Ladakh is a land of strange traditions.

 عبدہ۔

 There is a lot of talk about Ladakh these days, so I thought I would write about some of the most important things about Ladakh from the history books.  Historians call Ladakh the land of the moon, the roof of the universe and the roof of the world because of its geographical features.  Is called the paradise of hunters.  The old names of Ladakh include Moluswa and Sanpo or Sampo.

 Historically, the area consists of Baltistan, Zanskar, Lahore, Sapti, Nobra Valley and Aksai Chen, which is now divided between India, Pakistan and China.  Zanskar, Nobra and Ladakh are under Indian occupation, while Baltistan, Pakistan and Aksai Chin are under Chinese control.  The two largest towns in Ladakh are Leh and Kargil.  The majority of Leh is Buddhist, while the population of Kargil is Shia Muslim.  As this area is part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which is the main cause of dispute between Pakistan and India, it is considered a disputed area in the world.  It covers an area of ​​97872 square kilometers.  However, due to the Chinese occupation of the Aksai Chin area, the actual area is only 58,321 square kilometers.  The region is known to be Buddhist-majority, with 46.40 percent Muslims and 39.65 percent Buddhists out of the region's 274,000 population, according to the 2011 census.  Leh district has a Buddhist population of 66.39%, but there are also 25 Muslim-majority villages in the district.

 Present-day Ladakh borders China's Tibet region in the east, Himachal Pradesh in the south, Jammu in the west and China in the north, and Pakistan in the southwest.  In 1960, China closed the region's historic trade route, which was part of the famous Silk Road, before connecting the region to ancient Central Asian trading sites.

 The 3488 km long border between India and China is divided into three regions.  Eastern Sector, Central Sector and Western Sector.  In the western sector where Ladakh is located, the dispute is over the Johnson Line, which was drawn up in 1860 during the British rule.  India recognizes this line but China does not recognize it as a border and it claims many areas of the present Indian region of Ladakh.

 

 Ladakh has been the center of the largest trade highway in history, running from the subcontinent to Central Asia.  Tourists and trade caravans took three days from Leh, the capital of Ladakh, to Srinagar, one month to Yarkand, the capital of Xinjiang, and three months to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.

 Ladakh has for centuries been the center of tourists, researchers, adventurers, hunters, raiders, looters, biologists, botanists, anthropologists, physicists, birds and insects, cartographers, archaeologists and preachers of every religion, especially Islam and Buddhism.  Ladakh is the center of  Its high mountains, rugged valleys, and barren plains have attracted Europeans.

 Ladakh has been mentioned in the books of historians for 5 years.  Herodotus, Alexander, Meg Stez, Fahyan, Hyun Sang and Alberoni have also written about Ladakh.  Akbar's Norton Abul Fazl has mentioned Ladakh in his book. According to Shah Jahannameh, Jahangir sent Hashim Khan, the governor of Kashmir, to attack Ladakh which failed.  Ladakh became world famous in the last five years after the arrival of European researchers and experts.

 One of the weirdest things about Ladakh is keeping the scalp clean of hair, which the Buddhist lamas believe is the tenth hole in the human body from which the soul emerges.

 Ladakh has been the center of polyandry for more than one husband and this tradition still exists in some families.  Polygamy is a marriage in which a wife has several husbands.  These husbands are usually brothers, so this is a "fraternal multiplicity of husbands."  The wife is worried about which of the children is the father of which child.  She can tell if she wants to and she can keep it secret because she either doesn't want to create conflict in the family or she doesn't know who the biological father is.

 Despite Polandry or because of Polandry, the woman of Ladakh was more independent, free and empowered than the rest of the subcontinent.

 Poland was the common nation of the subcontinent and Tibet in ancient times.  Although it is now declining, some are found in the nations of Ladakh, Bhutan, Nepal and the Himalayas.  Many people in Darjeeling have no relationship but have a common wife.  In Nepal, a woman of the Tiwar nation leaves whenever she wants to go to bed and makes whomever she wants her husband.  Even today, women in parts of Madagascar and Malaya, and in the Pacific islands, can marry more than one man.  Eskimo and South American women also believe in polygamy.

 Almost settled in a remote area of ​​Ladakh, Brokpa calls himself the last surviving 'pure Aryan' in the world.  Some Brokpa families also live in our Baltistan.  In Germany they were called the master race or superior race.  The people of Biama, Garkon, Darchak, Dah and Hanu villages have very different shapes from the rest of Ladakh.  The name Brokpa is derived from the rest of the population of Ladakh.  In the local language it means 'gypsy'.  It is thought that these Indo-European speakers may have come to India from Central Asian countries between 2000 and 1500 BC.

 In 1979, two German women were arrested for wandering in some restricted areas of Ladakh.  It was later discovered that these women were looking for male companions to breed the original Aryan race. The Germans also consider themselves authentic Aryan race.

 Note

 If you want to read a good book on the history, geography and customs of Ladakh, then Zafar Hayat Pal has translated EF Knight's book "Where Three Kingdoms Meet" and Abdul Ghani Sheikh's "Ladakh" are the best books.  Both Maktabs are published by Jamal Urdu Bazaar Lahore.

 From the wall of Dawood Zafar Nadeem Sahib