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Zanskar

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Etymology

Zanskar appears as “Zangskar” mostly in academic studies in social sciences (anthropology

Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of human beings, everywhere and throughout time....

, gender studies

Gender studies

Gender studies is a field of interdisciplinary study which analyzes the phenomenon of gender. Gender Studies is sometimes related to studies of class, race, ethnicity, sexuality and location....

). Older geographical accounts and maps may use the alternate spelling "Zaskar". An etymological study (Snellgrove and Skorupsky, 1980) of the name reveals that its origin might refer to the natural occurrence of copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29.It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is rather soft and malleable and a freshly-exposed surface has a pinkish or peachy color...

 in this region, the Tibetan word for which is “Zangs”. The second syllable however seems to be more challenging as it has various meanings: “Zangs-dkar” (white copper), “Zangs-mkhar” (copper palace), or “Zangs-sKar” (copper star). Others claim it derives from zan = copper + skar = valley. Crook (1994) partly shares this interpretation but suggests that the origin of this name might also be “Zan-mKhar” (food palace), because the staple food crops are so abundant in an otherwise rather arid region.

Some of the religious scholars of the district, also cited by Snellgrove and Skorupsky (1980) and Crook (1994), held that it was originally “bZang-dKar”, meaning good (or beautiful) and white. “Good” would refer to the triangular shape of the Padum plain, the triangle being the symbol of Dharma

Dharma

The term , is an Indian spiritual and religious term, that means one's righteous duty or any virtuous path in the common sense of the term. A Hindu's Dharma is affected by a person's age, class, occupation, and sex. In Indian languages it can be equivalent simply to "religion", depending on context...

 and religion; “white” would refer to the simplicity, goodness, and religious inclinations of the Zanskaris. Thus, even if etymologically it would be more correct to use “Zangskar”, the most frequently found spelling for this region is undoubtedly “Zanskar”.

Geography

Zanskar covers an area of some 7,000 square kilometre

Square kilometre

Square kilometre , symbol km², is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of surface area, the square metre, one of the SI derived units.1 km² is equal to:* 1,000,000 m²...

s (2,700 square miles), at a height of between 3,500 and 7,000 metres (11,500–23,000 feet). It consists of the country lying along the two main branches of the Zanskar river. The first, the Doda, has its source near the Pensi-la

Pensi-la

Pensi-la is a mountain pass in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, which is known as the Gateway to Zanskar. Pensi La is 4,400 m above sea level and connects the Suru Valley region to the Zanskar Valley region. The summit at this end of the Suru Valley, the only peak which can be seen, is...

 (4,400 m) (14,450 ft) mountain-pass, and then flows south-eastwards along the main valley leading towards Padum, the capital of Zanskar. The second branch is formed by two main tributaries known as Kargyag river, with its source near the Shingo La (5,091 m) (16,703 ft), and Tsarap river, with its source near the Baralacha-La. These two rivers unite below the village of Purne to form the Lungnak river (also known as the Lingti or Tsarap). The Lungnak river then flows north-westwards along a narrow gorge towards Zanskar's central valley (known locally as gzhung khor), where it unites with the Doda river to form the Zanskar river.

The Zanskar river then takes a north-eastern course until it joins the Indus

Indus River

The Indus River is the longest river in...

 in Ladakh. High mountain ridges lie on both sides of the Doda and Lingti–kargyag valleys, which run north-west to south-east. To the south-west is the Great Himalayan

Himalayas

The Himalaya Range or Himalayas for short , meaning "abode of snow", is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...

 Range which separates Zanskar from the Kisthwar and Chamba basins. To the north-east lies the Zanskar Range, which separates Zanskar from Ladakh. The only outlet for the whole Zanskar hydrographic system is thus the Zanskar river, which cuts a deep and narrow gorge through the Zanskar range.

These topographical features explain why access to Zanskar is difficult from all sides. Communication with the neighbouring Himalayan areas is maintained across mountain passes or along the Zanskar river when frozen. The easiest approach leads from Kargil through the Suru valley

Suru valley

The Suru valley is a valley in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, which is drained by the Suru River , a tributary of the Indus river. It is located at a height of 3,000m. The towns of Kargil and Rangdum are located here. The Penzella Pass at Panikhar, a hill resort in Zanskar, divides the...

 and over the Pensi La. It is along this track that in 1979 the first and only road in Zanskar was built to connect Padum with the main road from Srinagar into Ladakh. One of the first Tibetologists to spend an extended period in the region was Alexander Csoma de Koros, who spent over a year living in the region in 1823. After being integrated into the newly formed state of India in 1947, Zanskar and the neighboring region of Ladakh were both declared restricted areas and only opened to foreigners in 1974. The first colour film of life in Zanskar was shot in 1958 by an expedition of three British housewiveshttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/main.jhtml?xml=/education/2008/04/21/st_womenexplorers.xml&page=3.

Flora and fauna

Much of Zanskar's vegetation is found in the lower reaches of the valleys, and consists of alpine and tundra species. Most impressive are the meadows covered with thousands of edelweiss

Edelweiss

Edelweiss , is one of the best-known European mountain flowers, belonging to the sunflower family . The name comes from German edel and weiss...

. At the foot of the Gumburanjon

Gumburanjon

Gumbok Rangan is a stand alone lofty rocky precipice located in Kuraigh Valley of Zanskar, India in Lakong region. It is venerated and considered to be holy by the local inhabitants mostly practicing Tibetan buddhism. Gumbok Rangan can be seen from as far as 10 miles from the village of Kuraigh and...

 mountain blue poppies can be found. Crops including barley, lentils, and potatoes are grown by farmers at the lower elevations, as well as apricot trees. Domesticated animals such as the yak

Yak

The yak is a long-haired bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia. In addition to a large domestic population, there is a small, vulnerable wild yak population. In Tibetan, the word gyag refers only to the male of the...

, dzo

Dzo

A dzo is a hybrid of a yak and domestic cattle. The word dzo technically refers to a male hybrid, while a female is known as a dzomo or zhom. Alternative Romanizations of the Tibetan names include zho and zo. In Mongolian it is called khainag...

, sheep, horse, and dog are found in the region.

Among the wildlife that can be found in Zanskar are the marmot

Marmot

Marmots are members of the genus Marmota, in the rodent family Sciuridae .Marmots are generally large ground squirrels...

, bear

Bear

Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...

, wolf, snow leopard

Snow Leopard

The snow leopard , sometimes known as ounce, is a moderately large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central Asia...

, kiang

Kiang

The kiang is the largest of the wild asses. This equine is native to the Tibetan Plateau, where it inhabits montane and alpine grasslands from 4000 to 7000 meters elevation...

, bharal

Bharal

The bharal or Himalayan blue sheep, Pseudois nayaur, is a caprid found in the high Himalayas of Nepal, Tibet, China, Kashmir, Pakistan, Bhutan and India....

, alpine Ibex

Ibex

An ibex is an individual of any of several species of wild mountain goats , distinguished by the male's large recurved horns, which are transversely ridged in front. Ibex are found in Eurasia, North Africa, and East Africa...

, wild sheep and goats, and the lammergeier

Lammergeier

The Lammergeier or Bearded Vulture, Gypaetus barbatus , is an Old World vulture, the only member of the genus Gypaetus. It breeds on crags in high mountains in southern Europe, Africa, India and Tibet, laying one or two eggs in mid-winter which hatch at the beginning of spring. The population is...

.

Climate

Zanskar is a high altitude semi-desert lying on the Northern flank of the Great Himalayan Range. This mountain range acts as a climatic barrier protecting Ladakh and Zanskar from most of the monsoon, resulting in a pleasantly warm and dry climate in the summer. Rain and snowfall during this period are scarce, although recent decades have shown a trend towards increasing precipitation. Several water-driven mills were built during ancient periods of drought at a great distance from the villages, but have been abandoned because running water is now available nearer to the settlements. Zanskari houses, though otherwise well built, are not adapted to the recently increasing rainfall, as their roofs leak, catching their surprised inhabitants unprepared. Most of the precipitation occurs as snowfall during the harsh and extremely long winter period. These winter snowfalls are of vital importance, since they feed the glaciers which melt in the summer and provide most of the irrigation water. Parts of Zanskar valley are considered some of the coldest continually inhabited places in the world.

Population

Zanskar's population is small, the April 2006 medical census records a population of 13,849 people. The medical census is the most accurate indicator of population as it collects birth, death, and census information from Zangskar's 22 medical aid centers. Roughly 95% of the inhabitants practice Tibetan Buddhism, while the remainder are Sunni Muslims, whose ancestors settled in Padum and its environs in the 19th century. The majority of Zanskaris are of mixed Tibetan

Tibetan people

The Tibetan people are indigenous to Tibet and surrounding areas stretching from Central Asia in the North and West to Myanmar and China Proper in the East and India, Nepal and Bhutan to the south.-Demographics:...

 and Indo-European origins; notably Dard

Dard people

The Dards are a group of people defined by linguistic similarities, and not common ethnicity, predominantly found in Eastern Afghanistan, in the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir and in the Northern Areas and North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. Smaller Dard populations can be found in China...

 and Mon. The latter are in fact ethnically Dard, but "Mon" is used in order to distinguish them from later Dard settlers.

The population lives mainly in scattered small villages, the largest being the capital Padum

Padum

Padum is the largest town and administrative centre of Zanskar tehsil of Kargil district in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is 240km away from Kargil....

, with nearly 700 inhabitants. Most of the villages are located in the valleys of the Zanskar river and its two main tributaries. Given the isolation of this region, the inhabitants tend towards self-sufficiency, and until recently lived in almost complete autarky

Autarky

Autarky is the quality of being self-sufficient. Usually the term is applied to political states or their economic policies. Autarky exists whenever an entity can survive or continue its activities without external assistance. Autarky is not necessarily economic. For example, a military autarky...

. External trade has, however, always been necessary for the acquisition of goods such as tool

Tool

A broad definition of a tool is an entity used to interface between two or more domains that facilitates more effective action of one domain upon the other. The most basic tools are simple machines. For example, a crowbar simply functions as a lever. The further out from the pivot point, the more...

s, jewellery

Jewellery

Jewellery or jewelry is an item of personal adornment, such as a necklace, ring, brooch or bracelet, that is worn by a person. It may be made from gemstones or precious metals, but may be from any other material, and may be appreciated because of geometric or other patterns, or meaningful symbols...

, or religious artefact

Cultural artifact

A cultural artifact is term used in the social sciences, particularly anthropology, ethnology, and sociology for anything created by humans which gives information about the culture of its creator and users...

s.

The Zanskaris' main occupations are cattle-rearing and farming of land that they almost always own. Cultivable land is scarce, and restricted to alluvial fans and terraces, cultivated fields being rarely found above an altitude of 4,000 metres. The Zanskaris have developed a system of intensive arable agriculture and complex irrigation to produce enough food in these conditions. The scarcity of cultivable land has also resulted in a tendency towards a stable, zero-growth population. An efficient birth-control system in Zanskar has historically been achieved by the common practice of polyandrous

Polyandry

Polyandry refers to a form of sexual union, in which a woman is married to two or more husbands at the same time....

 marriage, in which several brothers are married to the same wife, and the widespread adoption of a celibate religious life. A high infant mortality rate also contributes to population stability.

In the summer, the women and children stay far away from the villages to tend to the livestock. This system, known as transhumance

Transhumance

Transhumance is the seasonal movement of people with their livestock over relatively short distances, typically to higher pastures in summer and to lower valleys in winter. Herders have a permanent home, typically in valleys. Only the herds travel, with the people necessary to tend them...

, is similar to the one found in the Alps where the animals are sent during the summer higher up in the mountains (the alpages) and were kept by the children and women.

Religion

Aside from some 300 Sunni Muslims living in Padum (out of a population of about 700), almost the whole population of Zanskar is Buddhist. Almost every village has a local temple, often containing ancient wall-paintings and images. There are two main branches of Tibetan Buddhism here — the Drugpa, who control the Sani Monastery

Sani Monastery

Sani Monastery , Sa-ni-[tshog], is located next to the village of Sani where the Stod Valley broadens into the central plain of Zanskar in Jammu and Kashmir in northern India. It is about 6 km to the northwest of the regional centre of Padum, a gentle 2 hour walk...

, Dzongkhul, Stagrimo and Bardan Monastery

Bardan Monastery

Bardan Monastery or Bardan Gompa is a 17th century Buddhist monastery, approximately 12 kilometres south of Padum, in Zanskar, Ladakh, northern India. It belongs to the Dugpa-Kargyud monastic order and was one of the first monasteries of this sect to be established in Zanskar...

 - all loosely affiliated with Stakna in the Indus valley. The Gelugpa control the Rangdum Monastery

Rangdum Monastery

Rangdum Monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery belonging to the Gelugpa sect, dramatically situated on top of a steep sugarloaf hill at an altitude of 3,657 m at the head of the Suru Valley, in Ladakh...

, Kursha, Strongde and Phugtal Monastery

Phugtal Monastery

Phugtal Monastery or Phugtal Gompa Phugtal Monastery or Phugtal Gompa Phugtal Monastery or Phugtal Gompa (often trasliterated as Phuktal is a monastery in south-eastern Zanskar, Ladakh in northern India....

, which all pay allegiance to the Ngari Rinpoche, who has his main seat at Likir Monastery

Likir Monastery

Likir Monastery or Likir Gompa is a Buddhist monastery in Ladakh, northern India, located approximately west of Leh. It is picturesquely situated on a little hill in the valley near the Indus River and the village of Saspol about north of the Srinigar to Leh highway...

 in Ladakh. The present emanation of the Ngari Rinpoche is the younger brother of the Dalai Lama.

Livestock

Livestock, and especially the yak

Yak

The yak is a long-haired bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia. In addition to a large domestic population, there is a small, vulnerable wild yak population. In Tibetan, the word gyag refers only to the male of the...

, is of paramount importance in Zanskar. Yaks are used to plough the land, to thresh the grain, to carry heavy loads (up to 200 kilograms), and their dung not only serves as fertiliser but is also the only heating fuel available in the region. They are a vital source of milk and sometimes, but rarely, of meat. The yak's fur is used to make clothes, carpets, ropes, and bed covers.

History

The first traces of human activity in Zanskar seem to go back as far as the Bronze Age

Bronze Age

The Bronze Age of a culture is the period when the most advanced metalworking in that culture utilised bronze. This could either have been based on the local smelting of copper and tin from ores, or trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere...

. Petroglyph

Petroglyph

Petroglyphs are images created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, pecking, carving, and abrading. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images...

s attributed to that period suggest that their creators were hunters on the steppes of central Asia, living between Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a country situated in Eurasia that is ranked as the ninth largest country in the world. It is also the world's largest landlocked country. Its territory of 2,727,300 km² is greater than Western Europe...

 and China

China

China is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....

. It is suspected that an Indo-European population known as the Mon might then have lived in this region, before mixing with or being replaced by the next settlers, the Dards. Early Buddhism coming from Kashmir spread its influence in Zanskar, possibly as early as 200 BCE. The earliest monuments date from the Kushan period. After this eastward propagation of Buddhism, Zanskar and a large part of the Western Himalaya were overrun in the 7th century by the Tibetans, who imposed their then animistic Bön

Bön

Bön is the oldest spiritual tradition of Tibet. Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama, has recently recognized the Bön tradition as the fifth principal spiritual school of Tibet, along with the Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, and Gelug schools of Buddhism, despite the long historical competition of...

 religion.

Buddhism regained its influence over Zanskar in the 8th century when Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north of the Himalayas. It is home to the indigenous Tibetan people, and to some other ethnic groups such as Monpas and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han Chinese people. Tibet is the highest region on earth, with an average...

 was also converted to this religion. Between the 10th and 11th centuries, two Royal Houses were founded in Zanskar, and the monasteries of Karsha and Phugtal (see picture) were built. Until the 15th century Zanskar existed as a more or less independent Buddhist Kingdom ruled by between two and four related royal families. Since the 15th century, Zanskar has been subordinate to Ladakh, sharing its fortunes and misfortunes. In 1822 a coalition of Kulu, Lahoul, and Kinnaur invaded Zanskar, plundering the country and destroying the Royal palace at Padum.

In the mid-20th century, border conflicts between India, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia...

, and China caused Ladakh and Zanskar to be closed to foreigners. During these wars Ladakh lost two thirds of its original territory, losing Baltistan

Baltistan

Baltistan , also known as بلتیول in the Balti language, is a region in northern Pakistan , bordering Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China. It is situated in the Karakoram mountains just to the south of K2, the world's second highest mountain. It is an extremely mountainous region, with an average...

 to Pakistan and the Aksai Chin

Aksai Chin

Aksai Chin, also Aksayqin, Akesaiqin or Akesai Qin , is a disputed region located in the northwestern region of the Tibetan Plateau north of the western Kunlun Mountains...

 to China. Ladakh and Zanskar, despite a tumultuous history of internal wars and external aggressions, have never lost their cultural and religious heritage since the 8th century. Thanks to its adherence to the Indian Union, this is also one of the rare regions in the Himalaya where traditional Tibetan culture, society, and buildings survived the Chinese Cultural Revolution

Cultural Revolution

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was a period of widespread social and political upheaval in the People’s Republic of China between 1966 and 1976, resulting in nation-wide chaos and economic disarray.It was launched by Mao Zedong, the chairman of the Communist Party of China, on May 16,...

. In the last twenty years, the opening of a road and the massive influx of tourists and researchers have brought many changes to the traditional social organisation of Zanskar. In 2007 the valley suffered its third year of a desert locust infestation with many villages losing their crops. The response of the monasteries was to carry out Puja ( prayer ) to get rid of them whilst the government was advocating the use of insecticides which the Buddhists were reluctant to use, but in some cases were forced to try with as yet undocumented success. In 2008 it was reported that the Locusts had left the central Zanskar plains.

Tourism

Tourism is probably the major disruption that Zanskar has experienced during recent times. The opening of this region to foreigners has brought benefits such as the financing of schools and the restoration of monasteries and roads, but has also taken its toll on this fragile mountain environment and its population. Not only do the campsites along the trekking routes look more and more like junkyards at the end of the tourist season, but the local population has sometimes developed a questionable attitude towards visitors, involving begging, and very occasionally theft.

Languages

• Most of the people living in Zanskar are well versed in many languages including the local Dardic languages and also Hindi.

External links

• Geology of Zanskar
• Account of a trek across Zanskar
• Alexander Csoma de Koros Hungarian scholar-traveler to Zanskar
• Ladhakh
• Encounters in Zanskar - photo gallery of Zsolt Suto
• Zanskar
• The housewife explorers who climbed the Himalayas
• Ovaltine sponsored Himalayan Adventure
• Zanskar documentary film organisation