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Hindutash Pass

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36°16′23″N 78°46′50″E / 36.27306°N 78.78056°E / 36.27306; 78.78056

NASA satellite image showing the towns of Sumgal in Ladakh and Pusa in southwestern Khotan, and the Hindu-tash Pass connecting them. The pass is marked in bright red.
Details of a map of Kashmir (1878) showing the Hindutash Pass and Khotan as well as the northern border regions of the British Indian Empire (which included the Kashmir region). The international border is shown in the two-toned purple and pink band. The mountain passes are shown in bright red. Warning the lat/long information is not everywhere correct.
Hindutash Pass


Hindutash, also known as Hindu-tagh Pass, is the name of a historical mountain pass in north eastern Kashmir. The pass cuts through the Kunlun Mountains connecting the now-deserted town of Sumgal, (36° 11' 58 N, 78° 46' 50 E) in the Karakash River valley to the town of Pusha, (36.3833° N, 79° E), formerly Bushia, in the Yurungkash River valley, in the territory of Khotan and also connects to the road to the city of Khotan. (See maps on right.) In 1857, the explorer Robert Schlagintweit crossed this pass from camping grounds in Sumgal ( meaning "three fords" in Ladakhi ), on the banks of the Karakash river, approximately 7 miles upstream from Sumgal in Ladakh and estimated its height to be Template:Ft to m. At the top of the pass (36° 16' 23 N, 78° 46' 50 E), there is a steep glacier with many crevasses. “The eastern (Kuenlun) range forms the southern boundary of Khotan”, and is crossed by two other passes: the Sanju Pass near the town of Shahidulla, where the Maharaja of Kashmir had built a fort in exercise of his sovereignty in that area of Kashmir northwest of Hindutash, and the Ilchi Pass , southeast of Hindutash in the northern part of the Aksai Chin area in Ladakh (see second map on right). The Hindutash pass has been used historically as the point of entry into India Proper from the ancient Indian Kingdom of Khotan which only explains the literal meaning of the name Hindutash signifying border post . The latter was traversed in 1865 by W. H. Johnson of the Survey of India. W.H. Johnson’s survey established certain important points. "Brinjga was in his view the boundary post" ( near the Karanghu Tagh Peak in the Kuen Lun in Ladakh ), thus implying "that the boundary lay along the Kuen Lun Range". Johnson’s findings demonstrated that the whole of the Kara Kash valley was “ within the territory of the Maharaja of Kashmir” and an integral part of the territory of Kashmir . "He noted where the Chinese boundary post was accepted. At Yangi Langar, three marches from Khotan, he noticed that there were a few fruit trees at this place which originally was a post or guard house of the Chinese". “The Khan wrote Johnson ‘that he had dispatched his Wazier, Saifulla Khoja to meet me at Bringja, the first encampment beyond the Ladakh boundary for the purpose of escorting me thence to Ilichi’… thus the Khotan ruler accepted the Kunlun range as the southern boundary of his dominion.” According to Johnson, “the last portion of the route to Shadulla (Shahidulla) is particularly pleasant, being the whole of the Karakash valley which is wide and even, and shut in either side by rugged mountains. On this route I noticed numerous extensive plateaux near the river, covered with wood and long grass. These being within the territory of the Maharaja of Kashmir, could easily be brought under cultivation by Ladakhees and others, if they could be induced and encouraged to do so by the Kashmeer Government. The establishment of villages and habitations on this river would be important in many points of view, but chiefly in keeping the route open from the attacks of the Khergiz robbers.”

The Chinese completed the reconquest of eastern Turkistan in 1878. Before they lost it in 1863, their practical authority, as Ney Elias British Joint Commissioner in Leh from the end of the 1870s to 1885, and Younghusband consistently maintained, "had never extended south of their outposts at Sanju and Kilian along the northern foothills of the Kuenlun range. Nor did they establish a known presence to the south of the line of outposts in the twelve years immediately following their return". Ney Elias who had been Joint Commissioner in Ladakh for several years noted on 21 September 1889 that he had met the Chinese in 1879 and 1880 when he visited Kashgar. “they told me that they considered their line of ‘chatze’, or posts, as their frontier – viz. , Kugiar, Kilian, Sanju, Kiria, etc.- and that they had no concern with what lay beyond the mountains” i.e. the Kuen Lun range in northern Kashmir wherein the Hindutash pass is situate.

T.D. Forsyth who was entrusted with the rather unambiguous task of visiting the Court of Atalik Ghazi pursuant to the visit on 28, March 1870 of the envoy of Atalik Ghazi, Mirza Mohammad Shadi , stated that "...it would be very unsafe to define the boundary of Kashmir in the direction of the Karakoram…. Between the Karakoram and the Karakash the high Plateau is perhaps rightly described as rather a no-mans land , but I should say with a tendency to become Kashmir property". Two stages beyond Shahidulla, as the route headed for Sanju, Forsyth’s party crossed the Tughra Su and passed an out post called Nazr Qurghan.“This is manned by soldiers from Yarkand”. In the words of John Lall, “Here we have an early example of coexistence. The Kashmiri and Yarkandi outposts were only two stages apart on either side of the Karakash river..." to the northwest of the Hindutash in the north eastern frontier region of Kashmir. This was the status quo that prevailed at the time of the mission to Kashgar in 1873-74 of Sir Douglas Forsyth. “Elias himself recalled that , following his mission to Kashgar in 1873-74, Sir Douglas Forsyth ‘recommended the Maharaja’s boundary to be drawn to the north of the Karakash valley as shown in the map accompanying the mission report’. Elias’ reasons for suggesting a boundary that went against the situation on the ground and the recommendations of Sir Douglas Forsyth, who had been directed by the Government of India to ascertain the boundaries of the Ruler of Yarkand, seem to have been prompted atleast partly , by his ill- concealed contempt for the Ladakh Wazir’s plans”.This had been motivated by the discovery of a lapis lazuli mine near the Kashmiri outpost at Shahidulla by a Pathan from Bajaur, not a Kashmiri, as if the nationality of the finder had anything to do with the rights to the territory. Lapis lazuli, he pointed out , had no value at the time. “So the only reason for raising the question is a worthless one, and prompted only by the usual Kashmiri greed for every thing they can lay hands upon.”

When the Government of Kashmir in 1885, at a time when the Chinese were least concerned or bothered of the alien trans- Kuen Lun areas in the highlands of Kashmir , beyond their eastern Turkistan dominion and literally “had washed their hands of it”, prepared to reunify Kashmir and the Wazir of Ladakh , Pandit Radha Kishen initiated steps to restore the old Kashmiri outpost at Shahidulla, Ney Elias who was British Joint Commissioner in Ladakh and spying on the Government of Kashmir raised objections. “This very energetic officer’ , he wrote to the resident, who duly forwarded the letter to the Government of India, “wants the Maharaja to reoccupy Shahidulla in the Karakash valley ….I see indications of his preparing to carry it out, and, in my opinion, he should be restrained, or an awkward boundary question may be raised with the Chinese without any compensating advantage”. In the circumstances, since Elias had represented to the Supreme Government, it was a relatively simple matter for him to ensure that the plans were dropped. He told the Wazir that he had reported against the scheme to the Resident, and pretty soon the subservient Wazir succumbed and assured him that he did not intend to implement it. Elias was also promptly meticulously backed up by the Government of India. A letter dated 1st September was sent to the officer on Special Duty (as the Resident was called before 1885) instructing him to take suitable opportunity of advising His Highness the Maharaja not to occupy Shahidulla”. Elias had already killed the proposal. Kashmir, however never forfeited her territorial integrity, though she had been under duress and coercion prevented from restoring the outpost at Shahidulla to command the Kuen Lun.

The Chinese Karawal or outpost, of Sanju was at the northern base of the Kuenlun, three stages from the pass of that name. Nevertheless, F.E.Younghusband could not disguise the objective fact that the Chinese considered the Kilian and Sanju Passes as the practical limits of their territory, although they ‘do not like to go so far as to say that beyond the passes does not belong to them….”.

"Hindu-tagh" means "Indian Mountain," and "Hindu-tash," "Indian stone" in the Uyghur dialect of East Turkistan.

Gallery

  • "The Chain of the Kuenlúen, from Súmgal, in Ladakh (Lat North 36° 8', Long. East of Green. 78° 5', Height 13, 215 Engl. feet)" by Hermann Schlagintweit, August 1856. Lithographed by Sabatier, printed in oil-colours by Lemereier, Paris. The Hindu-tagh Pass is the break in the mountains on the right. "The Chain of the Kuenlúen, from Súmgal, in Ladakh (Lat North 36° 8', Long. East of Green. 78° 5', Height 13, 215 Engl. feet)" by Hermann Schlagintweit, August 1856. Lithographed by Sabatier, printed in oil-colours by Lemereier, Paris. The Hindu-tagh Pass is the break in the mountains on the right.
  • Karakash River in the Western Kunlun Range, seen from the Pan- Kashmir Highway Karakash River in the Western Kunlun Range, seen from the Pan- Kashmir Highway
  • View of Western Kunlun Range from the Pan- Kashmir Highway View of Western Kunlun Range from the Pan- Kashmir Highway

Maps

  • Map of W. H. Johnson showing the route of his trip to Khotan from Leh; in this map, Johnson refers to the pass as "Hindotak diwan Pass." He himself traveled through the Yangi diwan Pass, some 20 miles up-river from Hindutash, on his outward journey, and returned via the Sanju diwan Pass near Shahdula. Johnson placed the border of Kashmir with Turkistan at Bringja. (Refer accompanying maps for position of Bringja) The Map unequivocally and with out an iota of doubt depicts Hindutash pass as part of Kashmir. Map of W. H. Johnson showing the route of his trip to Khotan from Leh; in this map, Johnson refers to the pass as "Hindotak diwan Pass." He himself traveled through the Yangi diwan Pass, some 20 miles up-river from Hindutash, on his outward journey, and returned via the Sanju diwan Pass near Shahdula. Johnson placed the border of Kashmir with Turkistan at Bringja. (Refer accompanying maps for position of Bringja) The Map unequivocally and with out an iota of doubt depicts Hindutash pass as part of Kashmir.
  • Extract from the Map referred to in Article 9 of the Simla Convention between Great Britain, China and Tibet dated the 5th July 1914, depicting the southern border of Khotan and East Turkistan with Kashmir on the Kuen Lun range in the area of Hindutash in Kashmir as a red line. The map was initialed by the British representative and signed by the Tibetan and Chinese representatives. The latter two did not merely initial the Convention but signed it. The map attached to the Simla Convention, July 3, 1914. Extract from the Map referred to in Article 9 of the Simla Convention between Great Britain, China and Tibet dated the 5th July 1914, depicting the southern border of Khotan and East Turkistan with Kashmir on the Kuen Lun range in the area of Hindutash in Kashmir as a red line. The map was initialed by the British representative and signed by the Tibetan and Chinese representatives. The latter two did not merely initial the Convention but signed it. The map attached to the Simla Convention, July 3, 1914.

Notes

  1. ^ (Trotter 1878, p. U8) harv error: no target: CITEREFTrotter1878 (help)
  2. Gazetteer of Kashmir and Ladak compiled under the direction of the Quarter Master General in India in the Intelligence Branch. First Published in 1890
  3. Himalayan Frontiers by Dorothy Woodman. Pg.67-68 , published inter alia by London Barrie and Rockliff The Cresset Press 1969.
  4. Himalayan Battleground by Margaret W. Fisher, Leo E. Rose and Robert A. Huttenback, published by Frederick A. Praeger Pg.116.
  5. Report of the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India, 1866, p.6.
  6. Aksaichin and Sino-Indian Conflict by John Lall at pages 56-57, 59, 95, Allied Publishers Private Ltd, New Delhi.
  7. For. Sec. F. October 1889, 182/197.
  8. For. Pol.A. January 1871, 382/386, para58
  9. Aksaichin and Sino-Indian Conflict by John Lall at pages57-58, 61,69 Allied Publishers Private Ltd, Nav Dehli
  10. For. Sec. F.Pros. November 1885, 12/14(12)
  11. Aksaichin and Sino-Indian Conflict by John Lall at page 60, Allied Publishers Private Ltd, New Delhi
  12. Sec. F. November 1885,12/14(12)
  13. For.Sec.F.Pros.October 1889,182/197(184)

References

  • Template:Harvard reference.
  • Template:Harvard reference.
  • Template:Harvard reference.
  • Template:Harvard reference.
  • Template:Harvard reference.
  • Gazetteer of Kashmir and Ladak compiled under the direction of the Quarter Master General in India in the Intelligence Branch. First Published in 1890 by the Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta. Compiled under the Direction of the Quartermaster -General in India in the Intelligence Branch. 1890 Ed. Pg. 520, 364
  • Report of the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India, 1866, p.6.
  • Map referred to in Art.9 of the Simla Convention between Great Britain, China and Tibet, 1914 signed by the Chinese representative.
  • Atlas of the northern frontiers of India . Pg.20
  • Himalayan Frontiers by Dorothy Woodman. Pg.67-68
  • Himalayan Battleground by Margaret W. Fisher, Leo E. Rose and Robert A. Huttenback. Pg.116.
  • Aksaichin and Sino-Indian Conflict by John Lall at page 95, Allied Publishers Private Ltd, New Delhi.

See also

External links

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