Liberation of Shang Shung including Guge

Historians continue to debate the reasons for the expeditions to liberate Shang Shung or Ngari Khorsum in northern India. Some others believe that he aimed to establish a land bridge between Ladakh and Nepal to create a Sikh-Gorkha alliance against the British. However, Zorawar

Singh Kahluria was only conquering lands which were historically a part of India and areas distinctly foreign to the invading Tibetans from the East which had a rich indigenous Indian civilization to the marauding Tibetans from the East. Fisher, Margaret W.; Rose, Leo E.; Huttenback, Robert A. in  (1963), Himalayan Battleground: Sino-Indian Rivalry in Ladakh states,  "Zorawar Singh then announced his intention to conquer in the name of the Jammu Raja all of Tibet west of the Mayum Pass, on the ground that this territory had rightfully belonged, since ancient times, to the ruler of Ladakh."

 According to Rolf Alfred Stein, author of Tibetan Civilization, the area of Shang Shung comprising the area conquered

The territorial extent of Ladakh

 during the period of King Nyimagon 

about 975 A. D. - 1000 A.D. as 

depicted in A History of  Western Tibet

 by A.H. Francke, 1907

by Zorawar Singh Kahluria was not historically a part of Tibet and was a distinctly foreign territory to the Tibetans.  Shang Shung including Guge was historiclly, geographically and politically and integral part of India and Shang Shung which comprised the area wherein are the Kailasa, Manasarovara, Mawang Kangri and Aling Kangri  was a part of the Political Geography of India and had nothing whatsoever by any stretch of imagination to do with the Plateau of Tibet beyond the Mayum La. Rock carvings found in many parts of Ladakh indicate that the area has been inhabited from Neolithic times. Ladakh's earliest inhabitants consisted of a mixed Indo-Aryan population of Mons and Dards, who find mention in  the works of Herodotus, Nearchus, Megasthenes, Pliny, Ptolemy, and the geographical lists of the Puranas. Around the 1st century, Ladakh was a part of the Kushan Empire. Buddhism spread into western Ladakh from the valley of Kashmir in the 2nd century when much of  Ladakh  was still practicing the Bon religion. The 7th century Buddhist traveler Xuanzang describes the region in his accounts.

According to Rolf Alfred Stein, author of "Tibetan Civilization", "…Then further west, The Tibetans encountered a distinctly foreign nation. - Shangshung, with its capital at Khyunglung. Mt. Kailāśa (Tise ) and Lake Manasarovar formed part of this country., whose language  

has come down to us through early documents. Though still unidentified, it seems to be Indo European. …Geographically the country was certainly open to India, both through Nepal and by way of Kashmir and Ladakh. Kailāśa is a holy place for the Indians, who make pilgrimages to it. No one knows how long they have done so, but the cult may well go back to the times when Shangshung was still independent of Tibet. How far Shangshung stretched to the north , east and west is a mystery…. We have already had an occasion to remark that Shangshung, embracing Kailāśa sacred Mount of the Hindus, may once have had a religion largely borrowed from Hinduism. The situation may even have lasted for quite a long time. In fact, about 950, the Hindu King of Kabul had a statue of Vişņu, of the Kashmiri type (with three heads), which he claimed had been given him by the king of the Bhota (Tibetans) who, in turn had obtained it from Kailāśa."

A chronicle of Ladakh compiled in the 17th century called the La dvags rgyal rabs, meaning the Royal Chronicle of the Kings of Ladakh recorded

The empire of King Tsewang Rnam Rgyal 1 

and that of King Jamyang Rnam Rgyal, 

about 1560 and 1600 A.D. as depicted 

in A History of  Western Tibet by

 A.H. Francke, 1907

that this boundary was traditional and well-known. The first part of the chronicle was written in the years 1610 -1640, and the second half towards the end of the 17th century. The work has been translated into English by A. H. Francke and published in 1926 in Calcutta titled the "Antiquities of Indian Tibet" . In volume 2, the Ladakhi Chronicle describes the partition by King Sykid-Ida-ngeema-gon of his kingdom between his three sons, and then the chronicle described the extent of territory

secured by that son. The following quotation is from page 94 of this book: "He gave to each of his sons a separate kingdom, viz., to the eldest Dpal-gyi-ngon, Maryul of Mnah-ris, the inhabitants using black bows; ru-thogs of the east and the Gold-mine of Hgog; nearer this way Lde-mchog-dkar-po; at the frontier ra-ba-dmar-po; Wam-le, to the top of the pass of the Yi-mig rock….." From a perusal of the aforesaid work, it is obvious and evident that Rudokh was an integral part of Ladakh, and even after the family partition, Rudokh continued to be part of Ladakh. Maryul meaning lowlands was a name given to a part of Ladakh. Even at that time, i.e. in the 10th century, Rudokh was an integral part of Ladakh and Lde-mchog-dkar-po, i.e. Demchok was also an integral part of Ladakh.

The fact that India’s sovereignty over Minsar was recognized by Tibet is a relic of the fact that the whole of Shang Shung or Ngari-khor-sum and Guge was per se historically a part of Ladakh and had nothing whatsoever to do with Tibet. What is wrongly referred to as West Tibet had nothing whatsoever to do with Tibet but had always been historically an integral and sacred inalienable part of Maryul or Ladakh. India’s sovereignty over Minsar was recognized in  the Peace Treaty between Ladakh and Tibet signed in Tingmosgang in 1684. The Treaty affirmed: “The king of Ladakh reserves to himself the village of Minsar in Ngari-khor-sum. A report of Thrinley Shingta, the 7th Gyalwang Drukpa, head of the Drukpa school of Tibetan Buddhism, who spent three months in the area in 1748, makes interesting reading: “Administratively, it is established that the immediate village of Minsar and its surrounding areas are ancient Ladakhi territory. After Lhasa invaded Maryul or Ladakh comprising Ngari-khor-sum and Guge and western Ladakh in 1684, it was agreed and formally inscribed in the Peace Treaty of Tingmosgang between Tibet and Ladakh, signed in 1684, that the King of Ladakh retained the territory of Minsar and its neighbourhood as a territorial enclave, in order to meet the religious offering expenses of the sacred sites by Lake Manasarovar and Mount Kailash.” John Bray, the president of the International Association of Ladakh Studies, who wrote about the Bhutanese and Indian (Minsar) enclaves in Tibet, noted: 'Both sets of enclaves share a common origin in that they date back to the period when the kings of Ladakh controlled the whole of Western Tibet.' In the words of Claude Arpi, “It is probably not in Indian genes to claim other nations' territory; but worse, in some cases, India has been unable to claim its own territory”.

 

The capital city of Zhang Zhung was called Khyunglung (Khyunglung Ngülkhar or Khyung-lung dngul-mkhar), the "Silver Palace of Garuda", southwest of Mount Kailash (Mount Ti-se), which is identified with palaces found in the upper Sutlej Valley.  The Zhang Zhung built a towering fort, Chugtso Dropo, on the shores of sacred Lake Dangra, from which they exerted military power over the surrounding district in Ladakh.  The fact that some of the ancient texts describing the Zhang Zhung kingdom also claimed the Sutlej valley was Shambhala, the land of happiness (from which James Hilton possibly derived the name "Shangri La"), may have delayed their study by Western scholars. Zorawar Singh knew that eastern  Ladakh comprising the Rudokh

was connected to western Tibet by the Mayum La, so his plan consisted of advancing as quickly as possible into enemy territory, capturing the pass before winter, and building up his forces for a renewed campaign in the summer.

The agreement entered by Pakistan with the Chinese occupying the Sovereign state of East Turkistan

The Government of Pakistan had published an official map depicting the alignment of the northern Border of Kashmir in 1962 which depicted much of the Cis-Kuen Lun Tract as part of Kashmir and the alignment published by the Government of Pakistan predominantly was similar to and coincided with the portrayal of the northern Border of Kashmir in 1954 by the Times Atlas which had predominantly depicted the Cis-Kuen Lun Tract as a part of Kashmir under the caption "Undefined Frontier area" though at places, the official position of the Government of Pakistan deviated from the position of the Times Atlas, and the Government of Pakistan even depicted areas as part of Kashmir which were to the north of the border of Kashmir as published in 1954 by the Times Atlas  and particularly the border was depicted through the Yashrab Pass and running through U-turn in the Yarkand River, near  Sanglash as it leaves the territory of Kashmir and enters East Turkistan.

The northern border published by the TheTimes

Atlas in 1954 more or less followed the principle of the watershed of the Kuen Lun range on its crests  from the Taghdumbash Pamir and Mariom Pamir to the Yangi Dawan pass north of Kulanaldi but east of the Yangi Dawan Pass, the border arbitrarily and artificially summarily  deviated from the principle of the watershed of the Kuen Lun range on the edge of the highlands of Kashmir and skipped from the Kuen Lun watershed rather than continuing on the Kilian, Sanju-la and Hindutash border passes despite the statement that “The eastern (Kuenlun) range forms the southern boundary of Khotan”, in the 1890 Gazetteer of Kashmir and Ladak and is crossed by two other passes.The Gazetteer of Kashmír and Ladák compiled under the direction of the Quarter Master General in India in the Intelligence Branch and first Published in

1890 gives a description and details of places inside Kashmir and thus includes a description of the Híñdutásh Pass in northeastern Kashmir in the Aksai Chin area in Kashmir. The aforesaid Gazetteer states in pages 520 and 364 that “The eastern (Kuenlun) range forms the southern boundary of Khotan”, “and is crossed by two passes, the Yangi or Elchi Diwan, .... and the Hindutak (i.e. Híñdutásh ) Díwán”. It describes Khotan as “ A province of the Chinese Empire lying to the north of the Eastern Kuenlun range, which here forms the boundary of Ladák^[]”. Thus the official position of the Government of Pakistan prior to 1963 was that the

northern border of Pakistan was on the Kuen Lun range and the territory ceded by the Government of Pakistan was not just restricted to the Shaksgam Valley but extended to the Kuen Lun range. For an idea of the extent of the Trans-Karakoram Tract or the Cis-Kuen Lun Tract, a view the map (C) from the Joe Schwartzberg's Historical Atlas of South Asia at DSAL in Chicago with the caption, "The boundary of Kashmir with China as portrayed and proposed by Britain prior to 1947" would show that the geographical and territorial extent of the Trans-Karakoram Tract or the Cis-Kuen Lun Tract is more or less the territory enclosed between the northernmost

line and the innermost lines.  In 1959 the Pakistani

government became concerned over Chinese maps that showed areas the Pakistanis considered their own as part of China. In 1961 Ayub Khan sent a formal note to China; there was no reply. It is thought that the Chinese might not have been motivated to negotiate with Pakistan because of Pakistan's relations with India. The agreement between Pakistan and China of 1963 pertaining to territory in India extending from the Chhogori and the Shaksgam Valley in

central Kashmir to the Dafdar in the Taghdumbash Pamir and Mariom Pamir in Raskam in Kanjut in northern Kashmir and the Kukalang, Yangi, Kilian, Sanju-la and Hindutash Passes in  the Kuen Lun Range in northern Kashmir resulted in the surrendering of predominantly over 13,000 square miles of territory. In the opinion of a certain one Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru, "According to the survey of Pakistan maps, even those published in 1962, about 11,000 square miles of Sinkiang territory formed part of Kashmir. If one goes by these maps, Pakistan has obviously surrendered over 13,000 square miles of territory".
The so-called "Sino-Pakistan Agreement" culminates at the Karakoram Pass in central Kashmir. Insofar as the area east of the Karakoram Pass in central Kashmir is concerned, nothing precludes the Government of Pakistan in law from depicting the International Border from the Sanju-La and the Hindutash Passes in Kashmir to the Karanghu-Tagh Peak and the Muztagh Peak and thence to the International Boundary Trijunction at Pulu since the agreement was verily confined and restricted to the area west of the Karakoram Pass. In fact, the Survey of Pakistan published a map portraying the eastern frontiers of Ladakh with the caption "Frontier Undefined" and the colour wash is portrayed as extended till the legend "Frontier Undefined". But more pertinently, the legend "Frontier Undefined" is portrayed as extending till Pal near the Pangong Tsu in western Ladakh and as a matter of fact even portrays area in Ladakh which is outside the notorious Nehru Line of 1954  which is ab initio illegal and null and void and ultra vires the sacrosanct Constitution of India and is non est in law which was stealthily overnight inflicted on the people of India Out of the Blue by deceit and treachery by a certain one Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru in accordance with his perverse whims and fancies who then occupied the chair of the Prime Minister of the Republic of India! Strangely, the map portrays the legends  "Tibet" and "China" ridiculously extending even to the west of the legend "Frontier Undefined" and extending into the area encompassing the colour wash, thus ipso facto depicted as admittedly unequivocally part of Ladakh which is absurd, which only shows how unprofessional these Pakistani Cartographers were and also emphasizes how desperately servile and subservient the Regime in Pakistan was to the Rogue Regime of China! Besides, the legends "Sinkiang" and "China" are portrayed as extending to the areas in Kashmir situate to the north and northeast of the Karakoram Pass in central Kashmir which does not even come within  the the purview and ambit of the so-called "Sino-Pakistani Boundary Agreement" of 1963, and an area over which the Pakistanis do not even have de facto jurisdiction leave alone de jure jurisdiction! Pal is a place to the north of the Pangong Tsu in western Ladakh which is stated as historically part of Ladakh even in the Gazetteer of Kashmír and Ladák published in 1890.

The most ridiculous and absurd part of the so-called "Sino-Pakistan Agreement"  is Article 6 of the agreement which reads as follows:- "The two parties have agreed that after the settlement of the Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India, the sovereign authority concerned will reopen negotiations with the Government of the People's Republic of China on the boundary as described in Article Two of the present agreement, so as to sign a formal boundary treaty to replace the present agreement..."! The Agreement actually incredibly mandates and requires the Sovereign Republic of India to reopen the negotiations with the Rogue State of China in consonance with the illegal agreement arrived at by Pakistan and China pertaining to the territory over which neither has any lawful jurisdiction and are veritable busybodies and neither of the states have a locus standi to arrive at an agreement pertaining to an area lawfully an integral part of the territory of India and the Republic of India has already repudiated and denounced the opportunistic so-called "Sino-Pakistan Agreement" of 1962 as ab initio illegal and null and void and not binding on the Republic of India!