourism has boomed -- more that 40,000 people visited
Ladakh last year alone, officials say -- and the money it brought in allowed more people to
move down to the modern part of town.

"They no longer need to do farming so they have sold the farmland or built it up," said the
pony-tailed Alexander, originally from Germany. Many of the former farms are now hotels or
large houses, and many of the traditional homes on the hillside are empty. Yet the three-floor
houses are perfectly adapted for the cold, dry climate, with the thick walls great for keeping
warmth in while numerous tall windows let in lots of sunshine. They are beautiful too, with
carved wooden window frames and narrow stairs that lead out to rooftop terraces that look
out over the valley below.

Alexander's conservation group offers financing to locals still living in the area, mainly poor
labourers, to help them restore their homes, which can cost as much as 1,250 dollars. "Before
the roof was coming down. The walls were crooked. There were many cracks," said Tsering

32
Dorje, as he sipped butter tea made with yak's milk in his spruced-up house. The
impoverished mason got help from the group by offering to do all the work himself.
Alexander believes that as Tibet's capital, Lhasa, becomes more modern under Chinese rule,
it has become more important than ever to protect Leh's architecture.

"In Lhasa there is not so much left. The government had a very different vision of what Lhasa
should be -- very modern," said Alexander who worked in Lhasa before moving to Leh in
2003. "Leh now has much more than Lhasa." Tibet-influenced Ladakh shares many cultural
similarities with its trans-Himalayan neighbour, which China has ruled since 1951 after
sending in troops to "liberate" the region the previous year.

But Leh's Old Town is by and large still ignored by the authorities. Most tourists stay in
cheap guesthouses in the new part of town and eat in restaurants there, while the Old Town's
unpaved alleys, infrequently cleaned, make it difficult for visitors to get to its temples and
monasteries. It does not yet have running water, though some observers note that with no
proper sewage system in place, that is not such a bad thing. "Definitely we are lacking a
policy on that -- I have been always saying that," said Tsewang Rigzin, new tourism
councillor for the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council.
"In the last 15 to 20 years there's been very bad planning for Leh. Everything has gone on in a
very haphazard manner."

Rigzin hopes the authorities will come up with a plan for the old area, but admits that the
council lacks the funds to actually restore anything. The World Monuments Fund said the
authorities could at least do a better job of maintenance, as well as monitoring new
construction. "There are new buildings being built out of concrete and cement next to some
of the historic mud-brick buildings. So there's a loss of character going on," fund technical
director Mark Weber told AFP from New York. "These buildings have survived centuries
but some of them have not been attended to. Properly maintained, using traditional materials,
these buildings can last for centuries more."

Councillors seek SSP Leh's removal Jammu, September 17, 2007: Daily Excelsior

Several Executive Councillors of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC),

Leh have demanded immediate removal of Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Leh Alok
Kumar from the district. In a letter written to the Deputy Commissioner Leh Dr M K
Bhandari, the Executive Councillors Tsering Narboo Lampa, Dorjay Mutup, Tsewang Rigzin
and Mohd Khan mentioned that there has been strong resentment among the people over anti-
people attitude and autocratic style of functioning of the SSP. They said that General Council
of LAHDC Leh had already passed a resolution seeking SSP Alok Kumar’s immediate
removal in the interest of maintenance of peaceful and cordial atmosphere. The Councillors
further said that Member Parliament from Ladakh Thupstan Chhewang has also written to the
President. They warned that people will come on roads in case the SSP was not removed
within next few days.

33
Pak protests India's plans to allow tourists at Siachen. Islamabad September 17, 2007:

Pakistan on Monday strongly protested to India over its plans to open Siachen Glacier to
tourists warning this could adversely affect the ongoing peace efforts and turn the whole
process "on its head." The Indian Deputy High Commissioner Manpreet Voora was
summoned by the Foreign Office to receive a "strong protest" and handed over a demarche
stating that Siachen is a disputed region and that Pakistan was opposed to Indian army's plans
to initiate any tourist activity. "The area (Siachen) remains a conflict zone and the reported
move by India to open this for tourism could aggravate the situation with serious
consequences that vitiate the atmosphere for the ongoing peace process," Pakistan Foreign
Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told a weekly briefing. Indian High Commission
officials said Vohra while receiving the note reiterated India's stand that the entire Jammu
and Kashmir region is an inalienable part of India. Aslam said the Siachen plan could also
affect the Confidence Building Measures between the two countries. "It's like turning the
whole (peace) process on its head," Aslam said. The Indian army said last week that the first
group of trekkers would set off later this month for the 20,800-feet high Siachen glacier, the
world's highest battlefield occupied only by Indian and Pakistani troops since 1984.

Milk revolution in Ladakh. New Delhi, September 23, 2007: PTI

A white revolution of sort is brewing in the barren landscape of Ladakh, where even a blade
of grass is a rare sight in the high altitude desert. Nomadic hill tribes, who for centuries have
survived on morsels of 'Satu', are now treating themselves to daily glassfuls of milk. This
"milk revolution" has been brought about by the Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO), known more for developing missiles, tanks and fighters.

DRDO specialists have developed hybrid cows which produce more milk in high altitude
area. Scientists at the Leh-based Regional Research Laboratory have cross-bred the region's
famous yaks with high yielding Swiss cows to produce a new breed which can withstand
extreme high altitudes.

These cross-breeds yield a minimum of 18 litres of milk a day. W Selvamurthy, Chief

Controller for Research and Development in DRDO, said 40 cross breeds have been so far
produced and handed over to villagers in and around Leh, opening new means of livelihood
for people. "We are going in for more such breedings of these high yielding cows to boost
the supply of milk in these high-altitude areas," he said.

Kargil's cold desert gets big irrigation project. Jammu, September 29, 2007: The
Economic Times

Kargil, the cold desert region of Jammu and Kashmir where Indian and Pakistani armies
fought a war in the summer of 1999, will now have a major irrigation project. India's
Ministry of Water Resources has approved the Parkachick Khawas Canal Project in Kargil
district to provide irrigation facilities at a cost of Rs.350 million in one of the biggest
initiatives to transform the economy of the backward region, which remains closed for almost
six months a year.

34
"This is for the first time that the Kargil district has got such a major project, which on
completion will provide irrigation facilities to a cultivable command area of 5,587 acres,"
said K.L. Dhar, a spokesman for the Union Minister for Water Resources Saif-ud-Din Soz.
Soz, who is from Jammu and Kashmir, has been showing keen interest in the development of
the state. He has already mooted a navigation plan though the Jhelum river in the Kashmir
Valley.

"The Parkachick canal project envisages the construction of a lined canal with a trapezoidal
section, stone masonry channel, cut and cover type channel in different spots and a tunnel of
900 metres. The total length of the canal would be 18 km and distribution system would be
1.5 km. "The canal has been designed to draw its maximum required discharge of 150.09
cusecs from the right bank of river Suru. The project will irrigate 100 percent of the
command area of 5,587 acres in Tai Suru block of Kargil district," Dhar said. "Soz has
expressed satisfaction that this project will contribute substantially to the overall development
of this backward region of the state and help uplift its economy," he added.

A similar project, the Igo-Phey Medium Irrigation Project, was sanctioned for Leh district of
Ladakh and is nearing completion. Soz said that the state government has been asked to
propose another project for augmenting the irrigation potential in Leh district.

Deemed University status for CIBS Leh demanded. Leh, October 23, 2007: Daily
Excelsior

The Central Institute of Buddhist Studies, Leh has been playing significant role for promotion
of Buddhism besides preserving Ladakhi art, culture and language for the last 48 years. This
was stated by the Chief Executive Councillor, LAHDC Leh Chering Dorje while addressing a
function organised on the occasion of 48th anniversary of CIBS here today.

Stressing the need to grant Deemed University status to CIBS, Chering Dorje said that in the
event of achieving Deemed University status, this Institution will have every stream for
studying Buddhism thus students from other Himalayan regions and foreign countries would
come to Ladakh for studies.
He extended gratitude to CIBS for imparting Bodhi teaching training to the Government
teachers last year and requested the CIBS authorities to organise such training this year too
for the teachers of both Government and private schools. The former Union Minister and
MLC P Namgail, who was present on the occasion as guest of honour, said that State
Government has already recommended the Bodhi language for inclusion in 8th Schedule of
the Constitution. He added that he would personally make efforts in this regard at central
level. He also assured to make strategies for getting Deemed University status to CIBS by
finding solution to the technical problems.

Presidents of Ladakh Gonpa Association and Ladakh Buddhist Association also spoke on the
occasion. Earlier, Principal CIBS Leh Dr Nawang Tsering presented a detailed picture of the
institution touching the history of CIBS, aims and objectives.

35
LUTF to go alone in election Ladakh simmering with discontent due to Cong policies.
Jammu, December 4, 2007: Excelsior Correspondent

Leh-Ladakh has been simmering with discontent for the past one year due to discriminative
policies of Congress-led Coalition Government in the State. The party has also been creating
fear psychosis in the region and dividing the society keeping in view the forthcoming
elections.

These allegations were levelled by Member of Parliament (MP) from Ladakh, Thupstan
Chhewang at a press conference here this evening. "The local unit of Congress party with the
active support of the State Government is resorting to methods which are undemocratic and
autocratic", he said. Ever since the Ladakh Union Territory Front (LUTF) has won majority
of seats in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), the Congress party
and Minister for Power Nawang Rigzin Jora have been trying to destablize the Council and
install its puppet as the head of Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA), he further alleged.

"This is evident from the fact that Congress made blatant use of Government machinery
during the by-election to the Lower-Leh constituency election for LAHDC and used police
force to arrest and implicate the political workers of LUTF in false and fabricated cases. Even
the elected Councillors were not spared when they were arrested and beaten up brutally in
police custody", the Member Parliament said.

Mr Chhewang said that on November 2, 2007 the Congress workers were instigated by
Minister for Power to attack and forcefully occupy the office of Ladakh Buddhist Association
but police instead of arresting and filing charges against the unlawful assembly of attackers,
instituted cases against workers of LBA and LUTF. "It was on the instruction of State
Government that the district administration resorted to sealing of office of LBA AND even
while negotiation for finding a solution was going on with Deputy Commissioner as
mediator", he alleged.

Terming action on the part of Congress workers as blatant interference in the religious affairs
of Ladakh Buddhists, he said that the people of Ladakh will teach a lesson to Congress party
particularly Power Minister, who deceived the people of the region by not raising the demand
of Union Territory after joining Coalition Government despite the fact that he was sent to
Legislative Assembly uncontested from LUTF platform. "We will contest elections from
Zanskar, Nobra and Leh seats in the coming elections without aligning with any political
party and our main aim would be to ensure the defeat of Congress party which is diluting the
demand of UT status which was raised vociferously in the Working Groups meeting and
Round Table Conference", he announced. The Member Parliament also demanded immediate
removal of SSP Leh and SHO Leh Police Station for unleashing reign of terror in the region

Cong to organise rally against LUTF’s anti-Ladakh policies. Leh, December 4, 2007:
Excelsior Correspondent

District Congress Committee, Leh will hold a public rally on December 7 at Polo Ground,
here against the anti-people and anti-Ladakh policies of Ladakh Union Territory Front

36
(LUTF) and its leaders. The day will also be observed as black day in protest against the
hooliganism of the LUTF activists.

The decision was unanimously taken during the central working committee meeting of the
District Congress Committee held under the chairmanship of DCC president Rigzin Spalbar.
The meeting was also attended by Minister for Power Nawang Rigzin Jora and Councillors of
the party. The meeting strongly condemned the illegal and immoral direct interference of
LUTF and its leaders into the non-political religious organisation-LBA by thrusting Dr Dawa
as its president and misuse of LBA as LUTF’s branch to carryout political activities to
counter and discredit Congress and its leadership.
It was decided in the meeting to fight tooth and nail against politicisation of any non-political
organisation by politicians for their vested interests. The participants alleged that LUTF
leadership has utterly failed to fulfill their promises made during last LAHDC Leh elections
and misleading the people to cover its failures. They appealed the general public to be beware
of directionless, short-sighted and undemocratic political dynamics of LUTF leadership.

The participants appreciated Minister for Power for arranging another 4.5 megawatt DG set at
Leh and improving the transmission lines in Leh besides allotting DG sets for Tiskshi,
Kyagar, Wanla, Mangyu, Lamayuru and Rumbak. They further praised the Minister for
getting approval from the Central Government and sending a team led by Planning
Commission to Puga Valley for exploring generation of power through geo-thermal source
In the meeting, Norbu Gyalson was appointed as working president of DCC Leh, Tsultim
Phunchok as general secretary incharge Nubra, Rinchen Tondup as general secretary incharge
Sham area, Gyurmar Dorje as general secretary incharge Nyoma block, Rigzin Motup as
general secretary incharge Nurbuk block, Tashi Norbu as general secretary incharge Kharu
Block and Ali Akbar as general secretary incharge minorities affairs

Kargil gets weekly air service Jammu, December 26, 2007: Daily Excelsior

Government and Indian Air Force have decided to commence weekly air service of AN-32
Courier/Passenger Service from Jammu to Kargil and back. This decision was taken at a high
level meeting presided over by the Minister for Social Welfare and MLA Kargil Haji Nissar
Ali here today. Director Airport Authority of India, Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Deputy
Commissioner Jammu, Wing Commander IAF, SSP Anti-Hijacking Jammu Airport and
Liaison Officer AN-32 Courier Service attended the meeting.

The tickets for the interested passengers will be issued from Kargil House, Jammu 48 hours
before the time of flight. Claiming it a significant event for the Kargilites, Haji Nissar Ali
said that commencement of this service will go a long way in easing out the climatic hurdles
that hitherto had come in way for Kargilites moving out of their places to outside world
during the colder parts of the year.

Ladakh front to go it alone. January 4, 2008: The Hindu

Jammu: The Ladakh Union Territory Front has decided to contest on its own in the strategic
Leh area in the 2008 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections. Talking to reporters here,

37
Thupstan Chewang, MP and LUTF Leader, said the front would not have any electoral tie-up
with the present ruling alliance as it “violated” the principle of democratic decentralisation.

One of the two LUTF legislators elected in 2002, Nawang Rigzin Jora, joined the Congress-
led coalition and is a Cabinet minister. However, the other, Pintoo Narboo, did not support
the coalition. In the October 2005 elections to the Leh Autonomous Hill Development
Council, the LUTF won 25 seats, leaving just one to the Congress. The council was formed
by an ordinance issued by the Congress government at the Centre in the mid-1990s for
devolving powers to the district.

But things have been far from resolved in Ladakh, which area-wise is more than double the
size of the rest of the State. The bureaucracy and the democratically elected council have
been on warpath, asserting their supremacy over the affairs of the region. The council has
fewer powers than elected district boards in the rest of the country under the Panchayat Raj
system. Hence genuine decentralisation could not be achieved. A delegation of the council,
which recently met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, alleged that the Leh Senior
Superintendent of Police was harassing innocent people. Recently, the police thrashed one of
the elected representatives of the area, it said. The council complained that the State
government was interfering in its functioning, resulting in hurdles to development.

J&K govt sets up Tourism Development Authorities in Ladakh. Jammu, January 15,
2008:
The Economic Times

In a bid to boost tourism, Jammu and Kashmir government has established three Tourism
Development Authorities (TDAs) in Ladakh region of the state. Replying to the question in
the state assembly, Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig on Tuesday said that the
state government has set up three TDAs for Leh, Kargil and Zanskar areas of Ladakh to give
fillip to the tourism industry in the cold desert. The authorities will develop tourist
infrastructure in potential areas which are accessible for domestic and foreign tourists visiting
the region, he said. However, the department has no proposal to undertake development
works in restricted areas, close to Sino-India border, at present which could be thrown open
some time later during the year, he added.

Buddhists in Ladakh call for end to family planning: MP attributes population decline
to Buddhists being more prone to govt campaigns New Delhi, January 19, 2008:
Daily Times

Fearing a decline in their population, Buddhist groups in the Ladakh region of Jammu and
Kashmir have called for an immediate halt on family planning programmes in their region.

In a letter to Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA)
President Dr Sonam Dewa said the Buddhist population in Ladakh, its last sanctuary
bordering Tibet, was dwindling fast. He said Ladakh, commonly known as Little Tibet, was
no longer a Buddhist-dominated district. Muslims have surpassed the Buddhist population
and Hindu populations have also grown considerably over the past one decade, he added.
Census figures reveal that the Buddhists’ share of the total population in the region has

38
dropped from 53.83 to 45.87 percent over the past four decades, while the Muslim population
has increased from 45.43 to 47.40 percent. The Muslim population in Leh district exhibited a
phenomenal growth of 65.40 percent, which even surpassed the overall growth rate of
Muslims across Jammu and Kashmir. The Hindu population, non-existent four decades ago,
now contributes 6.22 percent of Ladakh’s population.

Family planning prone:

Another Buddhist leader MP Thupstan Chewang attributes the decline to family planning
campaigns launched by the government. “Unlike Muslims, more Buddhist families opt for
family planning. Furthermore, seven percent of males become monks or marry too late after
completing their tenures in the army,” he said.

Chewang also believed that the custom of polyandry practiced earlier in the region was the
main reason for low birth rates. Monogamy has put the brakes on population growth, he said.
“In polyandrous marriages, the norm was that a woman would bear 10 to 13 children. Now,
in monogamous marriages a woman bears just two to three kids.” In Ladakh, which is
incidentally the state’s largest region, Buddhist women have a better literacy rate (46.16pc)
than Muslim women (35.76pc). Despite a wave of modernity polyandrous marriages are still
a custom in some areas due to the scarcity of resources, particularly farmland.

Pashmina goats dying of cold. Jammu, February 07, 2008: Hindustan Times

Some 150,000 rare Himalayan goats that provide fine wool for Kashmir's famous Pashmina
shawls are facing death because of heavy snow in Changthang, the land of nomads on Indo-
Chinese border, this winter. The goats' pastures, spread over the mountains of the
Changthang area of the Ladakh region, have been covered by unusually deep snow and
farmers are fast running out of fodder.

Severe chilly conditions have reduced the mortality rate of goat babies to 4 to 5 per cent. The
grasslands are covered by snow and the mountain grazing has become impossible. The
government has rushed survey teams and fodder supplies to save the species, which produces
expensive wool. “More than 100 quintals of fodder was supplied on Wednesday itself and
more is being sent,” Minister for Sheep and Animal Husbandry Taj-Mohi-ud-Din said.

“The severe chill has resulted in higher mortality rate this year,” confirmed Tsering Punchok,
District Animal and Sheep Husbandry officer, Leh. The problem of fodder shortage is acute
in Korzok and Kharnak areas, where nomads rear 36,000 of Pashmina goats. “We have taken
note of the problem. The state government has rushed the fodder from its farms to the
nomads rearing the animals in Korzok and other places in Changthang area. More than 100
quintals of fodder has been dispatched,” Taj said.
The Animal and Sheep Husbandry department has its own farms in Changthang and Nubra
areas in Ladakh.

“It is from there that we have rushed the supplies to help the farmers. We will be sending
more as and when required,” the minister said. Another 600 quintals of fodder and feed
would be sent in the next three days, he added. “Though it is the duty of the farmers to keep
sufficient stocks which lasts the whole winter, in view of the extraordinary situation caused

39
by heavy snowfall, we have responded to the situation,” Taj said while taking stock of the
situation.

“It is the highest snowfall in decades in Changthang,” Deputy Commissioner, Leh, MK

Bhandari told the Hindustan Times by phone. Changthang is a cold desert area at the height
of 14,600 feet above sea level, it does not experience snowfall because there is hardly any
precipitation. “But this time there is more than two feet of snow,” he added. Ladakh
produces 30,000 kg of Pashmina every year and each goat on an average produces 250 grams
of the precious wool.

NREGS being introduced in Leh from April 1. Leh, March 14, 2008: Daily Excelsior

The Deputy Commissioner, Leh, Dr M K Bhandari has called upon functionaries of Rural
Development Agency to create awareness among the people about National Rural
Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) which is being launched in Leh district from April
1. Dr Bhandari was speaking while inaugurating a training programme for the ex-sarpanches,
panches, members of monitoring committees of panchayats and functionaries of rural
development agency in Leh. About 300 members of Leh and Chushol blocks attended the
meeting organised to sensitize the people about NREGS.

The Deputy Commissioner stated that the NREGS is a prestigious programme to provide
atleast 100 days of guaranteed wages to unskilled workers in rural areas for their livelihood.
Earlier, Project Director, DRDA, Ali Raza, Assistant Commissioner, Development, Tsering
Morup and resource persons of rural development educated the participants in the meeting
about the objectives of the scheme, including preparation of job cards, generating productive
assets, protecting of environment, empowering of rural women, registration of households,
planning and monitoring of the schemes.

Ladakh is on hunger protest in support of exiled Tibetans. March 25, 2008: ANI

Locals in Ladakh took part in a hunger protest to express their solidarity with exiled Tibetans
protesting against Chinese oppression. Over 200 people participated in the event. “Our main
motive is the same as sought by the Dalai Lama. We will silently sit in hunger strike and
protest,” said Takpa Chimet, a group leader. The Tibetan protests began on March 10, to
mark the anniversary of the 1959 uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule that was crushed by
the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, driving the Dalai Lama into exile.

Pashmina shawls may lose warmth. New Delhi, March 27, 2008: Business Standard

TEXTILE: Over 15,000 Changthangi goats have perished in heavy snowfall. Kashmir’s
hand-woven Pashmina shawls, which are made of the warmest and the softest wool in the
world, may soon become a rarity following the mass deaths of Ladakh’s Changthangi goats
caused by the recent heavy snowfall and damage of pastures as a result of the invasion of
locusts. According to Chering Dorjey, head of the local Hill Council of Leh, Ladakh, at least
15,000 to 20,000 newly-born goats are estimated to have perished in the catastrophe that fell
on Changthang in December-January, the abode of tribesmen who rear Changthangi goats.

40
“Since it was the time when the pregnant ewes usually deliver their babies — most of which
died — this is likely to have a devastating and long-term impact on the production of
Pashmina in India,” he said. According to the Jammu and Kashmir government’s estimates,
the annual Pashmina shawl trade in the state is worth Rs 500 crore ($124 billion), and more
than 50,000 people live off it.

The Changthang plateau, spread across Ladakh and Tibet at an altitude of 5,000 metres, is
home to the bulk of the world’s Pashmina production. Though Chinese Pashmina, which is
woven into fabric with the help of powerlooms and has thus cornered over 70 per cent of the
world’s 20,000 tonnes trade, the hand-woven Kashmiri Pashmina still remains a popular
brand in the international fashion market.

Dorjey, who led a team of officials to survey the affected area, said the animals had died due
to acute scarcity of fodder and the authorities’ “inability” to provide food supplies after
snowfall blocked the access roads. The team from Ladakh Autonomous Hill Developmental
Council (LAHDC), Leh, is still unable to map the tragedy as some of the Changthang villages
remain snowbound even today.

This phenomenon has left the population of surviving Pashmina goats with a skewed sex ratio
with more males than females. “This is a serious situation for the trade,” the interim report of
the LAHDC says. According to the report, the unchecked invasion of locusts from Tibet for
the past three years have damaged the pastures where the Pashmina goats are reared. The
locals, mostly practising Buddhists, had refused to spray insecticides for one year to check
the locusts. “Later they agreed but the insecticide was unable to deter the army of locusts that
completely destroyed the western Changhtang pasture,” Dorjey said.

Since January, 12 intrusions by China. New Delhi, March 31, 2008: The Times of India

Since January, Chinese troops have intruded a dozen times into Indian territory in the
strategic Pangong Tso lake area in eastern Ladakh as part of Beijing's continuing aggressive
posture all along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Pangong Tso (Tso means lake in Ladakhi), two-thirds of which is controlled by China as it
extends from India to Tibet, and other parts of Ladakh like Demchok and Trig Heights, in
fact, are witnessing "an enhanced level of activity" by People's Liberation Army, sources
said. "The sector is witnessing aggressive Chinese foot, motorised and boat patrols. On
March 23, for instance, Chinese troops in a vehicle-mounted patrol crossed over into our
territory on Pangong Tso's southern bank and stayed there for some time with impunity
before going back," said a source. Pangong Tso, at an altitude of 4,218-metres, has become a
"hot" area ever since the 1999 Kargil conflict with Pakistan, with China even constructing a
"track" right up to the lake's southern bank during that time.

Ladakh, of course, is just one part of the story. China may be enmeshed in the Tibetan
turmoil at the moment but there has been simply no let up in its "aggressive patrolling" in all
the three sectors — western (Ladakh), middle (Uttarakhand, Himachal) and eastern (Sikkim,
Arunachal). India, in fact, recorded well over 140 intrusions by Chinese troops across the
4,057-km LAC in 2007 alone. This even included transgressions into Sikkim in August-

41
September, even though China had earlier accepted the state to be a part of India. Coupled
with this is the stunning build-up of military infrastructure by China all along the LAC,
especially in the Tibet Autonomous Region, which makes it possible for it to amass large
number of troops at the border in double-quick time.

Observers say the objective is to ramp up pressure on India to stick to its line on "Tibet being
an integral part of China" as well as to strengthen Chinese claims on disputed areas along the
LAC. The government, however, continues to downplay Chinese intrusions in public,
holding there is no need to "press the panic button" since "peace and tranquillity" prevails on
the LAC. Both external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and defence minister A K Antony
have held that the "incidents" take place due to "differing perceptions" of the LAC.
"Whenever there is any issue (intrusion), it is always taken up through the appropriate
channels and that system is continuing," said Antony, who is now set to visit Tawang in
early-April.

Front to go all out to defeat Cong: LUTF to contest 3 Assembly seats in Leh, Kargil
Jammu, April 5, 2008: Daily Excelsior

Gearing itself up much in advance for Assembly elections in the State, Leh Union Territory
Front (LUTF) has decided to contest three out of four Assembly seats in Ladakh region and
was ready for a pre-poll understanding or post-poll alliance with the parties, which support
the LUTF’s cause, to defeat Congress.

"The LUTF, whose main electoral plank will be Union Territory (UT) status for Ladakh, has
decided to field its own candidates for Leh and Nobra seats in Ladakh district and Zanskar in
Kargil district", all important LUTF leader and Ladakh MP Thupstan Chhewang told the
Excelsior. Once a prominent Congress leader, Mr Chhewang has now described the Congress
as "enemy Nr. one" of the people of Ladakh and declared that people of Ladakh will ensure
that Congress was routed out in the entire region.
Charging the ruling Congress with having let loose a reign of terror in Ladakh which he
equated with "state terrorism", the high profile Ladakhi leader said the people have made up
their mind to defeat the Congress.

"The ruling Congress during last two and a half years had done so much damage to the
interests of Ladakh that it can’t be forgiven by the Ladakhis. The people will give their reply
to the Congress in the Assembly elections", Mr Chhewang said. Replying to a question on
prospects of a pre-poll alliance with BJP or NC, the LUTF leader asserted that the Front was
ready to seek assistance or enter into an understanding with any party which was ready to
defeat the Congress. He pointed out that the BJP has always supported the demand of
Ladakhi people for granting UT status to Ladakh.

On post-poll support to any party to form the Government, Mr Chhewang was of the view
that it would depend on the scenario emerging after the elections. But, he clarified that in no
case the LUTF will support the Congress. Ladakh region has four Assembly constituencies—
two each in Ladakh and Kargil district. While the LUTF has decided to contest both Ladakh
seats including Leh and Nobra, it will field its candidate in Zanskar seat of Kargil, which has

42
significant Buddhist population. The LUTF was ready to support a candidate in Kargil who
had the potential to defeat Congress.

Mr Chhewang recalled that the LUTF had in November 2002 agreed to support the Congress
keeping in view its "political interests". However, he regretted that one of the LUTF MLA,
who was made the Minister, ditched the Front and joined the Congress "just for the sake of a
Ministry".

"This time, we have decided to field the candidates who are loyal to the LUTF", he said,
adding the contestants will be finalised in consultations with the people of Ladakh and those
associated with the LUTF. Mr Chhewang maintained that the LUTF will contest next
election on the plank of UT status for Ladakh. He was all praise for three year tenure of
Mufti Sayeed led coalition Government during which Ladakh’s demands were viewed very
sympathetically. He said the people of Ladakh had very high hopes from Chief Minister
Ghulam Nabi Azad when he took over in November 2005 but he has belied the hopes.

After 43 yrs, IAF plans to reactivate Ladakh airstrip. April 20, 2008, New Delhi: The
Times of India

Forty-three years after the last aircraft landed there, India plans to reactivate the famous
Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) airstrip in northern Ladakh, which overlooks the strategic Karakoram
Pass and is just a few km away from the China-occupied Aksai Chin area. "Yes, we have
plans to land our AN-32 transport aircraft at DBO in the near future. It’s part of the IAF
effort to improve air maintenance of the far-flung posts in the region," Western Air
Command chief Air Marshal P K Barbora told TOI . The reactivation of the old airstrip will
also send a strong message to China, whose troops regularly undertake incursions across the
Line of Actual Control (LAC) into Indian territory to flex their muscles and strengthen claims
on disputed areas.

Buddha's teachings being forgotten in Ladakh. Leh, May 04, 2008: CNN-IBN

The story of Buddhism in contemporary India is incomplete without a mention of Ladakh.

Ladakh was an ancient Himalayan kingdom and was cut off from the rest of world for
centuries. But in the last few years it has seen rapid transformation. With change have come
not just new opportunities but also new challenges that have redefined the role Buddhism
plays in Ladakhi society. Most of Ladakh's 1.5 lakh Buddhists live in Leh. The city has a
small Muslim population while the other district in Ladakh, Kargil, Muslims are a majority.
But relations between the two communities have soured in recent years. One of Ladakh's
most renowned historians, Abdul Ghani Sheik, says that as the city opens up to the world, its
values are slipping.

"Many more people are traveling outside Ladakh and they bring ideas that do not fit in
Ladakh. The other problem is money. More and more money is coming in and it's setting up
people against each other. Some are more prosperous than others," Sheik says. In the last few
years Ladakh has seen many instances of violence. In 2006, Buddhist youths attacked and
burnt Muslim homes in Leh, reportedly as revenge for attacks on Buddhist houses in Kargil.

43
The scars of that event are still fresh. Remains of burnt houses still remain even after two
years of the riots. The families, which fled, have not returned since. Today the ghost houses
are a symbol of the simmering tensions between the two communities that erupt every now
and then. Two years have passed since the riots, but tension still runs high in many villages.
No political party has pressed for an inquiry into the violence.

"The government never brought out a report about what provoked this violence. Was it
spontaneous or was it planned attack? And that's led to more suspicion," Shafi Lasu, lawyer
for Muslim petitioners, says. How was such violence committed by the followers of a
religion based on non-violence? To find out, CNN-IBN spoke to Lama Lobsang Angchuk,
the leader of the influential Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA), which has been accused of
inciting violence.

"The young people have a hot blood and they often do these things," Angchuk says.
Otsal Wangdus, a lawyer and the leader of the LBA's youth wing, is more open. He is the
new, resurgent face of Buddhism in the region and ready to take up arms, he says, to defend
himself. "Buddhism never says, go for violence. But when you always pinch, we have to
break our practices," Wangdus says.

Religion still means a lot for many young men, but many warn of the dangers of reducing
religion to rhetoric. "It's a paradox, on one side there is a lot of talk about Buddhism. Lot of
people are talking about it in public forums. But the essential practices and places associated
with Buddhism in Ladakh are dying," Martijn Van Beek, a Buddhist scholar, says. But even
as young Buddhists struggle to reconcile their religious identity with the realities of today's
Ladakh there are some who have made their peace with the world around them. We met one
such young man who has broken every stereotype that exists about Buddhism and Buddhist
monks.

Molam Gyatso is a Buddhist monk and a model. He is the face that has sold soft drinks.
These days they call him the pyaas bujhao lama (quench your thirst lama). Gyatso became the
face of an ad campaign purely by chance. And now he wants to put his newfound fame to
good use and try to resolve the communal problem in Ladakh. "All problems like the
Buddhist and the Muslim divide can be filled through communication. I don't want older
politicians to come. I want Buddhists and Muslims to talk to each other more directly,"
Gyatso says.

Gyatso spent 14 years of his life in a monastery in the Himalayas. But he has already found a
way to connect with the world around him. "Yes, they say this is not good, but when I tell
them how this technology can be used to preserve things and to spread the message across the
world, they don't mind," he explains. And he clearly is not the kind of monk who'd sell his
Ferrari.

"I will love to buy a Ferrari.. just kidding," he says with a hearty laugh.
Gyatso is today a role model for both Buddhist and Muslim youth in Ladakh. In some ways,
though, he's just doing what the Buddha once did. Communicating the virtues of non-
violence and co-operation. And Gyatso is a true Buddha's warrior, fighting a battle for peace.

44
Tenzin Tsundue in Dharamshala, Priya Pal in Bodh Gaya, Molam Gyatso in Ladakh - they've
brought a new energy and dynamism to their age-old faith. But unlike many others, these
young warriors have not taken the path of violence to win the battles they're fighting. Perhaps
they know that the challenges to their faith come not just from outside. They come from
within.

Leh, May 15, 2008:

J&K Police Leh have seized huge stocks of copper wire, iron posts for pre-fabricated huts
pillars and diesel oil barrels, which were found under illegal occupation of a scrap dealer at
Choglamsar Zampa in Leh. SSP Leh, S R Samuel said, the seized items meant for defense
use were brand new worth some 25 lac rupees and source of this pilferage has been identified
as Mohd Bilal Ganai, a resident of Calcutta. Further investigations are on in this regard, he
added.
SSP Samuel said, “I do not the blame the entire Army, but there is every possibility of certain
black sheep who are involved in this case.” The involvement of army officers cannot be ruled
out, he added. A case under section 409, 411 Ranbir Penal Code has been registered with Leh
police station. Earlier, Army had reported the theft of several bundles of copper telephone
wires (99.5 % purity), which is included in the seizure made and six civilians have been
arrested so far in this connection. Apart from the aforementioned goods several stolen
vehicles and Low Tension Electric Conductors have also been recovered from the same place
during the raid conducted recently by the Police.

General Council Meeting. May 14, 2008

The two-day General Council (review) Meeting for the financial year of 2007-08 was held in
the newly built Council Assembly hall after its inaugural ceremony today jointly performed
by Chering Dorjey CEC, LAHDC and Thupstan Chhewang, MP, Ladakh in the presence of
councilors and all the districts heads of the departments.

The meeting began with the brief address by Mr. Dorjey who calling the occasion as
‘historic’ reiterated the Council’s commitment for transparency in its dealings. Presence of
some students occupying the seats in the small gallery was to give a symbolic meaning to this
commitment.
The students clogged in the small space shared by local media and others were, however,
unaware of the dramatic scenes that unfolded before their eyes in the echo of that oval-shaped
hall. After CEC’s address P Namgyal, MLC stood up to raise an objection about the sitting
arrangements, which he called was not in keeping with the ‘protocol’. It led to an uproar –
magnified by echo – in the house with shouting and counter-shouts by LUTF and Congress
party councilors sitting on opposite benches. Amidst all these drama Mr. Namgyal threw
papers in the air and left the house protesting. His party councilors and two rebel councilors
from LUTF also staged a walk out in support of Mr. Namgyal.

It took sometime for Chairperson, Mr. Dorjey to resume the normal activities of General
Council meeting and he began with a positive note of over 92 percent total budget
expenditure in the current financial year against the total allocation of 65 crore rupees for the
Leh district, which he termed as a ‘record achievement’. Hill Council’s decision to give

45
recognition to the Amchi system of medicine was also announced by Tsewang Gonbo,
Councilor Domkhar before the house at the outset of the two-day review meeting.
Leh, April 10, 2008:

Two months after getting his bundles of cloths worth some five lac rupees booked at Grand
Post Office, New Delhi, to be sent to Leh through ‘Speed Post’, Namgyal, a petty cloth
merchant from Ladakh, is still waiting for his parcels to arrive. After purchasing his business
stock for the coming summer season, he booked it as Speed Post at GPO New Delhi in the
month of February but remains undelivered until now. Namgyal said, “I purchased the stock
looking at the demands from different schools for uniform; there is now risk of loosing on it
completely and suffer the brunt.”

Similarly, another retailer Togo has some 80 parcels undelivered even after months of getting
booked for Speed Post service under Indian Postal Service. There are many other such
complaints from the small business community of the Ladakh region. According to Sonam
Jorgais, President, Merchant Association Leh, such postal packages belonging to petty
businessmen from both Leh and Kargil districts undelivered for months run in thousands and
they have taken it up with the J&K State Govt. Mr. Jorgais says, the parcels through different
postal services including speed post are normally dumped at Chandigarh to be airlifted in
chartered flights to Leh. When things go smooth we receive our parcel in three to four days,
he added.

Taking up this serious matter with A A Raja, Union Minister for Communication and
Information Technology, Govt. of India, Nawang Rigzin Jora, J&K Minister for Trade,
Commerce and Industries in a letter has said that the undelivered parcels in thousands
belonging to traders from Ladakh should be airlifted soon. The business people in Ladakh
face similar transportation crises in case of air cargo also, which is the only alternative
medium to bring in trade items purchased from different parts of India in winter when roads
remain closed for six to seven months due to snow. Sipa Majid is a computer retailer in Leh
and he has been waiting for his computer related parts worth nine lac rupees to arrive through
air cargo for over a month.

Such highly erratic service has added to the woes of the small merchants in Ladakh, who try
to make their livelihood through running small shops and other business establishments. “Our
business is sheer hand to mouth living on marginal profits we make running our retail shops,
says Sonam, who sells electrical goods in Leh. In view of difficulties in Leh, merchants here
have sought relaxation in VAT ever since it was imposed considering the remoteness and
tribal character of the Ladakhi population. Namgyal, the cloth retailer, says, the local market
is dominated by non-ST big traders from other parts of India who are the main suppliers,
wholesalers, distributors or even contractors and our share as mere retailers is very marginal.”

Mr. Jorgais the President Merchant Association opines that in all respects VAT impedes our
growth given the poor facilities and hard conditions under which small businessmen work
here in Ladakh. Dr. Arun Das Gupta, Chairman Empowerment Committee, has even directed
the Finance Secretary J&K State to chalk out a solution for Ladakh as a “special case”.
Stocking for winter months several months in advance is a major problem due to closing of
roads which is compounded by steep hike in air freight charges during this period, Mr.

46
Jorgais said adding that as a citizen of India we too want to happily contribute to the
country’s economy, however, at present in the wake of poor transportation and
underdeveloped Ladakh with zero industrial growth we are simply not in a position to afford
VAT. And recurring problem such as that of poor postal service in case of Ladakh only adds
to our woes, Jorgais laments.

Moral Policing in Leh. Leh, May 16, 2008

Streets in Leh are abuzz with the news about cops catching couples indulged in extra-marital
affairs and other socially unacceptable relationships under newly launched moral policing
campaign. According to SHO Leh, four cases have been booked under ‘Obscenity Act’. The
number of couples caught and later released, however, far outnumbers those found accused
under the aforementioned law, sources confirmed.

Instead of calling it ‘moral policing’ police rather term it as ‘preventive policing’. Newly
appointed SSP Leh S R Samuel talking to the local media said, this is an effort towards
preventing communal flare ups as witnessed in the past over such issues relating to different
communities. Any clandestine support in this regard from any section of the society is
though hard to confirm as many believe so; notwithstanding this campaign launched by
police, surprisingly, have many views in its favor. A young local lady says, it is a shame that
in such a small society such relationships prevail at such a large scale and intervention of
police is a must when things get out of hands. Extra-marital affairs lead to family break
downs leaving the kids and relatives to suffer, another adds to this.

Yet there are those who think this is ‘just not right’. Adultery was once against the law, but
no more illegal as per the Indian Constitution, a scholar asserts disfavoring such moral
policing, which, she adds, has failed in many other parts of India.

LBA appoints new President.

LBA has appointed its new leader, who is a retired DIG of Indian Para-military service,
elected through traditional ‘Takril’ method. Mr. Rinchen hails from Nurla village of Sham
area and his name was among the proposed list for the job of LBA President along with four
other respected citizens of Leh. With his taking over as the President, the stalemate in LBA
between two rivaling groups within its General Committee Members of some 273
representatives from different parts of Ladakh has finally ended. The legal case pending with
the district court is also likely to get an impetus towards a solution soon with this
development.

Ladakh Gonpa Association under its Lama Lobzang Angchuk and his successor Togdan
Rinpoche played key roles in solving the long drawn battle over the controversial election of
previous LBA President Dr. Sonam Dawa, who had to step down finally. “We held as many
as 16 meetings to get the two groups together,” said Lama Lobzang Angchuk. Similarly,
Tokdan Rinpoche asserted that his key interests is to amicably solve the issue immediately
and give this organization a facelift by detaching it from politics in the long run as per the
opinion of the people.

47
BOOK REVIEWS

Ladakhi Histories. Local and regional perspective, edited by John Bray. (Leiden: Brill,
2005). 406 pp. maps, photographs. ISBN 9004 145516.
––Pascale Dollfus. * Reproduced with permission from the European Bulletin of Himalayan
Research.

This volume illustrates the plurality of approaches to studying history and current research in
the making. It compiles contributions - very different in length and in style - from researchers
from a variety of disciplines: linguistics, tibetology, anthropology, history, art and
archaeology. Their sources include linguistics, archaeological and artistic evidence; Tibetan
chronicles, Persian biographies and European travel accounts; government records and
private correspondence, land titles and trade receipts; oral tradition and survivors'
recollections. The majority of the papers were first presented at the International Association
of Ladakh Studies (IALS) conferences held in 1999, 2001 and 2003, and these have been
supplemented by a few additional contributions. I neither have sufficient knowledge nor the
space to discuss each of these papers at length or adequately, I will rather summarize the
content of the book as a whole.

The aim pursued is not to write a history of Ladakh, but rather to propose – as its title shows -
several “histories of Ladakh”. As John Bray, the editor, states: “Ladakh's history has to be
understood at several different levels”. The interaction between local, regional and
international viewpoints is therefore one of the main themes of this book. Three contributions
however do not inform us of Ladakh’s history, but rather highlight the character, aspirations,
and motivations of those who planned to visit the region and eventually chose it as their
ground for research. In his first paper, Peter Marczell (pp.183-202) examines unpublished
correspondence (rendered here verbatim) from Dr. J. Gerard, a Scottish military surgeon, that
gives insight into early British fascination for the Western Himalayas. In the second one,
(pp.203-216), he discusses the Hungarian scholar Alexander Csoma de KĘrös’s use of a
pseudonym during his Himalayan travels in the 19th century. For his part, Poul Pedersen
(pp.293-308) focuses on the commitment of Prince Peter of Greece and Denmark to
psychoanalysis and the Oedipus complex, that motivated his scientific interest in polyandry,
and made him go to Ladakh.

The other 19 remaining essays, put into a historical sequence, lead the reader from the late 7th
or early 8th century, when Ladakh was part of the Tibetan empire, up to the present day, and
recalls - sometimes indirectly - the wars, migrations, conversions, influences and changes
which took place in this region over this vast time span. In passing, one welcomes the
introductory essay written by the editor himself (pp.1-30) that gives a useful overview of
Ladakh's local and regional interconnections, then examines its political and religious history
in greater detail.

The first two papers point out the linguistic similarities between the dialects spoken in the
two extremities of the Tibetan speaking world – Ladakh and Baltistan at the north-western
end and Amdo and Kham at the north-eastern end. On one hand, Philip Denwood (pp.31-40)
suggests that a millennium ago regular communication must have taken place across the
Changthang plateau, which due to a more favourable climate once housed a much larger

48
population at that time than it does today. On the other hand, Bettina Zeisler (pp.41-65)
discusses the position of Ladakhi and Balti within the family of Tibetan languages from
linguistic and historical perspectives, and argues that Ladakhi and Balti have their origin in
an earlier state of the Tibetan Language, that preceded Classical Tibetan. In other words,
“Choskat or the classical book language turns out to be a younger cousin rather than a parent
of Old West Tibetan. Thus its orthography cannot be compulsory for the Balti and Ladakhi
phalskat.”

With Christian Luczanits’ essay (pp.65-96), one shifts from linguistic to architectural and art
historical evidence such as rock- and stone-carvings, stone-engravings and wood-carvings,
murals, statues and all kinds of archaeological relics. The author stresses the importance of
studying this largely ignored material to improve our understanding of the early history of
Ladakh, and shows in particular how this can help in evaluating the extent of early Buddhism
in the area. Next, Roberto Vitali (pp.97-124) sheds some light on “the one hundred years of
darkness” in the history of Ladakh (1280s-1380s). In a paper densely packed with historical
detail and footnotes, he analyzes the “fractured secular panorama” at that time. By
confronting Tibetan and Persian sources, he introduces the military campaigns of the
Chaghatai Mongols (sTod Hor) into Ladakh and Upper West Tibet and the Qarâchîl
expedition undertaken by the Delhi Sultanate to stop the former's advance into North-west
India. He also makes a thorough review of the sources concerning rGyal bu Rin chen/
Rinchana Bottha, a mysterious prince included in the royal genealogy of Ladakh. According
to him, this nobleman, who gained power in Kashmir, was a stranger to Ladakh.
Neil Howard (pp.125-146) continues on the theme of invasion with the raid into Ladakh by
Sultan Zain-ul Abidin of Kashmir in the 15th century. In the light of new studies, he questions
its route, its date, and its place in the history of Ladakh. Jigar Mohammed (pp.147-160)
reviews the raid of yet another invader, the Mughal general Mirza Haidar Dughlat, whose
armies occupied Ladakh in the 1530s. By way of his paper, the reader enters a new period of
Ladakhi history: the so-called Namgyal dynasty, a branch of the existing royal family which
ruled over Ladakh from the 16th century to the annexation of the kingdom in 1842.

Drawing on Persian texts from medieval times and on the account of the French traveller
François Bernier who visited Kashmir in the mid-17th century, he provides the Mughal view
of the region's economic and social affairs. Focusing on the local level, Peter Schwieger’s
contribution offers a complementary perspective, and adds to our understanding of the
relationships between the kingdom of Ladakh and local sub-kingdoms and chiefdoms in this
period. He introduces two pairs of documents concerning land titles that give a list of the
officials and functionaries who were active in He-na-ku [Heniskot], a petty kingdom ruled by
an offshoot of the Namgyal dynasty. At that time, in the nearby Suru valley, most of the
inhabitants converted to Shia Islam.

According to Nicola Grist, author of a Ph.D. Thesis on “Local politics in the Suru valley”
from which the essay presented here (pp.175-180) is drawn, the spread of Islam in Purig was
a gradual process. It results “both of Muslim preachers converting the ordinary populace and
of chiefs adopting Islam as part of the process of alliance building with the Mughals and the
Chiefs of Baltistan.” Nevertheless, by 1758 Purig was incorporated into the Ladakhi
kingdom. Consequently the Suru valley was ruled by regional administrators (mkhar dpon,

49
“Lords of the fort”) who were all Buddhists from the Leh capital area. It was still the case in
the 1830s, when Ladakh was invaded by the Dogra armies and finally lost its independence.
Following the first Anglo-Sikh War, the state of Jammu & Kashmir was established by the
Treaty of Amritsar in 1846. It included Ladakh and Spiti, while Lahul became part of British
India. The British authorities therefore felt necessary to demarcate the border between British
and Kashmir – and between Kashmiri and Tibetan – territory, and they sent commissioners to
survey the frontier at two different times (1846, 1871-72). This technical and political
challenge is narrated by Neil Howard (pp.217-234), who discusses the confusion about where
the boundary lay and shows that this persists on contemporary maps.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Leh consolidated its status as entrepôt on the Central
Asian routes. The British established an Agency to supervise trade and, through the security
provided, helped the establishment of Christian missions. Based on British government
records kept in the National Archives of India, K. Warikoo (pp.235-248) discusses the trans-
Himalayan political and trade linkages between Kashmir, Ladakh and eastern Turkestan. He
highlights the increasing involvement of the British in Central Asian affairs, after the Russian
conquest of Western Turkestan.

Jacqueline Fewkes and Abdul Nasir Khan (pp.321-334) give an accurate picture of the
traders' networks inside and outside Ladakh based on personal and business papers of two
caravan route traders in Leh: a corpus of 1,000 pages written in different languages (English,
Uighur, Persian, Tibetan, etc.). The authors were able to precisely trace the movements of
goods, and the people involved in the system and the places where they lived. Consequently
they identify three kinship-based social networks embedded in trade history: the traders,
transporters (kiraiyakash, from kiraiya “hire”), and to a lesser extent colonial officials. In
each case, kinship was a deliberate strategy. The kiraiyakash transporters were not the only
group of Ladakhis who travelled outside their own region in order to make money and, at the
same time, increase Ladakh's resources as a whole. They were also migrant labourers as Janet
Rizvi (pp.309-320) shows in a innovative essay focusing on the Suru valley and Zangskar,
and drawn, as with her earlier work, from the survivors’ recollections. It is also on oral
tradition that Tashi Stobdan's paper (pp.181-182) is based. The story concerns a dispute over
grazing rights between the villages of Stok and Matho that was ultimately resolved by an
archery competition.

As we have already noted, the expansion of British rule in India paved the way for Christian
missionaries. Three papers address this topic. In the first one, John Bray (pp.249-270)
introduces the context in which these missions took place and presents the various Protestant
missions that worked in Tibet and the Himalayan border regions in the 18th century (the
Baptist Missionary Society, the Anglican Church Missionary Society and independent
German missionaries). He highlights their special interest – also shared by the British
officials - in linguistic research. In the following essay, Christian Heyde (pp.271-280)
discusses the beginning of the West Himalayan Moravian Mission paying particular attention
to the station founded in Keylang by his ancestors, Wilhem and Maria Heyde, who lived
there for 39 and 42 years respectively. Their efforts to convert villagers to Christianity met
with little success. However the missionaries improved living conditions by introducing new
irrigation channels, new crops, new trees, new stoves, and made important contributions to
education and schooling. This is the topic of A.H. Francke's paper first published in Germany

50
in 1898 and translated here from German by G. Reifenberg. It gives a vivid picture of the
problems facing the Leh schools: no fixed timetable, no proper classrooms, and most of all no
pupils! As Francke clearly states, the main question was the following: how can the mission
teachers persuade the children of the Buddhist Ladakhis to attend school? And secondly,
which language should be used in translation and more generally in writings: Classical
Tibetan that nobody speaks or colloquial dialects? Jäschke, the linguist, who was in favour of
using Literary Tibetan, opposed Heyde and Francke who wished to develop local dialects
(Bunan or Ladakhi) as a written language. This question is still a burning issue today. The
desire to use a simplified version of written Ladakhi provokes fierce debates (see B. Zeisler
in this volume).

After the demise of the Ladakhi kingdom and its annexion to Jammu and Kashmir State,
although the Maharajas were Hindus, connections with Tibet and its religious centres were
maintained. The main monasteries continued to send monks for religious training. It was the
case for instance of Geshe Ye-shes don-grup (1897-1980), whose life and contributions to
Ladakh are described in Nawang Tsering Shakspo's paper (pp.335-352), based on two
unpublished autobiographies. In the same way, all the traditional Buddhist artists in 20th
century Ladakh have direct or indirect links with Tibet, and in turn transmitted their skills to
a generation of painters and sculptors. By reviewing lives and works of some outstanding
figures, Erberto Lo Bue (pp.353-378) highlights the crucial role that these Ladakhi artists
have played in preserving Buddhist culture not only in Ladakh, but even beyond, during one
of the most troublesome times in the history of Tibetan civilisation.

To conclude, Fernanda Pirie (pp.379-394), through the case study of the remote village of
Photoksar, analyzes the way anti-hierarchical principles counter social stratification in
Ladakh in an ethnological and historical perspective. She argues that these principles of
equality derived from social patterns that were established during the kings' era and continue
to influence modern contemporary village politics. Thus, while villagers had realised the
benefit of selecting a headman who has the knack of dealing with government officials and
NGO representatives for an extended term of office, they remain reluctant to have power
embodied in one person.

This volume clearly shows that there is not only one way of writing history and it has
attempted to uncover several of them. Taken together, it provides the reader with
considerable new data and opens the way to reap the fruits of subsequent research. As this
book demonstrates, there is still a great wealth of things to be uncovered. To date, while the
history of the Kargil and Purig regions has been almost totally disregarded, the history of the
Ladakh Changthang has yet to be written. Furthermore, one may deplore the lack of an essay
devoted to nomadic or semi-nomadic pastoralists inhabiting the eastern plateaus. The
Changpas only appear as hold-off shadows when discussing trade networks.

The editing and general appearance of the book are of a high standard, although there are
some minor misprints, especially in the spelling of proper nouns. (Concerning
Tibetan/Ladakhi translation, no uniform system of transliteration has been imposed.) Alas its
price (104 Euros, US$ 155 – discount for IALS members at 71 Euros or US$102) is
prohibitively expensive for South-Asian readers. Last but not least, it includes a useful index
and two welcome maps: one situating Ladakh in India's contemporary international

51
boundaries and areas disputed with China and Pakistan, the other showing the different
regions composing it. The latter unfortunately is not as informative as it might be. In fact, the
toponyms mentioned do not necessary match the names cited in the book (and vice-versa).
Henasku, Suru River or Basgo to quote only a few examples are missing. On the other hand,
useless names – at least for the reader - are inscribed. Finally, the volume offers some fine
black and white photographs, some of them drawn from the National Museum of Denmark,
Copenhagen or the Charles Bell collection in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford. The lovely
picture of the cover showing “the leader of the Ladakhi lo-phyag mission in 1921” is one of
them.

Alexander Csoma de KĘrös, by P. J. Marczell, 2 volumes, (Kolkata, India: The Asiatic

Society, 2007).
––Neil Howard

I first met Peter at a Ladakh Studies Conference. Peter Marczell appears never to have felt the
need to produce a new biography of Csoma since he spoke highly of the well-known
biography by Duka and the work by Hungarians such as Géza Bethlenfalvy and Bernard Le
Calloc’h. Peter’s main concerns were two-fold: to remove the hagiographical errors attached
to Csoma’s life by over-nationalistic Hungarian memorialists, and to pursue lesser known
aspects of Csoma’s work and his relations with contemporaries and friends.

Volume 1, Csoma KĘrösi’s Planet begins with a Preface in which the author declares his
purpose: to strip away some of the false accretions from Csoma’s life and to fill gaps in our
knowledge from sources not previously known or considered. Many of the thirteen chapters
are revised and translated essays that have been published previously. After the preface, we
have Philip Denwood’s Introduction and “A short overview of the life and achievements of
Csoma KĘrösi”.

Chapter 1, William Moorcroft’s ad hoc secretary, concerns six letters in the British Library
composed by William Moorcroft shortly before he left Leh for the final time but written in
Csoma’s hand. Marczell discusses Moorcroft’s possible motivation in employing Csoma on
such secretarial work, and how it might have had the unforeseen consequence of the latter
initially being suspected, in Calcutta, of spying for Russia which was then widely suspected
of harbouring designs on British India. In the first of two annexes to the chapter, the
transcribed texts of the letters cast interesting lights on Moorcroft’s multifarious interests.
The second annex contains a list of the actual daily stages of Ghulam Haidar Khan’s journey
from Leh to Kashmir – including an exciting crossing of the Zoji La following heavy snow.
This is a rare and valuable piece of contemporary geographical information.

Chapter 2, Moorcroft’s pioneering memorandum considers his paper written for the Asiatic
Society in Bengal (ASB), dated 8 February 1823, which summarises the results of his own
and Csoma’s enquiries, to date, into Tibetan language and literature; and proposes that the
British authorities should pay for Csoma to produce a reliable dictionary and grammar of
Tibetan. However, Moorcroft and Csoma were not the only people interested in
understanding the Tibetan language and culture at that period. As a result of the
machinations of H. H. Wilson, Secretary of the ASB, Moorcroft’s pioneering report and

52
Csoma’s work were neglected for some time in favour of B. H. Hodgson’s researches in
Nepal.

Chapter 3, Csoma KĘrösi’s Zangskari guides in Tibetan learning, examines briefly the roles
of Csoma’s teachers from Zangskar. The first was Sangye Puntsok (Sangs rgyas Phun
tshogs), originally a lama but by the time Csoma met him married to the widow of the King
of Zangla in Zangskar. He was a highly educated aristocrat and the foremost practitioner of
Tibetan medicine, astronomy, and astrology. The second was Kunga Choleg Dorje (Kun dgah
chos legs rdo rje) a distinguished lama of Dzongkuhl, the cave monastery near Ating in
Zangskar. The third was Tshul khrims rgya mtsho who may also have been known as Lama
Karma pa of Kham. A summary of the latter’s biography is given. Kunga Choleg’s formal
answers to Csoma’s questions have survived and were published in 1976. This publication is
discussed in an appendix to the chapter.

Chapter 4, Dr. Gerard’s plan for a pilgrimage with Csoma describes how Dr James Gerard, a
surgeon with the British Indian army at Subathu, near Simla, had been an admirer of William
Moorcroft and a friend of Csoma’s. By 1826 Moorcroft was known to have died somewhere
near Bokhara and Gerard, in a long, eloquent and “emotional” petition, proposed to his
superior officer, Captain C. P. Kennedy, that he and Csoma go to look for Moorcroft’s
property and papers. Kennedy referred the request to the government which declined
permission, while Csoma refused to risk his life on the venture.

Chapter 5, Csoma KĘrösi’s intervention between Hodgson and Turnour, shows an instance,
from 1837, of Csoma’s growing reputation as a Tibetologist as a result of his association with
the Asiatic Society of Bengal (ASB).

Chapter 6, Extracts from letters by Csoma KĘrösi published in his lifetime but omitted in his
collected works, provides two more examples of the scholarly working relationship between
Prinsep and Csoma. The first letter will be of particular interest to members of the IALS
because it refers to evidence of the former existence of Buddhism in Baltistan. Perhaps fellow
members can tell us if the statue and its inscription mentioned here still exist?

Chapter 7, Csoma, the librarian, and his Lower Saxon background, provides miscellaneous
information about his work as Librarian of the ASB. Csoma’s establishment in his
department’s rooms in the ASB comprised an assistant plus a duftury, a servant whose job it
was to look after the condition of the books; two derwans or doorkeepers; a farash, the male
equivalent of a European housemaid; a gardener; a sweeper; and a seculgur or sicleegur, a
polisher of the readers’ tables and chairs. Obviously his post of Librarian was a sinecure.

Chapter 8, Pia Memoria: Alexander Csoma KĘrösi, Dr Theodore Duka and Sir Aurel Stein,
examines the origins, personalities, motivations and careers of three Hungarian scholars who
worked in British and Greater India. Csoma was originally inspired by Hungarian nationalist
yearnings to discover the homeland of the Hungarians in the east, Duka by Csoma, and Stein,
to an extent, by Duka. He concludes with mentions of their intellectual descendents in
Hungary and elsewhere.

53
Chapter 9, Csoma KĘrösi’s pseudonym, begins by explaining the construction of Csoma’s
Hungarian aristocratic name. Then we see how several “pseudonyms” were deliberately
developed. In Zangskar and the Upper Sutlej valley he made himself known by variants of
Rumi Sekundar/Skanda Beg (Lord Alexander from Rome, i.e. Europe). On a later passport,
issued at his request by the Company, the pseudonym was Persianised for diplomatic
purposes and he took the title “Molla” (Mullah).

Chapter 10, Csoma KĘrösi: Himalayan hermit or nationalistic activist? is the chapter that is
central to Marczell’s understanding of Csoma’s life and motivation. He discusses the facts
behind the notion of a geographic cradle of the Hungarian race so much beloved of
Hungarian nationalists. Marczell explains the origins and definitions of such epithets as
“Pilgrim Scholar” and “Hermit Hero” that have been attributed to Csoma. A most interesting
footnote unravels the mysteries surrounding Csoma’s places of residence in Zangskar. Yet
Marczell omitted one detail---how Csoma’s residence in Zangskar appears as “Yangla” in
some published accounts due to misinterpretations of florid English writing in the documents
held at the British Library. The chapter concludes with copious footnotes containing much
new material.

Chapter 11, Bodhisattva Csoma KĘrösi: myth or reality? begins with a gently sceptical
analysis of the surviving evidence for the creation of Csoma’s “Bodhisattvahood”. Marczell
concludes that Csoma’s reputation was being used to promote Japanese-Hungarian
understanding by an intellectual adventurer – charlatanism and make-believe of a kind which
are still revived from time to time. A photograph of the statue at the centre of the ceremony
under discussion may be seen at the back of Recent Research on Ladakh 4 and 5.

Chapter 12, The Cult of Csoma and politics, begins by noting that in Hungarian eyes Csoma
was not merely a scholar but also a national hero. Here, Marczell considers the individuals
and organisations which have contributed to what he calls the “Cult of Csoma”. Anglophone
readers will be surprised by the way orthodoxy was imposed on discussion of Csoma’s
reputation and by the influence of the communist governments. The first volume concludes
with an Addendum listing the Tibetan manuscripts previously belonging to Csoma, of the
Malan Bequest in the Bodleian Library. Finally there is an index, four maps and a number of
photographs.

Volume 2, British-Indian Source Documents is impossible to summarise. It is almost 600

pages long and to quote the author’s introduction it “is the first comprehensive collection [of
documents] to be made available in English with clearly identified references and cross-
references… intended to be an indispensable source material for the study of the life and
work of Csoma” (p.xvii).

Part 1 consists of transcriptions of handwritten sources. The first item , the “Pioneering
Memorandum”, includes the letter William Moorcroft wrote to the ASB and all the
correspondence between government officials as they processed Csoma’s and Moorcroft’s
requests that Csoma be allowed to study in Ladakh. It offers an example of how the Company
went about its administrative business.

54
Parts 2 and 3 of the second volume contain reprints of extracts from the Journal of the Asiatic
Society of Bengal and other periodicals containing information on Csoma’s ongoing work.
These are followed by fragments of information about him in other men’s published
memoirs. Finally, there are lists of catalogues and archives and their contents.

Moravian Missionaries in Western Trans-Himalaya (Lahul, Ladakh and Kinnaur). Tobdan

& C. Dorje. 2008. New Delhi: Kaveri Books. 283 pp. ISBN-1081-7479-084-5. Price: Rs.
1250.
––John Bray

The first Moravian missionaries, August Wilhelm Heyde (1825-1907) and Eduard Pagell
(1820-1883), arrived in the Himalayan region in 1854. They and their successors
subsequently founded mission stations in Kyelang (Lahul, 1856), Poo (Kinnaur, 1865), Leh
(Ladakh, 1885) and Khalsi (Ladakh, 1899). In addition to their evangelistic activities, the
missionaries made important contributions in the fields of education, agriculture, medicine
and historical and linguistic research. The most notable Moravian scholars were H.A. Jäschke
(1817-1883), whose Tibetan-English Dictionary (1881) is still of use today; and A.H.
Francke (1870-1930), who pioneered the study of the history and archaeology of Ladakh and
Lahul. This book is in part a tribute to their memory.

The book begins with five historical chapters, consisting of an “Introduction of Christianity in
the Western Trans-Himalayas”, followed by a chapter on each of the three regions—Lahul,
Kinnaur and Ladakh—where the missionaries worked. The final chapter is a review of Bible
translations in Western Himalayan Languages.

The appendices include four pamphlets published by Francke between 1906 and 1908 on the
Kyelang mission’s lithographic press. The pamphlets are reproduced in full and between
them take up nearly 200 pages. Finally, there are three much shorter appendices: a
transcription of two Christian rock inscriptions in Lahul which almost certainly were carved
by the Moravians themselves; a cheerful but ill-informed article reproduced from the
Hindustan Times in 1987; and Gabriele Reifenberg’s translation of an 1897 article by A.H.
Francke that describes a perilous journey across the Zoji-la. The book concludes with a
bibliography and an index.

The authors are careful to cite their sources but a substantial proportion of the text consists of
extended quotations from H.A. Jäschke’s Tibetan-English Dictionary (1881), the introduction
to my own translation of S.H. Ribbach’s Drogpa Namgyal (Culture and Society in Ladakh,
1986), C. Wessels’ Early Travellers in Central Asia (1924), and official British gazetteers of
Lahul, Simla and Chamba, a thesis on Lahul by Elizabeth Stutchbury; and J.S.M. Hooper’s
Bible Translation in India, Pakistan and Ceylon (1938; revised 1964). With the exception of
the Jäschke quotation, the missionaries rarely speak for themselves. Overall the book has the
feel of a compilation – albeit an interesting one - rather than a work of original analysis.
The first five chapters reflect both the strengths and the limitations of the authors’ sources.
The chapter on Lahul is one of the strongest, however, it includes a number of errors, notably
a reference to Theos Bernard, whose name is misspelt ‘Bernardo’ and who is described as a
‘prominent member of the mission’: Bernard was a US academic and yoga practitioner who
was murdered in Lahul in 1947 (not in 1945 “somewhere beyond Ladakh”). The chapter on

55
Ladakh begins with a reference to the dubious claims by Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947) to
have discovered local legends that Jesus Christ visited Ladakh. It includes excerpts from
travel accounts by Sven Hedin (1865-1952), Cecil Tyndale-Biscoe (1863-1949) and Marco
Pallis (1895-1989). Apart from a brief note on the Leh Mission School (which conflates the
names of the principal and the deputy principal), there is no mention of the contemporary
Christian community in Ladakh.

The reproductions of A.H. Francke’s pamphlets from the Kyelang mission press are of
particular interest because the originals are extremely hard to find. These are: First Collection
of Tibetan Historical Inscriptions on Rock and Stone from West Tibet (1906); Second
Collection of Tibetan Historical Inscriptions on Rock and Stone from West Tibet (1907); Die
historischen und mythologischen Erinnerungen der Lahouler (Translated here as “Ancient
Folklore in the memory of the People of Lahul”); and St Mark in Tinan—St Mark’s Gospel
translated into the Tinan language of Lahul. The German-language introductions and titles
are written in Francke’s own hand while the Tibetan scripts are evidently by different
contributors and must be the work of his local assistants. These are true rarities: the title
pages show that only 40 copies of each were printed. Francke intended them to serve as
preliminary research findings and would have distributed them to colleagues in India or
abroad.

One of Francke’s particular contributions to historical research was to identify the importance
of rock inscriptions. The First Collection contains 89 inscriptions, mainly from different parts
of Ladakh but also including four from Baltistan. He notes that the inscriptions are in
different scripts, including Indian Brahmi, Karoshti and Kashmir Takri, Urdu/Arabic as well
as Tibetan. The Second Collection contains a total of 145 inscriptions, of which the last 22
are from Lahul and Chamba. Although Francke had not seen all the inscriptions personally,
he issued the two collections to prepare the way for further research. Later scholars have
expanded on and challenged some of his readings. However, these preliminary collections
may have research value even now because so many inscriptions have been damaged in the
intervening years.

The third and fourth pamphlets illustrate the link between Francke’s work as a missionary
and his historical research. One of his main contributions to the mission was as a Bible
translator. His predecessor, H.A. Jäschke, had translated the New Testament into Tibetan
chos-skad, adopting a literary style that he hoped would be accessible across the Tibetan
world. While admiring Jäschke’s achievement, Francke argued that it was also important to
produce translations in a style that was closer to the local spoken languages and he had
already produced a Ladakhi phal skad version of the Gospel of St Mark.

The purpose of his stay in Lahul from 1906 to 1908 was to produce similar translations in the
local Bunan, Tinan, Pahari, and Manchad languages. However, when he arrived in Lahul he
had no written texts to assist his studies of the local languages because none of them had an
associated literature. As he notes in his introduction, the 21 folk-stories, historical
reminiscences and songs are intended to fill this gap. While one of the texts is reproduced in
Francke’s Antiquities of Indian Tibet (Calcutta, 1926) the others appear to be unpublished.
The final text, St Mark in Tinan, represents one of the results of Francke’s labours, together

56
with the local evangelist Zodpa Dechen. This was the first and perhaps still the only book
published in Tinan, and will be of value to linguistic researchers.

Overall, the book makes a valuable contribution in that it makes information about the
Moravian missionaries more readily available in the region where they worked. Poor editing
and the limitations of its sources mean that it is far from being the last word on its subject.
However, it should serve as a welcome stimulus to further research.

57
LADAKH BIBLIOGRAPHY SUPPLEMENT No 18

This supplement lists additions to updates in previous editions of Ladakh Studies and in my
Bibliography of Ladakh (Warminister: Aris & Phillips, 1988). Please send new references and
suggested annotations to John Bray (1208, 2-14-1 Furuishiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0045, Japan;
[email protected]).

Abbreviations

LCC. Ahmed, Monisha & Harris, Clare (Eds.). 2005. Ladakh Culture at the Crossroads.
Mumbai: Marg.

RROL 2007. Recent Research on Ladakh 2007. Edited by John Bray & Nawang Tsering
Shakspo. Leh: Jammu & Kashmir for Art, Culture and Languages.

Bibliography

Adams, Andrew Leith. 1867. Wanderings of a Naturalist in India, the Western Himalayas and
Cashmere. Edinburgh: Edmonston & Douglas. 333 pp. „ Pp. 258-306 are concerned
with Ladakh and refer to the impoverishment of the region during the early years of
Dogra rule.

Aggarwal, Ravina. 2005. “The Turquoise Headdress of Ladakh”. In LCC, pp. 56-65. „ Analyses
the form, manufacture, and social and economic relevance of headdresses.

Ahmed, Monisha. 2004. “The Politics of Pashmina: the Changpas of Eastern Ladakh.” Nomadic
Peoples 8, No. 2, pp. 89-106. „ Discusses the politics and economics of the pashmina
trade since the 1960s, and the roles of private and government traders as well as cross-
border trading from Tibet. Changpa nomads benefit from high prices, but are concerned
about price fluctuations.

Ahmed. Monisha. 2005. “Textile Arts of Ladakh: Nomadic Weaves to Silk-Brocades.” In LCC,
pp. 66-81. „ Discusses the different varieties of textile art.

Ahmed, Monisha & Harris, Clare. 2005. Ladakh Culture at the Crossroads. Mumbai: Marg, 124
pp. „ Contains papers on traditional building, Islamic architecture, metalworking,
textiles, Buddhist religious art. Further details to follow in next edition of bibliography.

Arya, Ritesh. 2007. “Groundwater Exploration and its Exploitation in Ladakh. Implications for
Sustainable Development.” In RROL 2007, pp. 226-232. „ Argues that groundwater
supplies are plentifully available and can be used to resolve water shortages and develop
agriculture.

Bano, Jamila. 2007. “High Altitude Sickness in Ladakh.” In RROL 2007, pp. 145-150. „ Based
on research from the Sonam Norbu Memorial hospital in Ladakh.

58
Bashir, Shahzad. 2003. Messianic Hopes and Visions: the NnjrbakshƯya between Medieval and
Modern Islam. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. xxxvi, 328pp. illus maps.
„ Historical analysis of the NnjrbakshƯya sect from the time of its founder, Mu•ammad
Nnjrbaksh (1392-1464) to the present day. Pp. 244-282 discuss the sect’s establishment
and survival in Baltistan and Ladakh.

Beszterda, Rafaá. 2006. Bracia morawscy na pograniczu indyjsko-tybetaĔskim. Sposoby

dziaáania, wpáyw na lokalne zmiany kulturowe i recepcjĊ kultur himalajskich w Europie.
[Moravian Brethren in the Indo-Tibetan Borderland. Their Activities, Influence on Local
Cultural Change, and Role in the Reception of Himalayan Cultures in Europe.] Ph.D
thesis. Warsaw Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology. Polish Academy of Sciences. „
Discusses the historical and theological origins of the Moravian mission in the Western
Himalayas, the missionaries’ activities in the social and economic fields, their translations
and publications, and their influence on the study of Asian cultures in Europe.

Bhan, Mona. 2007. Visible Margins. State, Identity, and Development among Brogpas of Ladakh
(India). Ph.D thesis. Rutgers, State University of New Jersey. 303 pp. „ Ethnographic
analysis of the interactions of Brogpas with the development practices and discourses of
the Indian civil-state and the military. Contrasts the military’s ‘Operation Sadhbhavna’
project to win local ‘hearts and minds’ with the strategies of the Kargil Hill Council.

Bhatnagar, Yash Veer et al. 2006. “Perceived Conflicts Between Pastoralism and Conservation
of the Kiang Equus kiang in the Ladakh Trans-Himalaya, India
Environmental Management 38, No. 6, pp. 934-941. „ Pastoral communities in
Changthang believe that local rangelands are overstocked with kiang, and this threatens
the animal’s conservation prospects.

Boesi, Alessandro. 2007. “The Classification of Medicinal Plants in Tibetan Medicine.” In

RROL 2007, pp.133-140. „ Amchi practitioners throughout Tibet and the Himalayan
regions use the same texts, but the identification of several medicinal plants has been
adapted to local environmental conditions.

Bruneau, Laurianne. 2004. Les representations rupestres du Ladakh/Zanskar. Mémoire présenté

et soutenu sous la direction de H.P. Francfort et S. Cleuziou. Thèse de doctorat d’études
approfondies. Paris: Université-Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. Département d’archéologie
orientale. 2 vols. Illus. „ Study of petroglyphs in the Indus valley, Zanskar, Nubra and
Rupshu. Discusses techniques and subjects, highlighting their historic value. Vol. 2 is a
photographic catalogue.

Chaturvedi, Gitanjali. 2007. “Trifurcation: a Secular Agenda? In RROL 2007, pp. 193-202. „
Discusses the formation of the Ladakh Union Territory Front (LUTF) in the early 2000s,
and assesses the prospects for secular politics in Ladakh.

Chaud, Marianne. 2001. “Le théâtre contemporain des communautés bouddhistes du Ladakh.
Une nouvelle institution pour une nouvelle affirmation identitaire.” Mémoire de DEA en
anthropologie présenté en vue du diplôme de l’EHSS. Paris: École des Hautes Études en
Sciences Sociales. 118 pp. map. Illus. „ Discusses the evolution of Ladakhi theatre since
the 1950s, arguing that it is closely linked to the affirmation of Buddhist identity.

59
Chaudhuri, Ajit. 2000. “Change in Changthang: to Stay or to Leave?” Economic and Political
Weekly, 35, Nos. 1-2 (Jan. 8 2005), pp. 52–58. Mumbai. „

Clarke, John. 2005. “Metalworking in Ladakh”. In LCC, pp. 44-55. „ Discusses the
metalworkers of Chiling village.

Collier, Jérôme 2006. Le médicine amchi à Ladakh. Étude géographique d’un recours
thérapeutique traditionnel et des représentations de la tradition médicale dans un espace
en mutations socioculturelles et économiques. Mémoire de Master 1 de Géographie
Mention « Mondialisation et Développement » UFR de Géographie, Université de
Provence. 112 pp. „ Discusses the role of amchi medicine in contemporary Ladakh and
reviews amchis’ struggles to revitalise their tradition and escape from marginalisation.

Cook, Robert. 2007. “Psychology, Buddhism and Sustainable Development.” In RROL 2007, pp.
261-270. „ Calls for a new ethic to replace modern consumerist beliefs, and points to the
emerging common ground between Western psychological thinking and Buddhist values.

Deboos, Salomé. 2007. Être musulman au Zanskar. Thèse de doctorat en Ethnologie et

Anthropologie Sociale. Paris: École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. 310pp. „ A
discussion of Muslim social relations in contemporary Zangskar, based on extensive
fieldworld in Padum.

Delaballe, Anne. 2006. Les nourritures de la partage et de la discorde. Études des relations
sociales entres bouddhistes et musulmans du Ladakh au travers de l’analyse des échanges
alimentaires. Thèse de doctorat nouveau regime en ethnologie et anthropologie sociale.
Paris: École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. Département d’anthropologie
sociale. 374pp. „ Analyses the changing ritual and social role of food both within and
between Buddhist and Muslim communities during the recent periods of rapid social
change.

Dollfus, Pascale and Labbal, Valérie. 2003. “Les composantes du paysage ladakhi.” In Histoire
et devenir des paysages en Himalaya. Représentations des milieux et gestion des
resources au Népal et au Ladakh, pp. 91-112. Edited by Joëlle Smadja. Paris: Centre
nationale de recherché supérieure. „ Geographical overview of land use in Ladakh,
included as part of a wider study on land resources in the Himalayan region. Sections on
mountains and gorges, ‘empty’ spaces, cultivated space etc.

Dollfus, Pascale and Labbal, Valérie. 2003. “Incursion toponomiques au coeur de deux
territoires villageois du Ladakh. In Histoire et devenir des paysages en Himalaya.
Représentations des milieux et gestion des resources au Népal et au Ladakh, pp. 237-258.
Edited by Joëlle Smadja. Paris: Centre nationale de recherché supérieure. „ Discussion
of local place names and their cultural significance in the two villages of Sabu and
Hemis Shukpachen

Dollfus, Pascale; Lecomte-Tilouine, Marie and Aubriot, Olivia. “Un araire dans la tête…
Réflexions sur la repartition géographique de l’outil en Himalaya.” Techniques et cultures

60
 No. 27, pp. 3-50. Paris. „ Comparative review of the design, usage and terminology of
ploughs across the Himalayan region, including Ladakh.

Dolma, T. et al. 1990. “Seasonal Koilonychia in Ladakh.” Contact Dermatitis Feb 1990, No. 2,
pp. 78-80. „ During a health survey for chest disease in Ladakh, it was noted that women
and a few men had marked koilonychia. It is thought to be due to exposure to cold wet
mud while repairing walls and irrigation canals.

Dorje Dawa. 2007-2008. Environmental Impact Assessment of Tourism Development in Ladakh,

Indian Himalaya. Doctoral thesis in Environmental Engineering (XIX cycle). Faculty of
Engineering, University of Trento. Xv, 115pp. illus. Maps. „ Develops a spatial
environment database for Ladakh using Geographical Information System (GIS) and
remote sensing techniques, with a particular focus on the environmental impact of
tourism in Ladakh and the spatial patterns of urban sprawl around Leh.

Droël, Line. 2007. Bouddhistes et Musulmans du Ladakh. Les causes de l’harmonie perdue.
Mémoire. Université de Fribourg, Faculté des Lettres Sciences des Religions. 185 pp.
illus. „ Discusses Buddhist-Muslim relations in Ladakh with particular reference to the
1989 agitation, the creation of Hill Council in 1996 and current social relationships.

Emmer, Gerhard. 2006. “Ladakh als Mitte und als Rand: Zum Wandl kultureller und historischer
Kontexte.” In Der Rand und die Mitte: Beiträge zur Sozialanthropologie und
Kulturgeschichte Tibets und des Himalaya, pp. 103-134. Edited by Andre Gingrich and
Guntram Hazod. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. „
Analyses the historical evolution of Ladakh’s political and religious institutions in
comparison with those of Tibet.

Emmer, Gerhard. 2007. “Dga’ ldan tshe dbang dpal bzang po and the Tibet-Ladakh-Mughal War
of 1679-84”. In The Mongolia-Tibet Interface. Opening new Research Terrains in Inner
Asia, pp. 81-107. Edited by Uradyn E. Bulag and Hildegard G.M. Diemberger.
Proceedings of the Tenth Seminar of the International Association of Tibetan Studies,
Oxford 2003. Vol. 9. Leiden: Brill. „ Discusses the historical biography and
contemporary representations of the Mongolian monk-general Dga’ ldan tshe dbang dpal
bzang po.

Emmer, Gerhard. 2007. “The Condition of the Argons of Leh.” In RROL 2007, pp. 179-186. „
Discusses Argons’ relations with Ladakhi Buddhists, and makes comparisons with the
findings of Ashutosh Varney who conducted research on civil society organisations in
cities with mixed Hindu/Muslim populations in northern India.

Engelhardt, Hans Dietrich. 2008. “Rupshu: Paradies für Bergsteiger - Überlebenskampf für
Bewohner.” Alpenvereinsjahrbuch Berg 2008, pp. 80-99. Munich. „ Well-informed
travel account and review of recent social and ecological developments in Rupshu.

Fatima, Kaneez. 2007. “Education in the Drass Valley”. In RROL 2007, pp. 233-236. „ There is
now greater awareness of the importance of education for girls.

61
Galántha-Hermann, Judith. 1993. Unfinished Past: a Different View on Certain Aspects of the
Life and Times of Alexander Csoma de KĘrös in Ladakh. Lectures and Papers in
Hungarian Studies 3, Hungarian Studies Association of Canada. 22 pp. „ Reports on
findngs of visit to Zangla, looking at buildings where Csoma is believed to have studied.

Galántha-Hermann, Judith. 2000. Up Close: the Ladakhi Teacher of Alexander Csoma de KĘrös.
Lectures and Papers in Hungarian Studies 27, Hungarian Studies Association of Canada.
18 pp. „ Assesses available information on Sangye Phuntsog, including his Tibetan birth
signs which apparently were particularly compatible with Csoma’s.

Goepper, Roger. 2003. “More Evidence for Dating the Sumtsek in Alchi and its Relations with
Kashmir.” In Dating Tibetan Art. Essays on the Possibilities and Impossibilities of
Chronology from the Lempertz Symposium, pp.15-24. Edited by Ingrid Kreide-Damani.
Contributions to Tibetan Studies 3. Wiesbaden: Reichert. Cologne. „

Goodall, Sarah. 2004. “Changpa Nomadic Pastoralists: Differing Responses to Change in

Ladakh, North-West India.” Nomadic Peoples 8, No. 2, pp.191-199. „ An overview of
the factors leading nomad families from Ruphsu-Kharnak to settle in and around Leh,
based on interviews with 103 migrant households.

Hancart Petitet, Pascale. 2005. “Mortalité maternelle au Ladakh: de la santé publique à

l’anthropologie.” In Panser le monde, penser les medicines. Traditions médicales et
développement sanitaire, pp.123-143. Edited by Laurent Pordié. Paris: Karthala. „
Anthropological analysis of maternal mortality during childbirth in Zanskar.

Harris, Clare. 2005. “Reshaping Tradition: The Life and Work of Nawang Tsering”. In LLC, pp.
82-93. „ Nawang Tsering was born 1937 in Tia, and is the designer of the Chamba image
in Thikse monastery.

Harrison, John. 2005. “House and Fortress – Traditional Building in Buddhist Ladakh.” In LCC,
pp. 20-33. „ Discusses historical development of Ladakhi architecture, together with
materials used for construction.

Harrison, John. 2007. “The Conservation of Kanji Tsuglakhang.” In RROL 2007, pp. 79-88. „
Reports on the work of the Achi Association, a Swiss-based NGO, in repairing the
Tsuglagkhang temple using traditional methods and materials.

Heusgen, Wolfgang. 2007. “Alchi Sumtseg: an Endangered Jewel?” In RROL 2007, pp. 73-78. „
Examines the Sumsteg from the perspective of an architect concerned with the structure
of the building.

Irimoto, Takashi. 1986. “Anthropological Study on the History of the Kingdom of Ladakh—A
Historical-ecological Approach.” Bulletin – National Museum of Ethnology 11, No. 2,
pp.403-455. Osaka. „ Describes the Ladakhi kingdom as a porous system – not isolated
but also not completely connected. Speculates about the reasons for the decline of the
kingdom.

62
Irimoto, Takashi. 1989. “Radakku-ni okeru rah no gainen. [The Concept of Lha in Ladakh]”
Hokkaido Indo Tetsugaku Bukkyǀ Gakkai 4, pp. 305-324. „

Jackson, David. 2005. “Recent Painting Traditions of Ladakh: Central Tibetan Styles in Far
Western Tibet.” In LCC, pp. 104-121. „ Reviews the diversity of artistic traditions in
contemporary Buddhist religious paintings.

Jina, Prem Singh. 2007. Ladakh Buddhist Culture and Tradition. Delhi: Kalpaz Publications. 264
pp. illus. „ A collection of essays on Ladakhi monasteries and historical figures.

Jourde, Pierre. 2008. Le Tibet sans peine. Paris: Gallimard. 119 pp. „ A cheerful travel book
about Zangskar, despite the misleading title.

Kala, Chandra Prakash & Mathur, Vinod B. 2002. “Patterns of Plant Species Distribution in the
Trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh, India.” Journal of Vegetation Science, 13, No.6,
pp.751-754. „ Studied the vegetation distribution in eight landscape types—ranging from
river beds to crags and ridges—along an altitudinal gradient in Ladakh.

Khan, Raja Iftikhar Hussain Ali. 2007. “The Impact of Balti Culture on Jammu & Kashmir and
Beyond.” In RROL 2007, pp. 107-110. „ Points out that Ladakhis and Baltis share a
common linguistic heritage, and discusses Balti influence in Kashmir.

Kloos, Stephan. 2005. “Le développement dans la négociation du pouvoir. Le cas de la medicine
à Hanu. Inde himalayenne.” In Panser le monde, penser les medicines. Traditions
médicales et développement sanitaire, 101-122. Edited by Laurent Pordié. Paris:
Karthala. „ Explores the relations between public health, local society and traditional
medicine, taking the work of amchis in Hanu as a case study.

Kloos, Stephan. 2006. “Amchi Medizin zwischen Rand und Mitte.” In Der Rand und die Mitte:
Beiträge zur Sozialanthropologie und Kulturgeschichte Tibets und des Himalaya, pp. 55-
77. Edited by Andre Gingrich and Guntram Hazod. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen
Akademie der Wissenschaften. „ Discusses the life and work of Tashi Balu from the
Dard village of Hanu Gongma as a case study of the changing role of amchis in Ladakhi
society. Sets the discussion in the context of a review of the relationship between the
centre (in this case Leh) and the periphery (in this case Hanu Gongma).

Kozics, Gerald. 2005. Architektur im tantrischen Buddhismus. Der Architektonische Raum im

Diamantkreis. Graz: ACPUB Academic Publishers. 37 pp. 33 illus. „ Analyses the
architectural space of the Alchi Sumtsek and relates it to the Wanla temple and Nyarma
main temple. Discusses Buddhist architecture as a means of expressing religious and
cosmological ideas.

Kozics, Gerald. 2007. “The Architecture of the Empty Shells of Nyarma.” In Discoveries in
Western Tibet and the Western Himalayas, pp. 41-54. Edited by Amy Heller G
Giacomella Orofino. PIATS 2003. Vol. 8. Leiden: Brill. „

63
Kozicz, Gerald. 2007. “Der Manjusri Lhakhang von Alchi. Ein Raum für den Bodhisattva der
Weisheit.” Journal of Comparative Cultural Studies in Architecture 1, pp 21-27. Berlin.
„ Demonstrates that the Majusri Lhakhang in Alchi is an architectural expression of the
mandala concept. Available on: www.jccs-a.org/site/issue_files/jccs_01_kozicz_full.pdf.

Kozics, Gerald. 2007. “Documenting the Last Surviving Murals of Nyarma.” Orientations 38,
No. 4, pp. 60-64. Hong Kong. „

Kozics, Gerald. 2007. “Details am Rande.” Indo-Asiatische Zeitschrift 11, pp. 53-62, Berlin. „
Discusses features of the Mandalas of the Sarvadurgatiparishodana and Dharmadhatu
contexts which apparently only occur in the Alchi group of temples.

Kressing, Frank. 2003. “Traumatisierung durch ‘das Fremde’ in Ladakh? Wie ein kleines Volk
im Himalaja Außeneinflüsse bewältigt.” Psychosozial 26, No. 91, pp. 91-106. Special
edition on “Lebensgeschichten. Trauma und Erzählung.” Edited by R. Haubl et al.
Frankfurt. „ Summarises the findings of a Volkswagen Foundation project on local
responses to ‘alien influences’ (e.g. tourism, the military presence etc) in Buddhist
Ladakh.

Labbal, Valérie. 2001. “Travail de la terre, travail de la pierre.” Des modes de mise en valeur des
milieux arides par les sociétés himalayennes. L’example du Ladakh. Ph.D thesis.
Université Aix-Marseille 1 – Université de Provence. 440 pp. „ Analyses the role of
irrigation in Ladakhi agriculture, and discusses the historic relationship between village
communities and royal power during the Ladakhi kingdom.

Labbal, Valérie. 2001. “Un araire du toit du monde.” Techniques et cultures No. 27, pp.109-124.
Paris. „ Describes the structure, fabrication functions and usage of ploughs. Gives
nomenclature associated with the tool and the yokes that accompany it. Illustrated with
photographs and drawings.

Lee, Richard V. 2001. “Maladies, Malaise and Modernization: Health and Development in the
North-Western Himalaya (Ladakh).” Asian Affairs 32, No. 3, pp. 300-306. „ Discusses
medicine and the dilemmas of social change with particular reference to Zangskar.

Lo Bue, Erberto. 2005. “A Short Biography of a Contemporary Buddhist Painter.” In LCC, pp.
95-103. „ The painter is Tsering Wangdu Ölthangpa (Tshe ring dbang ‘dus Ol thang pa),
who was born in Nyemo, c. 1944.

Lo Bue, Erberto. 2007. “A 16th-Century Ladakhi School of Buddhist Painting.” In Buddhist Art:
Form & Meaning, pp. 102-116. Edited by Pratapaditya Pal. Mumbai: Marg Publications.
„ The second half of the 16th century was a particularly important period in the history of
Ladakhi painting. Illustrated with photographs from Phiyang and Basgo.

Lo Bue, Erberto. 2007. “Traditional Buddhist Art in 20th Century Ladakh.” In RROL 2007,
pp.89-98. „ Discusses the lives and work of Tse-ring-wang-dü, born probably in 1944 at
Nye-mo, and the sculptor Nga-wang-tse-ring, born in 1936 at Tia.

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Luczanits, Christian. 2007. “Alchi Sumtseg Reconsidered” In RROL 2007, pp. 61-72. „ Argues
in support of Roger Goepper’s dating of the Sumtseg to 1200-1220 at the earliest, and
discusses the temple’s relationship with Central Tibetan art of the same period.

Luzi, Laetitia. 1996. Enfance, éducation et socialisation de l’enfant dans un village du Ladakh.
U.F.R. de sciences sociales. Mémoire de maîtrise. Université de Paris X – Nanterre.
134pp. illus. „ Discusses early childhood, education and socialisation of Ladakhi
children. Based on fieldwork in Mang gyu. Discusses the socialisation of the child in the
family context; the status and role of the child in the family and in society; external
influences; and inculcation of social values.

Marczell, Peter. 2007. Alexander Csoma de KĘrös. Vol.1. Csoma KĘrösi’s Planet. 302 pp.; Vol.
2. British-Indian Source Documents. 593 pp. Calcutta: Asiatic Society. „ Vol.1 is a
collection of 12 papers on Csoma, including three previously published in IALS
proceedings (“William Moorcroft’s pioneering memorandum”, “Csoma KĘrösi’s
Zanskari Guides in Tibetan Learning” and Csoma KĘrösi’s pseudonym”). Vol. 2 is a
transcript of manuscript in Indian and British archives as well as contemporary 19th
century printed sources.

Marshall, Julie G. 2005. Britain and Tibet 1765-1947: A Select Annotated Bibliography of
British Relations with Tibet and the Himalayan States including Nepal, Sikkim and
Bhutan. With a foreword by Alastair Lamb. London/New York: RoutledgeCurzon. xxxvi,
607pp. „ Chapter 5 on “Western Tibet and the Western Himalayan Region 1800-1903”
includes extensive references to Ladakh.

Meinertzhagen, R. 1927. “Ladakh with Special Reference to its Natural History.” Geographical
Journal 70, No. 2, pp. 129-156. London: Royal Geographical Society. Illus. „ Describes
journey via the Indus valley to Panggong Lake and Nubra in 1925. Part 2 reviews “The
Origin of Life in the Himalayas and on the Tibetan Plateau.”

Mills, Martin A. 2000. “Vajra Brother, Vajra Sister: Renunciation, Individualism and Household
in Tibetan Monastic Buddhism.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 6, pp. 17-
34. „ Challenges the view that Buddhist monasticism is characterised by a pronounced
view towards individualism, detaching monks from relational social life, and that
doctrines of karma represent an alternative mode of identity to those constructed within
household life. Draws on research in Lingshed.

Mir, Mohammed Saleem. 2007. “The Apricot Wealth of Ladakh.” In RROL 2007, pp. 237-240.
„ Summarises research on different varieties of apricot in Kargil and Leh districts. There
were 100 varieties and eco-types, some of which seem to have been introduced from
Tibet and Yarkand.

Monasterio, M.E. 2000. “An Experience of Psychiatry in Ladakh, India.” Australasian

Psychiatry 8, No.3, pp. 216-219. Illus. „ Review of psychiatric cases at Sonam Norboo
Memorial Hospital in Leh during author’s visit in 1997-1998.

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Mohammed, Jigar. 2007. “Mughal Sources on Medieval Ladakh, Baltistan and Western Tibet.”
In RROL 2007, pp.35-42. „ Discusses contemporary accounts by Mirza Haidar Dughlat,
Abul Fazl, Inayat Khan and François Bernier.

Nadvi, Muhammad Omar Gutu. 2007. “The Holy Quran and the Teachings of the Holy Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH) and the Ladakhi Language.” In RROL 2007, pp.257-260. „ Author
is translating the Holy Quran into simple Ladakhi, together with Konchok Panday. Hopes
that this will contribute to common understanding between different communities in
Ladakh.

Nawang Tsering Shakspo. 2007. “Historical Perspectives of Saboo.” In RROL 2007, pp. 101-
106. „ Saboo, near Leh, has been the home of many important figures in Ladkhi history.

Norboo, T. and Ball, K. 1988. “High Altitude Pulmonary Oedema in the Himalayas: a
Preventable Condition.” Practitioner 232 (1448), pp. 557-60. „

Norboo, T. et al. 1991. “Silicosis in a Himalayan village population: role of environmental dust.”
Thorax 46, 341-343. London: British Thoracic Society. „ Reports findings of research on
silicosis in Chuchot Shamma and Stok. The main cause appears to be exposure to
environmental dust.

Norboo, T. et al. 2004 “Mini Review of High Altitude Health Problems in Ladakh.”
Biomedicine & Pharmacoptherapy 54, No. 4, pp. 220-225. „ Discusses altitude sickness,
and the health impacts of environmental dust and domestic fire pollution.

Padma Gurmet. 2007. “The Amchi System of Medicine. The Art and Science of a Healthy Way
of Life.” In RROL 2007, pp.125-132. „ Outlines the key principles of Amchi medicine
and discusses the changing role of traditional practitioners in contemporary Ladakh.

Papa-Kalantari, Christiane. 2007. “The Art of the Court: Some Remarks on the Historical
Stratigraphy of Eastern Iranian Elements in Early Buddhist Painting of Alchi, Ladakh. In
Text, Image and Song in Transdisciplinary Dialogue, pp. 167-228. Edited by Deborah
Klimburg-Salter, Kurt Tropper, and Christian Jahoda. PIATS 2003. Leiden: Brill. „

Pedersen, Poul & van Beek, Martijn. 2007. “Prince Peter’s Film from Ladakh 1938.” In RROL
2007, pp. 43-50. „ Discusses the film’s contents, and explains how Prince Peter came to
be visiting Ladakh.

Phuntsog, S.T. 2007. “Dharmic Physiology.” In RROL 2007, pp. 141-144. „ Discusses the links
between the Buddhist Dharma, medicine and healthy living.

Pirie, Fernanda. 2006. “Insisting on Agreement: Tibetan Law and its Development in Ladakh.”
In Tibetan Borderlands, pp. 67-87. Edited by P. Christiaan Klieger. PIATS 2003. Leiden:
Brill. „ Reviews historical judicial practices in Ladakh and village approaches to dispute
resolution. Final section discusses the Ladakh Buddhist Association’s dispute resolution
services.

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Pirie, Fernanda. 2007. Peace and Conflict in Ladakh. The Construction of a Fragile Web of
Order. Brill’s Tibetan Studies Library 13. Leiden: Brill. xii, 244 pp. 41 illus. „ A study
of the ways in which social order has order has been created by, but also despite and in
defiance of, the powerful external forces of religion, war, politics and wealth. Draws on
anthropological research in Photoksar and Leh.

Raza Abbasi, Mohammed. 2007. “Pakistani Shelling of Kargil in 1997 and 1999. An Eyewitness
Account.” In RROL 2007, pp. 187-192. „

Reversé, Julie. 2005. Médicine traditionelle tibétaine et modernité urbaine. Étude d’une “clinique
pour voyageurs” à Leh, Ladakh, Himalaya indien. Mémoire de maîtrise. Paris: Université
Paris X – Nanterre. 127 pp. Illus. „ A study of the Ladakh Society for Traditional
Medicine which operates the only clinic offering traditional medicine to foreigners at
Changspa, Leh.

Rhodes, N.G. 1981. “The Silver Coinages of Garhwal and Ladakh, 1686-1871.” The Numismatic
Chroncle 141, pp. 120-135. London. „ Illustrated analysis of silver ja’u struck in Ladakh
between the late 18th and late 19th centuries, linking the design and quality of the coins
with the region’s changing political fortunes.

Rhodes, Nicholas. 1982. “A Hoard of Ladakhi Ja’u”. The Numismatic Chronicle 142, pp. 164-
165. London. Illus. „ Describes coins originating from a hoard in Kalimpong that seems
to have been deposited in about 1816.

Riaboff, Isabelle. 1991. Essai d’analyse comparative des rituels funeraires contemporains dans
l’aire de culture tibétaine. Mémoire de maitrise. Département d’Ethnologie. Paris:
Université de Paris X – Nanterre. 216pp. „ Comparative study of contemporary funeral
rituals drawing on sources from Tibet, Ladakh, Sikkim and Nepal.

Rinchen Wangchuk & Jackson, Rodney. 2007. “A Community-based Approach to Mitigating

Livestock-Wildlife Conflict in Ladakh.” In RROL 2007, pp. 241-246. „ Reports on a
community-based initiative to reconcile the principles of conservation and villagers’
desire to protect their livestock from snow leopards and wolves.

Sahni, Sat Paul. 2007. “Ladakh Travels Far and Fast.” In RROL 2007, pp. 153-162. „ A review
of Ladakh’s social and economic achievements since 1947.

Saraf, Pushp. 2007. “Buddhist Political Activism after 1988.” In RROL 2007, pp. 171-178. „
Analyses the role of the Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) in the events leading up to
the formation of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) in 1995,
and assesses current situation.

Sheikh, Abdul Ghani. 2005. “Islamic Architecture in Leh.” In LCC, pp. 31-43. „ Reviews
architecture of Ladakhi mosques as well as Islamic workmanship in the construction of
Leh palace: the main designer of the palace was a Balti Muslim.

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Sheikh, Abdul Ghani. 2005. Ladakh: Tehzeeb-o-Saqafat. Jammu: Crescent House Publications.
512pp. illus. „ A collection of essays in Urdu on Ladakhi history and prominent Ladakhi
personalities.

Sheikh, Abdul Ghani. 2007. “Transformation of Kuksho Village.” In RROL 2007, pp. 163-170.
„ Kuksho has a mixed Buddhist and Muslim population, and in former times villagers
jointly celebrated the festivals of both religions. However, relations between the two
communities are now more strained.

Sheikh, Abdul Ghani. 2007. “Ladakh and its Neighbours. Past and Present.” In RROL 2007, pp.
11-24. „ A broad historical overview.

Singh, Thakar. 1912. Code of Tribal Custom in the Ladakh Tahsil, Jammu and Kashmir State.
Allahabad: Pioneer Press. 100 pp. „ A guide for officials. Begins with a classification of
the ‘races’ and livelihood in Ladakh, and then reviews customary law with regard to
betrothal, marriage, guardianship and minority, adoption, bastardy, wills and legacies,
special property of women, gifts, and the role of monasteries. Includes a summary of
legal cases and how they were decided.

Skarma Junglay. 2007. “Fokar in the Kingdom of Purig.” In RROL 2007, pp. 117-122. „ Fokar is
famous for its isolated ‘hidden valley’ of Urgyan Dzong which is believed to have been a
hermitage of the Tibetan saint Padmasambhava in the 8th century AD.

Sonam Wangchok. 2006. Origin and Development of Sakya Tradition in Western Himalaya with
Special Reference to Matho Monastery in Ladakh. Ph.D thesis. University of Delhi:
Department of Buddhist Studies. „

Sonam Wangchok. 2007. “Buddhism and Contemporary Society in Ladakh.” In RROL 2007, pp.
255-256. „ Argues the task of the present generation is to take a pragmatic view both of
past social values and of the “corrosive forces of a materialist age”, so that the Buddha’s
core message of wisdom and compassion can take firmer and deeper roots in Ladakh.

Shuttleworth, H. Lee. 1923. “A Wool Mart of the Indo-Tibetan Borderland.”Geographical

Review 13, No. 4, pp. 552-558. Illus. „ Describes the annual summer market at Patseo
(Do-zam) in Lahul where wool from Rupshu and Tibetan Changthang was bought and
sold.

Suzanne, Emilie. 2005. “Le strate des gens inférieurs ou les basses strates dans les sociétés de
culture tibétaine. Mémoire de maîtrise d’ethnologie. Université Paris X Nanterre. 107 pp.
„ Comparative study of low-status social groups in Tibet, Ladakh, Dolpo, Spiti and the
Sherpa regions of Nepal. Includes smith, musicians and mendicants. Mainly based on a
literature review. Conclusion draws on interviews regarding social change in Ladakh.

Taylor, Bayard. 1874. Travels in Cashmere, Little Tibet and Central Asia. Compiled and
arranged by Bayard Taylor. Illustrated library of travel and adventure. New York:
Scribner, Armstrong & Co. iv, 365 pp. illus. „ Includes an excerpt from G.T. Vigne’s
account of his visit to Ladakh in the 1830s.

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Tashi Ldawa Tshangpa. 2007. “A Short Note on some Petroglyphs of the Nubra Valley.” In
RROL 2007, pp. 53-60. „ Presents a preliminary overview, and relates his own
observations to recent research in the neighbouring areas of Pakistan.

Tashi Morup. 2007. “Kharnak Nomads Leave Changthang.” In RROL 2007, pp. 247-252. „
Reports on the pressures, such as changing family structures and ecological damage,
which together undermine nomadic life.

Tashi Stobdan. 2007. “Once Ladakh was a Lake.” In RROL 2007, pp. 25-26. „ Draws on local
legends.

Tiwari, Sunandan & Gupta, Radhika. 2007. “Changing Currents: Irrigation Practices of Leh
Town.” In RROL 2007, pp. 217-225. „ Shows how the people of Leh have adapted the
old irrigation system to new demands.

Tropper, Kurt. 2007. “The Historical Inscription in the Gsum brtsegs Temple at Wanla, Ladakh”.
In Text, Image and Song in Transdisciplinary Dialogue, pp. 105-140. Edited by Deborah
Klimburg-Salter, Kurt Tropper, and Christian Jahoda. PIATS 2003. Leiden: Brill. „ An
annotated transcription and translation of the inscription which is attributed to the turn of
the 13th and 14th centuries.

Trotter, H. 1876-1877. “Account of the Pundit’s Journey in Great Tibet from Leh in Ládakh to
Lhása and of his Return to India viâ Assam.” Proceedings of the Royal Geographical
Society 21, No.4, pp. 325-350. London. „ Report of a journey made in disguise by Nain
Singh who in 1874 travelled via Tangtse north of the Panggong lake into western Tibet.
Includes references to trade in salt, wool and other goods between western Tibet and
Ladakh.

Trotter, H. 1877. “Account of the Pundit’s Journey in Great Tibet from Leh in Ládakh to Lhása
and of his Return to India viâ Assam.” Journal of the Royal Geographical Society 47, pp.
86-136. London. „ More detailed version of the report cited above.

Tsering Phuntsog, Norbu Tsering and Yeshi Dorje. 2004. “Balancing Pashmina Production and
Wildlife Conservation in the Chang Tang of Tibet and Ladakh.” In Strategic Innovations
for Improving Pastoral Livelihoods in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan Hightlands, pp. 30-33.
Edited by Camille Richard and Kate Hoffmann. Vol.1: Workshop Proceedings.
Kathmandu: International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development. Summary of
problems and actions taken on both sides of the border between Tibet and Ladakh.

Tsewang Namgail; Bhatnagar, Yash Veer; Mishra, Charudutt & Bagchi, Sumanta. 2007.
“Pastoral Nomads of the Indian Changthang: Production System, Landuse and
Socioeconomic Changes.” Human Ecology 34, No.4, pp. 497-504. „

Tundup Dorjey. 2003. Reach Ladakh. Trekking in Ladakh and Zanskar. Leh: Reach Ladakh
Publications. 197 pp. illus. „ Tourist guide.

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Vanquaille, Amandus and Vets, Hilde. “Lamayuru. The Symbolic Architecture of Light.” In
Sacred Landscape of the Himalaya, pp. 85-94. Edited by Niels Gutschow, Axel Michaels,
Charles Ramble, and Ernst Steinkellner. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie
der Wissenschaften. „ Illustrated article discussing the history and architecture of
Lamayuru monastery and village, arguing that its layout shows how a landscape is
sanctified in an architectural manner by the control of light.

Wacker, Corinne. 2007. “Can Irrigation Systems Disclose the History of the Villages of Ladakh?
The Example of Tagmachig.” In RROL 2007, pp. 205-216. „ Shows that irrigation
systems reflect the historic processes of settlement in Ladakhi villages and the subsequent
processes of political and social change.

Zeisler, Bettina. 2006. “Why Ladakhi Must not be Written: Being Part of the Great Tradition: As
Another Kind of Global Thinking.” In Lesser-Known Languages of South Asia. Status
and Policies, Case Studies and Applications of Information Technology, pp. 175-194.
Trends in Linguistics, Studies and Monographs, 175. Edited by Anju Saxena and Lars
Borin. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. „ Reviews the arguments of Buddhist scholars who
oppose initiatives to develop a style of writing closer to spoken Ladakh.

Zeisler, Bettina. 2007. “On The Position of Ladakhi and Balti in The Tibetan Language
Family.” In RROL 2007, pp. 27-34 „ Reviews the linguistic evidence for Ladakh’s links
with Tibet. Includes a summary of the work of András Róna Tas on the Tibetan script.

Zeisler, Bettina. 2007. “Case Patterns and Pattern Variation in Ladakhi: a Field Report.” In
Linguistics of the Himalayas, pp. 399-426. Edited by Roland Bielmeier & Felix Haller.
Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter. „

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NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS

Ladakh Studies is the official newsletter of the International Association for Ladakh Studies
(IALS). Ladakh Studies publishes information relevant to researchers with an interest in the
broader Ladakh region, including both Leh and Kargil districts. We invite our readers to submit
items including essays, book reviews, “Notes from the Field”, news stories, and information about
ongoing research projects, theses, films, and other Ladakh-related events.

Submission Guidelines:

Ladakh Studies encourages submissions of short essays–––under 3000 words–––about

contemporary events or ongoing research in Ladakh. Essays may cover any social, cultural,
political, ecological, or scientific topics of interest to IALS members. Book Reviews, thesis
reviews, and other short pieces like “Notes From the Field” should be under 2000 words.

All material should be submitted in digital form, ideally by email, with the article as an attachment
(as an MS Word file) and in text of the email. We also accept digital files sent by CD, although
formatting may not be preserved. Any illustrations or photographs should be submitted digitally (as
JPG files, less than 2 MB, although we accept other formats such as TIFF, RAW).

Please send editorial communications and submissions to:

Prof. Kim Gutschow

Departments of Religion and Anthropology
North Building #338
Williams College
Williamstown, MA 01267
[email protected]

Deadline for the next issue is 30 September, 2008

Ladakh Studies (ISSN 1356-3491) is published by the International Association for Ladakh Studies
and sent to all members of the IALS. Annual membership fees, including a subscription to Ladakh
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Ordinary members: UKP 14, Euro 20, or USD 20

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All correspondence pertaining to membership and subscriptions should be directed to Hon.

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