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0086 The Pulse of Asia : vol.1
The Pulse of Asia : vol.1 / Page 86 (Color Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000233
Citation Format: Chicago | APA | Harvard | IEEE

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CHAPTER II

LADAKH AND THE INFLUENCE OF THE
HIMALAYAS

THE habitable portion of the upper Indus valley consti-
tutes Ladakh. Upstream to the southeast in Tibet, the
valley cannot be permanently occupied above an elevation
of 12,000 feet; downstream from an elevation of 9000 feet
to the point where the river emerges on the low plains of
India, it narrows to an impassable canyon, where there is
no room for habitation. Between the cold gravel plains
of Tibet and the magnificent canyon, the sunny province
of Ladakh lies warm and contented in its narrow valley.
Although governed by the native Indian state of Kash-
mir, under British regulation, it is essentially Tibetan in
character, not only physically, but in respect to race, lan-
guage, and religion. The people are mainly Buddhists, with
a few Mohammedans at Leh and in the western villages.

To resume our narrative where it was interrupted by the
account of the ancient climate of Kashmir, we and our
coolies had reached the pass, or col, of Zoji La, 11,300 feet
above the sea. We were on our way eastward from Kashmir
to Ladakh, diagonally across the middle range of the Hi-
malayas, here running northwest and southeast. The pass
was fairly difficult, for the ascent from the southwest was
long, steep, and snowy, and the descent on the other side
toward the Indus, though gentle, was at first through deep
snow. The other approaches to Ladakh are much more