Demchok, Ladakh

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For the historical village, see Demchok (historical village). For the Chinese-administered village, see Dêmqog, Ngari Prefecture. For the Ukrainian surname, see Demchuk.

Demchok
ཌེམ་ཆོག
Village
Demchok is located in Ladakh
Demchok
Demchok
Location in Ladakh, India
Coordinates: 32°42′14″N 79°26′48″E / 32.7038°N 79.4467°E / 32.7038; 79.4467Coordinates: 32°42′14″N 79°26′48″E / 32.7038°N 79.4467°E / 32.7038; 79.4467
CountryIndia
Union TerritoryLadakh
DistrictLeh
TehsilNyoma
PanchayatKoyul
Government
 • SarpanchUgrain Chodon
Area
 • Total33 ha (82 acres)
Elevation
4,200 m (13,800 ft)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total78
 • Density240/km2 (610/sq mi)
Languages
 • OfficialHindi, English
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
Census code906
[1][2]

Demchok (Tibetan: ཌེམ་ཆོག, Wylie: Demchog, historical: bDe-mChog),[a] previously called New Demchok,[6] and known as Balijasi or Parigas (Tibetan: པ་ལི་ཅ་སི, Wylie: pa li ca si) to the Tibetans,[7] [8][b] is a village and military encampment in the Indian-administered Demchok sector that is disputed between India and China. It is administered as part of the Nyoma tehsil in the Leh district of Ladakh by India,[1][9] and claimed by China as part of the Tibet Autonomous Region.[10]

The Line of Actual Control (LAC) passes along the southeast side of the village, along the Charding Nullah (also called Demchok River and Lhari stream) which joins the Indus River near the village. Across the stream, less than a kilometre away, is a Chinese-administered Demchok village,[8] spelt Dêmqog in Tibetan pinyin.[11]

History[]

Further information: Demchok (historical village)
[Interactive fullscreen map]
Demchok and vicinity

Demchok is a historic area of Ladakh, having been part of the kingdom from its inception in the 10th century. The description of the kingdom in the Ladakh Chronicles mentions Demchok Karpo, also called Demchok Lhari Karpo or Lhari Karpo,[12] as being part of the original kingdom.[13][14] This is a possible reference to the rocky white peak behind the present-day Demchok village.[15][16] [c] The Lhari peak is held sacred by Buddhists. Demchok (Sanskrit: Cakrasaṃvara) is the name of a Buddhist Tantric deity, who is believed to reside on the Mount Kailas, and whose imagery parallels that of Shiva in Hinduism.[19][20] The Lhari peak is also referred to as "Chota Kailas" (mini Kailas) and attracts pilgrimage from Hindus as well as Buddhists.[21][22] Tibetologist Nirmal C. Sinha states that Demchok is part of the Hemis complex.[23] Ruined houses belonging to the Hemis monastery were noticed by Sven Hedin in 1907,[24] and the monastery continues to own land in Demchok.[25]

The stream that flows beside the Lhari peak, referred to as the Lhari stream in historical documents ("Charding Nullah" or "Demchok River" in modern times), was set as the boundary between Ladakh and Tibet at the end of the Tibet–Ladakh–Mughal War in the 17th century.[26][27]

Dogra rule[]

Map of the Demchok region by a British traveller in 1946[28]

In 1834, the Dogra general Zorawar Singh conquered Ladakh and made it a tributar of the Sikh Empire. Zorawar Singh is said to have built a fort on a hill next to the Tibetan side of Demchok.[d] He also launched an invasion of Tibet via three wings, one of which passed through Demchok. The invasion was eventually defeated and repulsed. The two sides agreed to retain the borders just as they were before.[30]

The Dogras came under the suzerainty of British Raj in 1846, as the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Henry Strachey visited the Demchok area in 1847, as part of a British boundary commission. He described Demchok as a "hamlet divided by a rivulet [the Lhari stream]", with settlements on both the sides of the stream. The stream was the prevailing border between Ladakh and Tibet.[31][32] The Tibetans did not allow Strachey to proceed beyond the stream.[33]

A governor (wazir-e-wazarat) of Ladakh visited the area in 1904–05 and found the Tibetan Demchok village housing 8 to 9 huts of zamindars (landholders) while the Ladakhi Demchok village had only two zamindars.[34] The information was corroborated by Sven Hedin, who travelled through the area in the November 1907.[35][24] According to the Indian government, the Ladakhi Demchok village was used for seasonal cutivation by nomadic farmers.[36]

Independent India[]

Indian border definition in 1954

The princely state of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to independent India on 26–27 October 1947. In 1950 Tibet was occupied by China. The Indian government developed concerns of security and decided not to allow the entry of Tibetans into Ladakh. A border police post was established at Demchok (presumably on the Ladakhi side), with a police contingent headed by an inspector and equipped with wireless communication. Similar posts were also established at Chushul and Shyok.[37] In Chinese perception, this amounted to the Indian Army "invading" Demchok.[38]

During the negotiations for the 1954 Trade Agreement, India asked for Ladakh's trade relations with Rudok and Rawang. China didn't agree. However it was happy to allow trade via Demchok and Tashigang.[39]

In 1954, India defined its borders with respect to Tibet, which ran five miles southeast of Ladakhi Demchok.[40] This made the Tibetan Demchok village a part of Indian claimed territory. In October 1955, the Chinese established Border Working Group in the Tibetan Demchok village.[38]

During the 1962 Sino-Indian War, the Chinese forces reclaimed the areas southeast of the Lhari stream. The Line of Actual Control resulting from the war runs along the Lhari stream.[e]

Demographics[]

According to the 2011 Census of India, Demchok had 31 households and a population of 78.[42] The majority of the inhabitants are Changpa nomadic pastoralist.[43] The effective literacy rate is 42.47%.[42]

There is persistent talk of the nomads losing their customary grazing lands to Chinese occupation and their livelihoods being lost. The population is seen to be reducing as a result.[43][25]

Demographics (2011 Census)[42]
Total Male Female
Population 78 43 35
Children aged below 6 years 5 4 1
Scheduled caste 1 1 0
Scheduled tribe 64 37 27
Literates 31 20 11
Workers (all) 51 27 24
Main workers (total) 49 26 23
Main workers: Cultivators 5 5 0
Main workers: Agricultural labourers 0 0 0
Main workers: Household industry workers 2 0 2
Main workers: Other 42 21 21
Marginal workers (total) 2 1 1
Marginal workers: Cultivators 0 0 0
Marginal workers: Agricultural labourers 0 0 0
Marginal workers: Household industry workers 0 0 0
Marginal workers: Others 2 1 1
Non-workers 27 16 11

Geography[]

The Demchok sector with China's claim line in the west and India's claim line in the east. The Line of Actual Control, shown in bold, runs along the Charding Nullah and the Indus River till its confluence with the stream from Chang La, then heads to the mountain watershed in the east.

Demchok is at an elevation of 4,210 metres (13,810 ft). It is at the end of a 5 kilometre-long stony plain at the foot of the Demchok Lhari Karpo peak. The Charding Nullah (or Lhari stream) flowing down from Charding La waters the southeast side of Demchok, forming small plots of grazing and farming lands. Around the corner of the peak is a hot spring, whose water is believed to have medicinal qualities.[44]

The Line of Actual Control (LAC) with Tibet runs on the southeast side of the village along the Charding Nullah and continues along the Indus River. Indian explorer Romesh Bhattacharji states that China regards the right bank of the Indus as the LAC,[45] leaving the left bank of Indus is under Indian control. The Chinese still retain a claim to the Indian part of the Demchok sector and object to any constructions there.[46] Along the left bank on Indus River, numerous streams flow down from the ridge line in the west to the Indus, providing grazing grounds and campsites to the Changpa nomads.[f] The largest of these is the site of Lagankhel (La Ganskyil), which is historically regarded as a village with permanent settlement.[47] Some of these locations are now said to host ITBP posts.[48]

An old travel route from Ladakh to Tibet, leading to Kailas–Manasarowar, runs along the left bank of the Indus River. The route has been shut since the emergence of Sino-Indian border disputes. There have been persistent demands from the local population for reopening the route.[49][50]

Sino-Indian disputes[]

Map including Demchok (Army Map Service, 1954)

As of 2005, the route from Demchok to Lake Manasarovar in Tibet is closed and local trade with China is prohibited, although local residents admit that clandestine trade with China had been ongoing for decades.[49]

In April 2016, the Daily Excelsior reported that local discontent over Chinese army objections near the border resulted in demands for resettlement from Demchok.[51] Later in 2016, the Nubra constituency Congress MLA Deldan Namgyal reported that the Chinese military suggested to the sarpanch of Demchok "to join China rather than [sit] with India" due to the infrastructural differences across the border.[51][52]

Infrastructure[]

Transport[]

There has been a 150 km long traditional road between Demchok and Chushul running along the left bank of Indus. It connects Demchok to Koyul, Dungti, Chushul and beyond to Durbuk and Leh. The road was in poor condition in 2017 and attempts to improve the road in the past have met objections from China in 2009. After the repeated incursions by China since 2013, in March 2016 the Government of Jammu and Kashmir approved the upgrade of this road. Since the road passes through the Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary, the subsequent approval by India's National Board for Wildlife in March 2017 paved the way for the upgrade of this road.[49][53]

A new 86 km long road from Chisumle in the Koyul Lungpa valley to Demchok was constructed by the Border Roads Organisation in 2017, via the Umling La pass (

 WikiMiniAtlas
32°41′47″N 79°17′03″E / 32.6964°N 79.2842°E / 32.6964; 79.2842) at a height of 19,300 ft (5,900 m). This road connects Demchok to Koyul, Hanle and other places in Ladakh. Border Roads Organisation claims it is the "world's highest motorable road", a title earlier , incorrectly , accorded to Khardung La road at 17,600 ft.[54][55][56]

Mobile and internet connectivity[]

In June 2020, it was announced that Demchok is among 54 villages in the Ladakh region to receive mobile phone and internet connectivity via satellite under the Universal Service Obligation Funding. The service is to be operated by Jio.[57]

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ For the traditional spelling see Francke, Antiquities of Indian Tibet, Part 2 (1926), pp. 115–116. Variant spellings include Demchog,[3] Demjok,[4] and Dechhog.[5]
  2. ^ Modern Chinese sources use 巴里加斯 (Parigas, pinyin: bālǐjiāsī) to refer to a broader area and use 碟木绰克 (pinyin: diémùchuòkè) to refer to the village of Demchok. See Demchok sector.
  3. ^ Scholars translate the Tibetan term lha-ri as "soul mountain". Many peaks in Tibet are named lhari including a "Demchok lhari" in the northern suburbs of Lhasa.[17][18] "Karpo", meaning "white", serves to distinguish the Ladakh's mountain peak from the others.
  4. ^ According to the Ladakh member of parliament Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, "Zorawar Fort in Demjok was destroyed by PLA in 2008 and setup PLA's Observing Point in 2012 during UPA regime and also created Chinese/new Demjok/Colony with 13 cemented houses."[29]
  5. ^ An Indian government letter dated 21 September 1965 stated that the "Indian civilian post" was "on the western [northwestern] side of the Nullah on the Indian side of the line of actual control". The Chinese Government response on 24 September referred to "the Demchok village on the Chinese side of the line of actual control" while it called the Ladakhi Demchok village, across "the Demchok River", as "Parigas".[41]
  6. ^ The survey maps list, south to north in the Indus Valley, the campsites Umlungzing, Silungle, Sinakle, Nyakmikle , Sikarle, Khordo Sirpale, and Lagankhel. Lagankhel is actually the name of a larger river that joins the Indus, a few kilometres south of Koyul Lungpa river. The British Raj set the boundary of Ladakh along this river, in c. 1868. But there is no evidence of the boundary having been enforced.[28]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Blockwise Village Amenity Directory" (PDF). Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 September 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  2. ^ Lack of infra forcing people to migrate from frontier, The Tribune, Chandigar, 17 July 2019.
  3. ^ Bray, John (Winter 1990), "The Lapchak Mission From Ladakh to Lhasa in British Indian Foreign Policy", The Tibet Journal, 15 (4): 77, JSTOR 43300375
  4. ^ Henry Osmaston; Nawang Tsering, eds. (1997), Recent Research on Ladakh 6: Proceedings of the Sixth International Colloquium on Ladakh, Leh 1993, International Association for Ladakh Studies / Motilal Banarsidass Publ., p. 299, ISBN 978-81-208-1432-5
  5. ^ Cunningham, Alexander (1854), Ladak: Physical, Statistical, Historical, London: Wm. H. Allen and Co, p. 328 – via archive.org
  6. ^ Cheema, Crimson Chinar (2015), p. 190.
  7. ^ Tibet Autonomous Region (China): Ngari Prefecture, KNAB Place Name Databse, retrieved 27 July 2021.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b During discussions in the 1960s, the Chinese government called the Indian village "Parigas" and the Chinese village "Demchok":
  9. ^ https://leh.nic.in/about-district/administrative-setup/village/
  10. ^ Lamb, Treaties, Maps and the Western Sector (1965), p. 39.
  11. ^ "Ladakhis deplore Krishna's remark on Demchok road". Archived from the original on 24 December 2013.
  12. ^ Report of the Officials, Chinese Report, Part 2 (1962), pp. 10–11.
  13. ^ Howard & Howard, Historic Ruins in the Gya Valley (2014), p. 83.
  14. ^ Francke, Antiquities of Indian Tibet, Part 2 (1926), p. 94.
  15. ^ Lhari peak and the Demchok villages, OpenStreetMap, retrieved 9 August 2020.
  16. ^ Arpi, The Case of Demchok (2016), p. 12; Handa, Buddhist Western Himalaya (2001), p. 160; Bhattacharji, Ladakh (2012), Chapter 9: "Changthang: The High Plateau"
  17. ^ McKay, Kailas Histories (2015), p. 520.
  18. ^ Khardo Hermitage (Khardo Ritrö), Mandala web site, University of Virginia, retrieved 21 October 2019.
  19. ^ The Middle Way: Journal of the Buddhist Society, Volume 81, The Buddhist Society, 2006: "For Hindus, Kailas is home to the great pan-Indian deity Shiva and for Tibetan Buddhists, it is home to the bodhisattva Dem-chog, the Sanskrit deity Chakrasamvara."
  20. ^ McKay, Kailas Histories (2015), pp. 7, 304, 316.
  21. ^ First ever Chhota Kailash Yatra begins in Ladakh, State Times, 22 June 2017.
  22. ^ First batch of Chota Kailash Yatra leaves for Demchok, Daily Excelsior, 23 June 2017.
  23. ^ Sinha, Nirmal C. (1967), "Demchok (Notes and topics)" (PDF), Bulletin of Tibetology, 4: 23–24: "Demchock is a sacred place within the Hemis complex. The Hemis complex is very ancient (old Sects) and antedates considerably the Yellow Sect and the rise of the Dalai Lamas."
  24. ^ Jump up to: a b Hedin, Southern Tibet (1922), p. 194: "A short distance N. W. of Demchok, the road passes a partly frozen brook [Lhari stream] coming from Demchok-pu, a tributary valley from the left. ... At the left side [Ladakhi side] of the mouth of this little valley, are the ruins of two or three houses, which were said to have belonged to Hemi-gompa. A pyramidal peak at the same.. side of the valley is called La-ri and said to be sacred. The valley, Demchok-pu, itself is regarded as the boundary between Tibet and Ladak."
  25. ^ Jump up to: a b P.Stobdan, Ladakh concern overrides LAC dispute, The Tribune, 28 May 2020.
  26. ^ A number of historians and Tibetologists have noted this fact:
  27. ^ Lamb, Treaties, Maps and the Western Sector (1965, p. 38) expresses doubts: "There can be no doubt that the 1684 (or 1683) agreement between Ladakh and the authorities then controlling Tibet did in fact take place. Unfortunately, no original text of it has survived and its terms can only be deduced. In its surviving form there seems to be a reference to a boundary point at "the Lhari stream at Demchok", a stream which would appear to flow into the Indus at Demchok and divide that village into two halves."
  28. ^ Jump up to: a b Schomberg, R. C. F. (1950), "Expeditionts: The Tso Morari to the Tibetan Frontier at Demchok", The Himalayan Journal, XVI (1): 100–105: "Demchok was not an exciting place at all. The frontier was ill-defined, although a stream, hard to cross at midday, was supposed to mark it. On what was unquestionably Kashmiri territory numerous [Tibetan?] flocks were grazing."
  29. ^ "Chinese Occupied Indian Territory...": Ladakh BJP MP Rebuts Rahul Gandhi, NDTV, 10 June 2020.
  30. ^ Fisher, Rose & Huttenback, Himalayan Battleground (1963), p. 49–50.
  31. ^ Lamb, The China-India border (1964), p. 68.
  32. ^ Kaul, Hriday Nath (2003), India China Boundary in Kashmir, Gyan Publishing House, pp. 60–61, ISBN 978-81-212-0826-0: "Reaching it from Hanle, Strachey found Demchok a hamlet of half a dozen huts, not permanently inhabited, divided into two, one Ladakhi and the other Tibetan, by the rivulet Rha-ri [Lhari stream], which enters the left bank of the Indus."
  33. ^ Lamb, The China-India border (1964), pp. 68–69.
  34. ^ Report of the Officials, Indian Report, Part 3 (1962), pp. 3–4: "I visited Demchok on the boundary with Lhasa. ... A nullah falls into the Indus river from the south-west and it (Demchok) is situated at the junction of the river. Across is the boundary of Lhasa, where there are 8 to 9 huts of the Lhasa zamindars. On this side there are only two zamindars."
  35. ^ Lange, Decoding Mid-19th Century Maps (2017), pp. 353–354, 357 'Hedin described the place as follows: "Rolled stones play an important part in the country which we have now reached. The whole of Demchok, the last village on the Tibetan side, is built of them. It consists, however, of only four or five huts with brushwood roofs."'
  36. ^ Report of the Officials, Indian Report, Part 3 (1962), p. 41.
  37. ^ Gardner, Kyle J. (2021), The Frontier Complex: Geopolitics and the Making of the India-China Border, 1846–1962, Cambridge University Press, p. 246, ISBN 978-1-108-84059-0
  38. ^ Jump up to: a b Zhōng yìn biānjìng diǎn jiǎo cūn: Shìwàitáoyuán de shuǐshēnhuǒrè 中印边境典角村：世外桃源的水深火热 [Dianjiao Village on the Sino-Indian Border: The Dire Waters of Xanadu], 163.com, 10 January 2018, archived from the original on 11 June 2021
  39. ^ Bhasin, Nehru, Tibet and China (2021), Chapter 7.
  40. ^ Report of the Officials, Indian Report, Part 1 (1962), p. 25: "A little south of Jara Pass [the border] turns south-westward, crosses the Indus about five mile south-east of Demchok, and following the watershed between the Hanle river and the tributaries of the Sutlej river... "
  41. ^ India. Ministry of External Affairs, ed. (1966), Notes, Memoranda and Letters Exchanged and Agreements Signed Between the Governments of India and China: January 1965 - February 1966, White Paper No. XII (PDF), Ministry of External Affairs – via claudearpi.net
  42. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Leh district census". 2011 Census of India. Directorate of Census Operations. Archived from the original on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  43. ^ Jump up to: a b Sharma, Arteev (17 July 2019). "Lack of infra forcing people to migrate from frontier". The Tribune.
  44. ^ Bhattacharji, Ladakh (2012), Chapter 9.
  45. ^ Bhattacharji, Ladakh (2012), Chapter 1: Julley: "The LAC, [from] about 6 km short of Demchog, follows the right bank of the Indus, which can be waded across here. Trucks from China regularly come defiantly close to this point."
  46. ^ Bhattacharji, Ladakh (2012), Chapter 1: Julley: "Yet, in November 2009, in brazen defiance of customs and international law, when people from [a satellite settlement in the] Demchog village, which is 8 km up the Charding Chu adjacent to the check post, decided to build a road under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the Chinese successfully prevented them from doing so."
  47. ^ Lange, Decoding Mid-19th Century Maps (2017), p. 358.
  48. ^ CPWD to lay three roads on China border in Ladakh, The Hindu, 21 March 2021.
  49. ^ Jump up to: a b c Puri, Luv (2 August 2005). "Ladakhis await re-opening of historic Tibet route". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013.
  50. ^ "'Issue of opening Demchok road with China taken up'". 2 April 2005. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012.
  51. ^ Jump up to: a b Arpi, Claude (20 June 2016). "A worrying scenario at Ladakh border". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  52. ^ Irfan, Hakeem (11 July 2018). "China pokes us for lack of progress: Congress Ladakh MLA". The Economic Times. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  53. ^ Chushul-Demchok road to rein in PLA, The Pioneer, 27 July 2020.
  54. ^ "Khardunga La No longer the World's Highest Road. Meet its Successor at 19300 Ft!". 3 November 2017.
  55. ^ "BRO builds world's highest motorable road in Ladakh at 19,300 feet". 2 November 2017. Archived from the original on 2 November 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  56. ^ "Achievements of West Dte during the F/Y 2016-17" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  57. ^ "54 villages in Ladakh to get mobile connectivity". The Tribune. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.

Bibliography[]

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External links[]

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