Himalayan Times (1962)

December 16, 1962

Himalayan Times

Seven

Sutlej.Ganges watershed.

Writing about the State
of Garhwal in the 16th
century, the historian
Feriahta said that "the
sources of the Jumna and
the Ganges are to be
found within this terri-
tory." The two Lamas
who had been cominia-
sioned by the Chinese
Emperor Kang-hsi ia the
early years of the ISth
oontury to sarvey western
Tibet found that "the
Ganges took its rise 0:1
the opposit side of that
chain of mountains "
James Bailli. Fraser win
explored tha Gauges Valley
in 1816. th-? year of tho
British oonqusar. of Garh-
wal, found that "Many
of the larger rivers of
Upper India, and all Inose
which form the origin
of the Ganges, hare rheir
rise in iis mountains and
hold their courses throng1;
its territory. The famous
Map Central Asia publish-))
by Jules Klaproth in P*rie,
1836, and the map Cen-
tral Asien, oompiled from
the iaest sources by
Joseoh Chavanne show
the bmndary alony the
watershed.

The Kalika Purana,
the Mahahharata a-d the
Vishnu Purana testify 10
the tribal areas of what
is today known aa the
S o r t h East Frontier
Agency, having been under
early Hindu kings. Hieun
Tsang and the Yogins

Purana cf about the 8th
century A.D , show that
the Hindu kingdom of
K im imp) extended right
up to the Himalayan
Range, the present boun-
dary between Tibet and
India in region. A work
written in the 17th cen-
tury entitled the "p >liti-
oa.1 Gensraphv of the
As«am Va"ey" mentions
that the tribal psoplf. of
the area. «3 piyins tribute
to the Ahnm Kings The
Br;t:sh conquered Assam
from the Ahoms in 182B,
and thereafter slowly ex-
tended control over the
tribal Brens whit'h had
weakened during the lust
years of Ahom rule That
the H'malayas frrrned the
boundary of the tribal
area with Tibet is also
shown bv the accounts
of travellers in the area
suoh as T.T (Jnnp-r (1873)
and Michell (lS83),as also
by many Chinese works
and msps of the 19th cen-
tury, among whioh may be
mentioned tht> Ta Tsing
man f!8fi3) and that pub-
lisl ed by th ■ Chiao Chung
Academy, Canton. 1910.

The areas right up to
the traditional boundary
were effectively adminis-
tered by thi> early Indian
Kings as well as by the
latter British authorities.
Aksai Chin and the Chang
Chenmo vally formed part
if the Tankae Ilaqa of
the Ladakh Wazirat of
Kashmir, and Kashmir
revenue records, and the

tour and census reports
of its officeials from 1882-
ly08 mention Tanktse,
Demchok and Khuruak as
part of Ladakb. The
Kashmir Government also
maintained trade routes
across the Chang Chenmo
valley and Aksai Chin.
A treaty of 1870 between
the British and the Maha-
raja of Kashmir, provided
for the British develop,
ing a new route from the
Pangong Lake via Aksai
Chin to Sbahidulla. Licenses
for bunting expeditions to
the Chang Chenmo volley
and the Pangong Laktj arr*a
were issued by the Kash-
mir Government.

In 1869, the Governor
of Ladakh travelled ex-
tensively in the Chang
Chenmo, Lingzitang and
*keai Chin areas. Simi-
larly, the British Commis-
sioners, such as Caylev
(187!) and Ney Ellas
( 1874-1884), stationed Bi
Leh, toured most of the
areas A detailed survey
of the frontier regions was
commenced in 1S62 by
Johnson. A number of
explorations and survey
parties sent to the northern
regions later, made a scien-
tific delineation of the
boundary possible. There
were also geological sur-
veys, one of which waa
conducted by Dr. Lvdekkar
1875-1882, when be oover
od the upper reaches of
the Shyok river, the
Spanggur area, westers;
Chang Chenmo aud Ling.