LADAK, or MIDDLE TIBET

LADAK, or MIDDLE TIBET, a very elevated and rugged country of central Asia, N. of the Punjab, and lying between N. Lat. 32. 25, and 35. 10, and E. Long. 75. 30, and 79. 10. It is bounded N. by the Karakoram Mountains, which separate it from the Chinese territory of Kotan, E. and S.E. by the Chinese districts of Rudok and Chumurti; on the S. it includes the districts of Lahul and Spiti, now attached to British India; and on the W. it is separated from Kashmir by the western Himalaya chain, and from Balti by an imaginary line drawn from the mouth of the Dras to the sources of the Nubra. Its greatest length from N.W. to S.E. is 240 miles, and its greatest breadth 190; but, from the irregularity of its outline, its entire area is little more than 30,000 square miles. The territory of Ladak is one of the most elevated regions of the globe. The great valley of the Indus traverses the country through its entire length from S.E. to N.W. On each side of the valley are several parallel ranges of mountains, some of which are calculated to rise to the enormous height of above 29,000 feet. These determine the course of the rivers, and furnish a system of divisions for the country. These divisions are,—1, at Nubra, on the Shayok; 2, Ladak Proper, on the Indus; 3, Zanskar, on the Zanskar River; 4, Rukchu, along the lakes of Tshomo Riri and Tsho-Kar; 5, Purik, and Saru, and Dras, on the different branches of the Dras River; 6, Spiti, on the Spiti River; and 7, Lahul, on the Chandra and Bhaga, or head waters of the Chenab. The first five are subject to Gholab Singh, and the two last belong to the East India Company.

The following table gives the area and mean elevation of the inhabited parts of the different districts:—

The great river of Ladak is the Indus. Its principal affluent is the Shayok, which rises in the Karakoram Mountains in N. Lat. 35, E. Long. 78. Its course for about 150 miles is generally in a S.E. direction, when it turns suddenly to the N.W., and continues a W.N.W. course to its junction with the Indus at Keris. Its length is about 400 miles. The Zanskar, a dark and turbulent torrent, falls into the Indus at Nymo, 25 miles below L.é, after a northerly course of 210 miles. About 25 miles above its mouth it receives the Sum-gal, which has a N.N.W. course of 110 miles. At Moral, 125 miles below L.é, the Indus receives on the left the Dras, which is about 85

miles in length. There are also numerous lakes, the principal of which is Pankong, a long narrow sheet of extremely salt water, not less than 85 miles in length, with an average breadth of 3 miles. The great mountain ranges are generally of primary formation—granite, gneiss, and mica-slate. Lead, copper, and iron ores have been discovered; and gold is found in the sand of several of the rivers. Sulphur, soda, and borax are obtained in certain parts.

The climate of Ladak is characterized by great extremes of heat and cold, and by excessive dryness. In the elevated district of Rukchu it freezes almost every night during summer, but the noon-day sun is several degrees hotter than in most parts of India. The quantity of rain and snow that falls is, owing to the great lack of moisture in the atmosphere, exceedingly small. In the more elevated districts of Rukchu, Nubra, Zanskar, and Ladak Proper, it rains, or rather drizzles, for an hour or two, three or four times in a year. Snow falls much oftener, but not in any quantity, and in Ladak and Rudok it is never more than six inches deep. This aridity of climate renders artificial irrigation necessary in cultivation, and hence the cultivated land is only to be found along the courses of the rivers and streams. The waters of the smaller streams are arrested by dams, and conducted with great skill from field to field, and from terrace to terrace. The grain crops are wheat, barley, and buckwheat. The esculent vegetables are carrots, turnips, onions, cabbages, and radishes. Caraway, mustard, linseed, and tobacco, are cultivated to a small extent. The timber trees are few and unimportant. The most common are poplars and willows, which are planted round every village. Less common are the pencil cedar, the Elmagnus Moorcroftii, and a kind of tamarisk. The fruit trees are the apple, apricot, walnut, mulberry, and vine. The rhubarb of medicine grows in great profusion, and of the finest quality.

The wild animals are numerous. The elevated plains of the Indus, and the lofty table-lands of Rukchu, abound with the horse, marmot, and hare, while the snowy mountains and rugged glens teem with many varieties of the wild goat, sheep, and deer. Other wild animals are the leopard, bear, wolf, fox, ounce, lynx, jackal, and weasel. The domestic quadrupeds are horses, yaks, cows, asses, goats, and dogs. The goat furnishes the fine wool of which the fine Kashmir shawls are made. Birds are not numerous. The chakor is a bird resembling a partridge, but of the size of a guinea hen. The eagle, kite, and raven, are common, as are also smaller birds, as the sparrow, linnet, redbreast, and lark. Waterfowl abound on the lakes. The rivers teem with fish, which the superstition of the natives does not allow them to molest.

The manufactures of Ladak are few, rude, and unimportant, being chiefly coarse woollens for home consumption. The country furnishes few articles of trade, almost the only exports being wool, borax, sulphur, and dried fruits. The transit trade, however, is very large, owing to its position between Kashmir and India on the S. and S.W., and the Chinese provinces of Yarkand, Kotan, and Kashgar, on the N. and N.E.

Ladak is inhabited by a peculiar race of people, considered in features and language to bear a considerable resemblance to the Chinese. The population is estimated at 168,000.

The professed religion is Lamaism. The deity is worshipped in the character of a trinity, but adoration is paid to a great number of inferior beings, represented by a variety of curious idols. Among the social institutions of the country the most remarkable is the system of polygamy that prevails among the poorer classes. A family of brothers has only one wife in common, who will thus not unfrequently have three or four husbands. The system, however, is strictly confined to brothers. The

Ladoga
Lady.

rich, as in all eastern countries, have generally several wives. Previous to the conquest of the country by the Sikhs, the government was a simple despotism, administered by the Rajah, according to the direction of the influential Lamas. Gholab Singh invaded the country in 1835, and annexed it to the dominions of his master Runjee Singh. He now retains the acquisition as a portion of the principality which was assigned to him by the British after the conquest of the Punjab. (See Cunningham's Ladak.)