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KARGIL: The Forgotten Land
Musavir Ahmed


The Kargil district was carved out of the erstwhile Ladakh district under the District Re-organization Act in 1979. Prior to this it had the status of a tehsil. The constitution of Kargil as a tehsil took place in the 1890’s during the early years of the reign of Maharaja Pratab Singh.

After taking control of Punch (Dhyan Singh), Ramnagar illaqa (Suchet Singh), Basholi, Bhadarwah, Kishtawar, Bhimbar and Rajouri, Gulab Singh set his eyes on the independent state of Ladakh probably as a first step towards annexing Lhasa. Under the organized leadership of Wazir Zorawar Singh, the Dogra forces entered the Suru valley via Botkol pass in 1834. After capturing the Suru (Kargil tehsil) without any resistance, the Dogra forces headed towards Leh. Initially two valiant attempts were made by the Ladakhi forces to combat the marching Dogras, but were severely crushed by the latter, the Ladakhis finally submitted to the Dogras. A weak revolt was put by Zanskar but was crushed immediately. The capture of Ladakh by Do­gras ended the rule of the royal dynasty of independent Ladakh (990 A.D-1842 A.D). Wazir Zorawar also took control of Askardu in 1840, after fighting and wining three bloody battles with the forces of Askardu. With the fall of Askardu, virtually the whole of Baltistan became a Dogra dominion. After consolidating the position in Ladakh and Askardu, Wazir advanced towards Lhasa, took control of Rudok, Gar, Minser and Tagla khar with great speed, but was killed in a fierce battle with a hardy Lhasa force at Toyo in December 1841. With this, ended, mission Lhasa. After the death of Zorawar, a number of revolts broke out in Ladakh, Kargil and Baltistan, but the Dogra commanders like Hari Chand and Wazir Lakhpat successfully took control of the situations and greatly consolidated the position of Dogras. With the signing of the Amritsar Treaty in 1846, Gulab Singh became the ruler of the state, composed of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh (including Bal­tistan), the provinces being effectually for the first time in the entire history of this part of the world.

Before 1947, the provinces of Ladakh and Baltistan comprised of three tehsils viz: Leh, Kargil and Askardu. For the six months of winter, the commissioner would hold office at Askardu and for the six months of summer, at Ladakh. The tehsildars had their offices at Leh, Kargil and Askardu. In 1947-48, Askardu tehsil along with some villages of Kargil went to Pakistan. After 1947, Ladakh district, based on three tehsils viz: Leh, Kargil and Zanskar (1949) were formed with the district headquarters at Leh. In 1979, Kargil and Zanskar tehsils were sepa­rated from Ladakh district and a new district was formed of these two tehsils with district headquarters at Kargil.

According to 2001 census, the total population of Kargil district is 1, 15,227, with a geographical area of 14,036 sq kms. In terms of popula­tion, Zanskar tehsil has the lowest number of individuals i.e. 12,167 in the whole of India. It is entirely a rural tehsil, with a literacy rate of 58.31%. Kargil tehsil is predominantly a rural tehsil with an urban population of 8.63% which is entirely located in Kargil town. Its liter­acy rate is higher than the state rate, which according to the latest census report is 60.41%. According to Dar (1999), Kargil town came into being for the first time in 1911 and lost its urban status in 1921 and reappeared as a town only at the census of 1971.

The ancient name of Kargil is Purk or Purik. People of the adjoining places as well as the natives still call the area, which according to Is­fander Khan (1997) extends “right from the top of the Zojila to the nalla of Lamayaru and from Rangdum Lingshed to the sanghum of Indus”, by its ancient name. The word ‘Purik’ came from ‘Purang’ which according to legend was the birth place of the first ruler of Purik. Khan has given one more interpretation for the name Kargil. Accord­ing to him, the word ‘Parik’ in Tibetan means ‘pipe or tube’ and the entire populations of Kargil is situated in tube like valleys and nallahs, which is why it has been named as Purik.

As for the name ‘Kargil’, there are no records or evidences, which can indicate as when, how and why this area came to be known by this name. ‘Khar’ is a balti word meaning ‘fort’ and ‘kil’ means ‘centre’. Ac­cording to local tradition, there were a number of forts in this area in ancient times and Kargil fort was located in the centre of all of them. Dar, besides supporting the above view, has presented another ra­tional hypothesis, according to which, Kargil is situated at equal dis­tances from many important towns like Srinagar, Askardu, Leh, Zan­skar, Gilgit and in a way form the centre of all these places and so the name ‘Kar-kil’ which through time changed to Kargil.

The Valley of Drass
After crossing the famous Zojila pass from Kashmir side, one enters the valley of bare rock known as Drass. The river Drass, which origi­nates in the machoi glacier, passes though the valley. Drass is the cold­est place in the world after Siberia, with an altitude of 10,000 ft above sea level. In winter, the valley of Drass presents to eye the most severe type of climate, which makes one wonder how life can survive such an extreme face of nature when the mercury dips 40 degrees below the freezing point. During summer, the fields, and mountain slopes with a luxuriant growth of wild grass and flowers offer a treat to the live­stock of Gujjars and Bakirwals from Rajouri and Punch.

The people inhabiting the valley of Drass are called Dards who trace their genealogical affiliation to the Aryan Dards of Chilas. Brokpas are considered to be the forefathers of Dards and thus the word Brokpa and Dard refer to one and the same race of people. Lately the term Brokpa (highlander) has acquired some negative connotations like ‘backward’ or ‘uncivilized’. According to Kaul and Kaul (1992) “The people inhabiting the Drass valley are known as Brokpas who trace their descent to the Dards of Chilas in the Gilgit area and whose ancestors under pressure of ad­verse circumstances in their original home are said to have emigrated to Drass several centuries ago.”

According to local legend, in ancient times there were two Dard tribes in Chilas, who were at constant war with each other. One night, the chieftain of one of the tribe killed the leader of the other and took con­trol of the latter’s tribe by marrying the deceased chief’s widow. The deceased chief had four sons. After some time, the four sons came to know of their father’s killing and tool a pledge to kill their father’s killer i.e. step father. On the day of Losar, a festival when sheep and goats are slaughtered and the meat frozen to be consumed during the extreme winter months, the four brothers killed their step father and to save their lives, escaped towards the geographically hostile area of Drass and remain hidden there for some time. The three elder brothers settled in three different areas namely Chokyal, Holyal and Kurtyal. The youngest one, who was the bravest of all, settled in Nasriyal, where he constructed a small palace Kharbu. ‘Khar’ means place, ‘Bu’ means small. Nasriyal is a small mohalla of present Kharbu.

As for the word ‘Drass’ there is no theory which can throw any light on its etymology. The locals have an interesting story to tell. Some day in the past, a caravan of Kashmiri tradesmen, settled in the Drass area for a night- stay. In the morning, when the caravan was ready to move, one of the men was missing. Finding him still sleeping, the chief of the caravan was very angry and when he was about to punish him, the man in a loud voice said in Kashmiri ‘yekah dras dras’ meaning. ‘Just leaving leaving’. From that moment onwards the place is called Drass. There is a similar story about Pandras village, when the same person said ‘Panay dras’ meaning ‘leaving on my own’.

Majority of the people of the Drass valley are Sunni Muslims. Their religious practices are quite distinct from those of Shias of Kargil. Ac­cording to a local Elder “our culture used to be a sealed bottle of coloured wa­ter due to the inaccessible nature of the terrain and the consequent no-contact rela­tion with the unknown outside world. But now the seal has been thrown away and gradually we are losing the distinctiveness of colour under the influence of domi­nant cultures, particularly Kashmiri.”

The traditional dress of the people of Drass consists of a long choga called ‘Tchubatchili’ and trousers called ‘Tchelanee’. Traditionally both these were made from locally-prepared ‘white pattu’. Over this choga, a woolen kamarband called ‘kaski’, made from the same pattu, is worn to keep the latter in order. Part of the traditional dress of women folk is ‘guncha’. It is worn over the choga and usually has two pockets on the front side. The choga culture is gradually disappearing and the Kashmiri “Pheran” is taking its place. The traditional headgear of women folk is ‘khoyee’. It is a kind of cap, made from the same white pattu. Traditionally a distinction was made between caps worn by unmarried women which were all white and the caps of married women used to be coloured pattu. The habit of wearing of these caps is fast dwindling and ‘duppattas’ are more preferred nowadays.

One of the distinctive traits of the Drassi culture is the custom of bride money locally called ‘zerap’ which is the money, which nowa­days amount to 40,000 to 50,000, paid by the groom’s parents to the bride’s parents. According to Dar “the possible sociological reasons for the prevalence of this custom can be traced to the disproportionate sex-ratio”.

The staple diet of the people is barley and wheat. Bread made from this is consumed with salt-tea as well as milk and ghee. Sattu made from barley is part of the daily diet. Besides these, locally grown peas, radish, turnip are also consumed. Sattu of ‘barav’ locally called ‘trumba’ is also taken. Meat is also consumed but mostly during the winter months. On festive occasions, pure ghee, jav rotis and some­times meat, is served to guests.

The language of the Dards of Drass is called Shina. People of Balti and Purky origin, which form a small percentage of the population of Drass, speak Balti and Purky languages. Besides, these three lan­guages, Dar has reported an unnamed language spoken by the Bud­dhist Dards of Drass. According to him, “the Muslim Sunni Dards of Drass speak Shina but the Buddhist Dards speak a tongue which is quite different from Shina. Though the language of their ancestors was also Shina, they have forgotten it now. They have developed a new tongue, which has not yet been identified and given a proper name. It is not understood even by another sect of the local population.” While acknowledging his work as a genuine and unbiased piece of work, which by far is the most comprehensive work on the socio­economic situation of Kargil, it is very difficult for anyone, other than a Linguist, to speculate on the genealogy of a language or the relation between languages spoken in a common geographical area. Only a Linguist with proper theoretical background and specific research methodology at his disposal can deliberate on the nature, structure and history of a language.

Shina has been placed in the Dardic family of languages. According to Grierson (1919 (1990)), it belongs to the Dard groups of the Dardic languages. The other two languages placed in the Dard group are Kashmiri and Kohistani. The important Shina speaking areas include Gilgit, Astor and Chilas (Pakistan), and Gurez and Drass, (India). Ko­histani is the language of Swat Kohistan. The close family relationship of Kashmiri with Shina and other Dardic languages was an important linguistic discovery of Grierson. Later scholar like T.S Seobek, Braj Kachru, S.K Chatterjee have supported and maintained the viewpoint of Grierson. According to Dr. Nazir Ahmed Dhar, the senior-most Lin­guistic scholar at Kashmir University, Kashmiri and Shina are deeply related in terms of grammatical features particularly the expression of tense. Phonetic features, especially the absence of voiced aspirated plosives which otherwise is a universal feature of Indo-Aryan lan­guages, also relates Kashmiri with Shina and other Dardic languages. According to Prof. Nazir Ahmad Malik “Shina is a tonal language and to discover its tonal characteristics remains a great challenge for the Linguistics.”

The Valley of Suru
The Suru valley which is coincident with the Kargil tehsil, derives its name from the river Suru. The river originates in the Panzella Glacier and after receiving the waters of Pushkym River in the middle of Kar­gil town, it flows westwards joining Drass River near Kharul on its way to Pakistan. The Suru valley falls in the central part of the trans-Himalayan zone. The important ranges of the zone are Ladakh range, with an average height of 5800 meters and the Zarkar range with an average elevation of 6000 meters above sea-level.

The valley is surrounded by rugged, mountain ranges of older sedi­mentary and granite rocks. Although, the valley depicts a typical Greater Himalayan character, the climate is comparatively milder than the Drass and Sindh valleys. The flow of many rivers like Suru, Drass, and Indus has turned many parts of the valley into fertile fields. The summers are warm and dry and winters are very cold when tempera­ture falls up to 20 degrees below the freezing point. Rainfall is scanty and the daily as well as annual range of temperature is high. Annual rainfall doesn’t exceed 40cms. Since the entire Ladakh region falls above the Alpine line, in terms of altitude, natural vegetation is highly reduced. It mainly consists of bushy shrubs, although poplars and wil­lows have been lately introduced, with a fair degree of success in Kar­gil tehsil, but not as a fruitful exercise in Drass valley.

Notable among these wild bushes is Pencil Cedar. In Kargil it is known as ‘stukpa’. This plant has a great cultural significance and is an important part of the social life of the Kargiliites. Besides being used for timber and firewood, its wood is put to use in kitchen for making churning rods and also in the fields for making ploughs and other tools. Its leaves emit a unique fragrance and as such can be found in the worshipping places of both Buddhist and Muslim homes as well as Gompas. All there variegated uses have rendered some sort of holiness to the plant. Other natural plants reported by Dar are Chermying and Burchay which are used for firewood amongst other things.

Cultivated crops include wheat, barley, millet, barav and some pulses. Among the vegetables grown, turnip, radish, peas and cabbage are important. Besides, a variety of fruits like apricots, plums, grapes, mel­ons and apples are grown on the fertile river banks.

Majority of the customs and traditions link the people of the entire Ladakh zone with Tibet and it can be said with little doubt that a ma­jor portion of the inhabitants, have their ancestral link with the Ti­betan Mongoloid tribes, although it has been reported that the Aryan Dards of Central Asia were the first people to settle in the Suru Valley. Some of the people of Dard origin, as reported by Dar, are Saral, Hural Baral, Lagusparchy and Begcho.

The migration of Tibetan Mongoloid to the area had reportedly, taken place around 2^nd century B.C. when Naithi-Saten invaded Purk (Kargil) and became its first ruler. Naithi-Saten had brought with him a large army of Tibetan Mongoloids, who got assimilated with the first settlers i.e. Dards and gradually with the merging of the two cul­tures, a distinct and new ‘Purkpa’ culture evolved. The migration of some Mon people (Mons are the dominant people of the Pegu region of Burma) to this area has also been reported. Who are then Baltis and Purkis? Some scholars like Dar, Ishfahan Khan use the term Balti for Tibetan mongoloids, while others like Koul and Koul apply it for the mixture of Dard and Tibetan Mongoloids. According to Bamzai (1980), Baltis are semi-Tibetan people. While maintaining the view point presented by Dar, it seems much closer to reality that the Baltis are the people of Mongoloid Tibetan stock, some of whom especially those living in Hardas area, have to a great extent, maintained their socio-cultural identity. Purkis are then people of mixed identity, borne out of the assimilation of Dards and Mongoloid Tibetans. This hypothesis is greatly supported by Linguistic evidences.

The three languages spoken in Kargil district are Balti, Purky and Shina. Shina, as stated earlier, is the language of the pure Dards of Drass. Balti may be a geographical dialect of Tibetan or some earlier form of Tibetan, with a considerable influence of Ladakhi, Shina, Kashmiri and may be some other Dardic languages. Purky, in all prob­abilities, is a creole language (a creole language is formed when the speakers of two unintelligible languages come in contact and give rise to a new language over a period of time, which is understood by speakers of both the languages. However, the effect of one of the two languages in the process is more dominant), formed at some period in the past when the Shina and Balti speakers had come into contact with each other. The local people also feel that Purky is a mixture of Balti and Shina languages.

Reflecting the severity of the ambience, the behaviour of Kargiliites is austere, particularly those of Muslim Shias. Majority of the Muslims of Kargil tehsil belong to the Noorbakshi and Ismaliya sub-sects of Shiasism. The Shias of Kargil are very fervent and devout Muslims and have a very high regard and reverence for Sheikhs and Aaghas. Aaghas are religious leaders who are supposedly the descendants of Hazrat Mohammad (peace be upon him) through his daughter Hazrat Fatima. According to Dar “Aaghas occupy the top most position in the hierar­chical arrangement among the Muslims of Kargil.” In the word of Dr Rizvi “the villager’s attitude towards the priestly class is that of awe and deep reverence.” The status of Mujtahid Aagha is still higher than a common Aagha. Mujtahid Aaghas are priests who receive knowledge of religions teachings in Karbala and other parts of Iraq and Iran and after coming back preach the teaching of Islam. The Sheikhs are non- Aaghas who also receive religious training in the maktabs of Iraq and Iran. “So we see real picture of Islam in every corner of Kargil. People of Kargil depend on the mat­ters of religious education on these Aaghas and Sheikhs. Aaghas have initially propagated Islam in Kargil and Sheikhs have helped Islam to flourish with their efforts, zeal and energetic struggle. Aaghas and Sheikhs also settle village disputes” states Dar.

It is important to mention here that Syed Shamssudin Iraqi, a Musavi Sayyid and a disciple of Sayyid Mohamad Noorbaksh who came to Kashmir as an envoy of Sultan Hussain Mirza Baiqara of Herat, is the founder of Noorbakshi movement in Kashmir. After converting a number of people to his doctrine during his stay in the Valley, which lasted for about eight years, he either went himself or deputed some of his, probably kashmiri speaking, followers to propagate the new doc­trine in the Ladakh region in the last decade of 15^th century.

In this regard Koul and Koul reports the following “the village of Khar­mang, which fell within the territorial limits of Kargil tehsil before the cease fire of January 1949 came into force, has the unique distinction of conducting the mourn­ing recitals during Mohharram in Kashmiri which no one among the mourners understand at all. This practice is compulsory, a deviation of it being inconceivable for the village. How Kashmiri acquired the status of a sacred language has, of course, a history behind it. When Shamsuddin Iraqi, the famous Shia mission­ary finished his proselytizing campaign in Kashmir in the 15^th century, he com­missioned a batch of Kashmiri missionaries to propagate the Shia faith in the area. These missionaries brought with them manuscripts containing elegiac pieces in Kashmiri and these they introduced as compulsory orthodox items in the mourning programs of Mohharram.”

The dietary habits of a community are determined not only by tradi­tion but also by the availability of food resources which in turn is con­strained by the geographical and climatic conditions of the region. The people of Kargil are very simple in their food habits, owing do the constraints put on the agricultural produce by the severe climatic con­ditions. The principal diet of the people is wheat and barley. The sattu of wheat is boiled in water till it loses most of the moisture and is taken with turnip or cabbage broth or salt- tea. Locally it is known as ‘thukpa’. ‘Papa’ is another staple food and consists of barley sattu, pre­pared and consumed in the similar manner as the above. Mokh mokh is another dish prepared during special ceremonies. It is composed of minced meat and onions wrapped in wheat or barley chapattis to form rolls which are then steamed in a special kettle called ‘Moktu’. One of the delicacies of Kargil is the ‘gurgur’ cha (tea). It is prepared from the leaves of a special tea called Suratee tea. After boiling the tea leaves with sodium bicarbonate to get the pink colour, it is churned in a cy­lindrical vessel called ‘gurgur’ along with butter and milk for a pretty long time, before serving. Another delicacy of the Suru valley is ‘Shangkhan Phating’- a thick delicious juice obtained by boiling dried apricots in hot water for a long period of time, which is served during festive occasions. The Buddhists of Kargil also consume a locally made alcoholic beverage called Chang.

On a general level, cultural traits determined by the climatic condi­tions and the geography of a region are too strong to be altered by eth­nic or religion affiliation. The people of the Kargil district, irrespective of their religious or social background have their principal dress as woolen ‘Choga’ or ‘Guncha’ and woolen shalwar called ‘Dorma’. The traditional footwear is the locally made ‘Papu’ made from leather and wool. The belt or kamerband is called ‘Sheraks’. The choga of ladies is also called ‘Sulchoks’ usually made from makhmal imported from Ti­bet. ‘Stotse’ is another woolen garment worn by the women-folk. Goat skin called ‘Sakpa’ is also worn by the female folk, particularly during the severe winter months.

As with other primitive cultures, the age-old customs and traditions of Kargil are falling prey to the jaws of change, which comes in the name of modernization and sometimes in the garb of bringing these people closer to mainstream. These people and their cultural antiquities are national assets and we must collectively work for their preservation.

Further reading
Dar Ghulam Mohiud-din (1999), Kargil, its Social Cultural and Economic History. Dilpreet Publications: New Dehli.
Pandit M. Amin (1997), Ladakh: Land of possessive powers and charm. Gulshan publishers: Srinagar.
Koul, Shridhar and H.N. Koul (1992), Ladakh through the ages. India publishing com­pany: New Dehli.


Srinagar, August 2007