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Ladakh's early wealth came from its position astride the trade routes branching from the Silk Road. Indian goods were carried by yak from Leh over the Karakoram Pass to Yarkand and Kashgar in far western China, a trade that ceased only in 1947, when India closed its northern borders. These early arrivals were succeeded by waves of peoples intent not on trade, but on occupation. The brooding fortress looking down from Leh's Peak of Victory was built in the 16th century to commemorate the successful repulsion of Balti-Kashmir armies. But Ladakh's wealth lured them back time and again until, in the 1840s, the Kashmiris defeated Ladakh's army and deposed its royal family, sending it into exile at Stok, just south of the Indus. In 1846, Ladakh was officially incorporated into the princely state of Kashmir.

Today, it is still a political pawn. When the Chinese invaded Tibet in 1951, and again in 1959, they simply cut off a chunk of Ladakh for themselves, billeting troops to make it a fait accompli. To defend against a possible Chinese invasion or incursions by terrorists caught up in India's struggle with Pakistan over who should rule Kashmir, several battalions of Indian troops are stationed in Ladakh, an occupation that has cost the New Delhi government $1 million a day since 1988. India's military presence is understated but omnipresent. Each day, one can hear soldiers shouting in cadence as they maintain military preparedness. Live rounds shatter the peace of the valley as soldiers practice marksmanship.

The second large contingent of outsiders are the Kashmiri Muslim businessmen, who destroyed their own tourism industry through sectarian violence in Srinigar. Their shops line Leh's two main streets, their fronts draped with Kashmiri shawls, carpets, papier-mâché boxes and leather purses. Merchants loll in front of their shops, calling out to tourists, their manner relaxed but insistent. On the sidewalks just down the street, Ladakhi women in traditional robes and peaked hats sell produce and gossip, occasionally flicking their scarves at sheep trying to supplement meager pasturage by darting in to steal a carrot or a cabbage from an unwary vendor.

With administration in the hands of the Indians and commerce controlled by the Kashmiris, the Buddhist Ladakhis have virtually ceded all control over their political and commercial affairs, leaving them to farm and operate tourist hostels. The presence of the two foreign forces is underscored each day before dawn, when the soldiers rend the air with reveille at 4:30 a.m., and the muezzin at the mosque that dominates the town square announces the day's first prayers.

In the past few years, Ladakhis have begun to call for a measure of autonomy, focusing their ire on the fact that school lessons are taught in Hindi and English and children debate Indian politics rather than local issues. A Leh-based magazine, "Ladags Melong," published in English and Ladakhi, has been outspoken in calling for greater local participation in the district's affairs. In response, Indian authorities have begun relaxing some of the strictures and involving Ladakhis in political matters -- but this is a long way from the independence many would like to see established.

Still, even control over local politics and commerce won't help Ladakhis fend off the unrelenting attacks of the principal invader: the cold. The Ladakhi growing season is limited to a few summer months; for the rest of its food and fuel, it must rely on caravans of trucks trundling into the valleys from India. So severe is the winter cold that pigs, chickens, ducks, buffaloes and cows find it impossible to survive; eggs must be transported overland from India, and only in the summer. Like other Ladakhis, Kunzang owns several dremos -- a hybrid of the cow and the hardier yak -- to provide milk.

It is the latest set of invaders -- tourists -- who provide them the cash to pay for the imported goods they consume. These tourists, however, disrupt the local economy, corrupt the culture and threaten the carrying capacity of the land. To extend that capacity, a nonprofit Ecology Center has been established to experiment with environmentally friendly agricultural processes, such as greenhouses to grow winter crops.

Despite the difficulty of their lives, Ladakhis accept their lot with Buddhist detachment and smiles for the stranger. With everyone they meet, they exchange a cheery "Jule," an all-purpose word meaning "hello," "goodbye," "please," "thank you." They are generous in their hospitality and gentle in their demeanor, factors that have endeared them to visitors from other lands.

But now the tourists and the Kashmiris are leaving, driven away by the bitter winter cold. Like Russians, Kunzang and her sisters will retreat floor by floor, room by room, driven back by the cold until they huddle around a fire in a single room. Here, they will enjoy a measure of autonomy and bind their cultural community together, unhindered by outsiders, until the hot July sun melts the walls and permits a fresh wave of intruders to flood their valley.
salon.com | Oct. 26, 1999

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