Himalayan Times (1962)

Six

Himalayan Times December 16, IS62

FACTS ABOUT BOUNDARY

(Continued from page 2)

Take Ladakh. The
lloyal Chronicle of the
Kings of Ladakh written
in the 17th century A D ,
says that in the 10th
century A.D., Imis Pass
was on tbe border of
Ladakh and Tibet, and
that the village of Dem-
chok, which fell to Oh i
nese invadors on October
28, 19(52, belonged to La
dakh. The evidence of
Ippolito Desideri who
travelled from Leh to
Lhasa in 1715. makes it
clear that the boundary
lay between Demehok and
Tashigoog, which is in
accordance with the pre-
sent Indian alignment.
An Indian traveller in the
region. Nain Singh, 1873,
said that the Indian bor-
der further north, lay
along the Kiagz.i stream
Further north that the
boundary lay along the
Lanak Pass was testified
to by travellers such as
the Garev. 1885, and
Bower, 1891

A description of th*
northern boundary of
Kashmir given by the
British to the Chinese
Government in 1899 took
the boundary east of 8ijc
E, thus clearly showing
that the customary bound,
ary left Aksai Chin in
Ladakh. That the bound-
ary between L'idakh and
Tibet was traditional,
-,7eilknown, and accepted

by both sides, is evident
in a communication of
1847 from the Chinese
Imperial Commissioner at
Canton to the British
authorities, which ran as
follows: "Respecting the
frontiers. I beg to remark
that the borders of these
territories have been suf-
ficiently and distinctly
fixed, so that, it will be
beet to adhere fo this
aiici'nt arrangement —
mark tbe word ancient—
snd it will prove far
more convenient to abstain
from any additional mea-
sures for fixing them."

Chinese mips from
the 6th century A O., to
the present, show that
till the beginning of this
century Sinkiang never
extended even as I'ar
south as the Kuen Lun
which at present delimits
Kashmir's frontier in the
north. The map Central
flsien compiled from the
latest sources by Dr.
Joseph ; Chavanne and
published in Leipzig in
1S80, shows an alignment
which approximates very
closely to tlm traditional
boundary in this sector.
There is ample evidence
also to show that the
customary rights of pas-
ture, salt-collection and
hunting were exercised by
Indians in this area from
time immemorial. The
pieceB of evidence cited
prove conclusively that
the present Indian align-

ment of the boundary of :
Kashmir with Sinkiang :
and Tibet represents the ;
traditional boundary.

The Spiti valley, which I
at present forma part of ,
Kulu Tehsil of the Ivaogra j
District of the Punjab. ,
was in early times, ruied \
by a Hiadu dynasty f*nd :
later formed pa: of j
Ladakh. 1 hat the present ■
Indian alignment lying
along the Spiti-Pere water- |
shed is traditional, is at*
tasted to by travellers
mich as Moot ci oft 1819,
Gerard 1S21 and Thomas
Hutton 1838.

That the Shij.ki Pass
lay on the traditional !
boundary between Bashahr .
and Tibet is proved by
the old saving "Tbe ter-
ritory above Piniahi (Ship*
ki Pass) belongs to the
Reia of Tibet and beliw
to the Raja of Bashahi.

Literary and historical
sources show that the
S'titlej—Ganges watershed .
has been the traditional :
boundary between India ;
and Tibet in the Garhwal
are. The Skanda Purarta
mentions that ail the tri- \
butaries of the Ganges lay |
in Kedar Kshetra. We j
have it also cn the test)'. \
mony of Hieum Tsang, ;
who visit-d Indian about •
640 A.l>. and the copper
plate inscriptions of fchs
Katyuri Kings of Gtiarwal
and Kutnaon, thai, the
Hindu Kingdom t:f Gar' " »!
extended rignt up iu tbe .