Regions of Ladakh (Union Territory)
Ladakh is a part of Indian Union and is administered as a Union Territory without Legislative Assembly. It has been the matter of dispute between India, Pakistan and China. Formerly, Ladakh was a part of Jammu and Kashmir state of Indian Union (till 30 October 2019).
The Union Territory of Ladakh is bordered by the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the East, Himachal Pradesh to the south, Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan (Pakistan Administered Ladakh) to the west, Shaksgam Valley (China Administered Ladakh) to the southwest, Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan to the far north and Aksai Chin (China Administered Ladakh) to the east.
Political Regions
As already mentioned in the introduction, Ladakh is administered by three different countries — India, Pakistan and China. So, Ladakh can be politically divided into four regions
- Ladakh (Union Territory of India)
- Gilgit Baltistan (Administrative Territory of Pakistan)
- Aksai Chin (Majorly part of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China)
- Shaksgam Valley (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of India)
Socio-cultural Regions
Ladakh is culturally rich as it has been the crossroads of various civilizations. The people from different ethnical groups, linguistic groups, religions live together in Ladakh for so many centuries. Nearby culture of ‘Kashmiriyat’ is also reflected in Ladakh.
Socio-culturally, Ladakh can be divided into six regions — Ladakh, Purig, Zanskar, Baltiyul, Dardistan and Brooshal.
- Ladakh (Maryul)
Ladakh consists of Indus Valley, Shyok Valley and Nubra Valley covering the Leh district (Indian administered region) and Aksai Chin or Gosthana (China administered Ladakh). People speak Bhoti language written in Tibetan Script. They belong to Dardic and Tibetan descent.
67 percent of people follows Tibetan Buddhism while 17 percent follows Hinduism (mostly migrants), 14 percent follows Sunni Islam.
2. Purig:
The region around Kargil town i.e., Suru, Kargil, Sankoo, and Drass is called as Purig. The present Kargil district of Ladakh without including Zanskar Tehsil gives you the exact map of Purig region. People speak Purgi (Tibetan and Perso-Arabic Script), Shina (Arabic Script) and Balti (Tibetan and Perso-Arabic Script). They belong to Dardic (Brokpa, Arghons, Shina) and Tibetan (Purgipa, Balti) origins.
73 percent of the people follows Shia Islam, while 15 percent follows Sunni Islam, and 12 percent follows Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism.
3. Zanskar or Zahar
Zanskar is called Zahar locally. The current Zanskar Tehsil of Kargil district comes under this region. The administrative region of this region is Padum historically. People speak Zanskar Skad, a dialect of Bhoti language written using Yige Script.
Zanskar has overwhelming majority of Tibetan Buddhism. Around 93 percent of people follow Tibetan Buddhism with Bon religion traditions. 5 percent of people follow Sunni Islam and 1 percent of Bon religion.
4. Baltiyul
Baltiyul or Baltistan is the western extremity of Ancient Tibet region. Baltiyul region spreads upwards from the Indus river and is separated from Ladakh region by Siachin Glacier. This region consists of Khaplu Valley, Skardu Valley, Shigar Valley, Kharmang Valley, Roundu Valley, Gultar Valley and Shyok Valley (Turtuk Village). This region is primarily inhabited by Balti people of Tibetan descent.
People speak Balti and Shina languages. Balti language is spoken by majority of the people throughout the region except Shigar district where Shina speakers are majority. Shina speaking people co-exist with Balti speaking people in other districts but they are less in number. Noorbakshia Islam is the prominent religious practice in Baltiyul. Around 20 percent of the people practice Shia Islam and 10 percent practice Sunni Islam.
5. Dardistan
Historically, Dardistan region consists of Chitral, Kohistan and upper parts of Gilgit Agency. A British Orientalist named Leitner coined the term ‘Dardistan’ to represent the region where Dardic race people lives in Indian part of Greater Kashmir. People speak Shina language (a Dardic language) and use Perso-Arabic script for writing. They belong to Aryan descent.
Politically the districts of Astore, Diamer, Darel and Tagir belongs to Dardistan. Majority of the people follows Sunni Islam and few follow Shia Islam.
6. Brooshal
Brooshal means ‘Land of highlanders’ in Burashaski language. It was part of Baloristan region in ancient time. Politically Gilgit Valley comes under this region. The districts of Ghizer, Gupis-Yasin, Gilgit, Hunza, and Nagar comes under this region.
Trans-Karakoram Tract also called as Shaksam Valley was allegedly gifted to China by Pakistan. This area also comes under Brooshal. It borders with Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan.
Burushaski (a language isolate) is the most spoken language in this region followed by Shina, Khowar and Wakhi. Burusho, Shina, Chitrali and Wakhan tribes live here. People follow Ismaili Islam, Shia Islam and Shamanism (ancient form of Hinduism).
Ladakh is just a political entity of Indian Union. But the socio-cultural regions mentioned above depicts that each region is unique in terms of language, culture, religious beliefs and geography. Each region can become a state or Union territory of Indian Union in future.
