Leh

Overview

Leh is a town in the Indian union territory of Ladakh and serves as one of its two joint capitals, the other being Kargil. Located in the Leh district, the town lies in the Indus river valley at an altitude of around 3,500 metres above sea level, making it one of the highest urban settlements in India. Historically the seat of the Namgyal dynasty and the kingdom of Ladakh, Leh has long functioned as a trading post on caravan routes connecting Punjab, Kashmir, Tibet, Yarkand and Central Asia.

Key facts

Geography

Leh is situated on the right bank of the Indus river, in a broad valley flanked by the Ladakh range to the north and the Zanskar range to the south. The terrain is high-altitude cold desert, with very low precipitation, sparse natural vegetation and sharp diurnal temperature variations. Winters are long and severe, with temperatures frequently dropping well below freezing, while summers are short, dry and mild. Cultivation in the surrounding villages relies heavily on glacial meltwater channelled through traditional irrigation systems.

Major nearby features include the Khardung La pass to the north, the Nubra valley beyond it, Pangong Tso to the east, and the confluence of the Indus and Zanskar rivers near Nimmu to the west.

History

Leh was the capital of the historical kingdom of Ladakh, ruled for several centuries by the Namgyal dynasty. King Sengge Namgyal, in the 17th century, is associated with the construction of Leh Palace, a nine-storey structure modelled in part on the Potala Palace in Lhasa. The town's location on the trade route between the Indian plains and Central Asia made it a prominent entrepôt for goods such as pashmina wool, salt, tea, silk, dyes and spices.

In the 1830s, Ladakh was annexed by the Dogra general Zorawar Singh on behalf of Gulab Singh of Jammu, and subsequently became part of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir under British paramountcy. After the partition of India in 1947, Ladakh acceded to India along with the rest of the state. Leh saw military action during the 1947–48 conflict and again during the 1962 Sino-Indian war and the 1999 Kargil conflict, owing to its proximity to the Line of Control and the Line of Actual Control.

On 5 August 2019, the Government of India announced the reorganisation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir; with effect from 31 October 2019, Ladakh became a separate union territory, and Leh emerged as one of its administrative centres.

Timeline

• 17th century: Reign of Sengge Namgyal; construction of Leh Palace and patronage of Buddhist monasteries.
• 1834–1842: Dogra campaigns under Zorawar Singh integrate Ladakh into the Jammu kingdom.
• 1846: Ladakh becomes part of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir following the Treaty of Amritsar.
• 1947–48: Leh is defended during the first India–Pakistan war.
• 1962: Sino-Indian war reshapes the boundary in eastern Ladakh; Leh emerges as a key military base.
• 1979: Ladakh is split into two districts, Leh and Kargil.
• 1995: Establishment of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh.
• 2010: Severe cloudburst and flash floods cause widespread damage in and around Leh town.
• 2019: Ladakh becomes a union territory, with Leh as a joint capital.

Administration

Leh is the headquarters of Leh district and the seat of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh (LAHDC, Leh), which was constituted in 1995 to provide a measure of local self-governance. The council