Changtang

བྱང་ཐང་།

Changtang
Chinese name
Chinese	羌塘
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Qiāngtáng Wade–Giles Chi'ang1-t'ang2
Transcriptions Wylie byang thang Tibetan Pinyin Qangtang

See also: Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary

Only a small part of Changtang crosses the border into Ladakh, in India. It is, however, on a historically important route for travellers journeying from Ladakh to Lhasa, and now has many different characteristics due to being part of India.

As in the rest of Ladakh, Changtang has been experiencing many socio-economical developments since the late twentieth century. Ladakh is one of the regions most exposed to international mass tourism in India. Centuries-old cultural and social fabrics are now changing rapidly, influenced by consumerist and modern lifestyles. This is becoming a source of both concern and hope for the populace of the region. Another major influence in the region is Tibetan settlement at the behest of the Tibetan government-in-exile. The settlement was first established in 1963 with almost 3,000 residents but today it has more than 7,000 settlers. For administrative purposes, the Ladakh settlement is divided into two, Sonamling and Changtang.

The Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary is home to many rare species of flora and fauna, which are well cared for in this wildlife sanctuary. The sanctuary is located at high altitude in the Leh district of Ladakh.

The Changtang Wildlife Sanctuary is surrounded by Three large and world-famous water lakes, the Tsomoriri, the Tsokar Lake and the Pangong Tso.

Tsomoriri is one of the huge mountain lakes in the southeastern part of Ladakh. Karzok village at 4,560 metres (14,960 ft) above sea level is situated on the northwest bank of this lake and is claimed to be the world's highest year-round inhabited village. The Tsokar Lake lies in the Rupshu valley and it is the famous Salt Lake of Ladakh.

The Changtang Wildlife Sanctuary has natural grasslands and a wide variety of more than 200 species of wild plants grow in the higher pastures of this area, most of which is edible for animals.

Hamlets

Changtang hamlets were established when many Tibetan nomads, mostly from western Tibet, fled and settled down in the adjoining places of Ladakh. There are more than 3,500 Tibetan refugees residing in the Changtang region who depend primarily on livestock, with agriculture being their secondary occupation. These nomads were organized into the Tibetan refugee settlements in 1977 by the Central Tibetan Administration, Dharamsala, with help from Government of India and the state government at nine different places: Nyoma, Kagshung, Goyul, Hanley, Sumdho, Samedh, Karnag, Chushul and Churmur. These settlements are scattered across the high-altitude plateau with an average elevation of 4,700 metres (15,400 ft). The temperature in the region varies from −5 to −35 °C (23 to −31 °F) in winter and up to a maximum of 30 °C (86 °F) in summer. Large areas of Changtang are semi-arid, with very little vegetation growth in the whole region. Agricultural lands and pastures are confined to limited areas along the riverbanks (Yatoo et al., 2014). The average snowfall is less than 10 mm (0.39 in) occurring usually during the months of December, January and February. Unusual and excess snowfall as happened in March 2012, can be fatal to the livestock of the nomads. Sometimes, goats and sheep cannot get access to the grass for grazing for period up to 15 days. This constitutes the most critical part of the year for the nomads (Yatoo et al., 2014).

Education in Ladakh is looked after entirely by the SOS Tibetan Children Village, one of the non-profit institutions providing education to the Tibetan children. There is a facility for crèche to tenth standard. Most of students attend day school, but there are also boarding facilities for very poor students and those from nomadic camps. Almost all children get a chance to go to school, and the general education level of the children is fairly good. The settlements have one modern allopathic hospital and one Tibetan medical and Astro clinic. There is also a bird sanctuary.

Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary

The Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary (or the Changthang Cold Desert Wildlife Sanctuary) is a high altitude wildlife sanctuary located in the Ladakhi adjunct of the Changtang plateau in the Leh District, Ladakh. It is important as one of the few places in India with a population of the kiang or Tibetan wild ass, as well as the rare black-necked crane.

The Changtang Cold Desert Wildlife Sanctuary is part of the Hindu Kush Himalaya, the natural enchantress.

The altitude of the sanctuary varies from 4,300 to 5,800 metres (14,000 to 19,000 ft), and the topography is formed of deep gorges and vast plateaus. There are around 11 lakes and 10 marshes in the Changtang Cold Desert Sanctuary, and the majestic Indus River flows through the sanctuary, dividing it into two parts.

The cold desert of this wildlife sanctuary is sparse but the marginal conditions have resulted in species with some remarkable characteristics. Seven rare and endangered plants which some believe have medicinal properties were discovered here by C.P. Kala. Three of these species are listed as vulnerable and one as endangered on the IUCN Red List ( Arnebia euchroma, Geranium sibiricum, Lancea tibetica , Lloydia serotina , and Ephedra gerardiana ). ^{[7] [8]}

Other geographic features

The lake Tso Moriri in Ladakh is among the highest lakes in the world of its size. Tso Moriri is spread over an area of 120 km² (46 sq mi), with a maximum depth of 40 m (130 ft) and situated at an elevation of 4,525 m (14,846 ft). In November 2002, the lake was designated as a Ramsar site.

Pangong Tso, spannng Ladakh and Tibet's Rutog County, is situated at an elevation of around 4,240 m (13,910 ft). It covers an area of 134 km² (52 sq mi) (from India to China). The water in Ladakh is salty, in Tibet less so. During the winter, the water freezes.

The Pashmina goat is famous for its ultra fine Cashmere wool. ^[9] Pasmina in Persian means 'made from wool' and in Kashmiri it translates to 'soft gold'. This breed of goat inhabits the Changthang plateau and therefrom gets its name. Pashmina shawls are hand spun in Kashmir and Nepal.^{[ citation needed ]}

See also

• Changthangi, breed of goat
• Hoh Xil, plateau in Tibet
• Hemis National Park
• Karakorum Wildlife Sanctuary
• Tourism in Ladakh

References

1. Rizvi, Janet (1999). Trans-Himalayan Caravans. Oxford University Press. p. 301. ISBN   978-0-19-564855-3.
2. Namgail, T., Bhatnagar, Y.V., Mishra, C. & Bagchi, S. (2007) Pastoral nomads of the Indian Changthang: production system, land use and socioeconomic changes. Human Ecology 35, 497–504.
3. Goldstein, Melvyn; Cynthia Beal (1990). Nomads of Western Tibet . Berkeley, CA, UwSA: University of California Press. pp.  44. ISBN   978-0-520-07211-4.
4. Goldstein, Melvyn; Beal, Cynthia (1990). Nomads of Western Tibet . Berkeley, CA, USA: University of California Press. pp.  58. ISBN   978-0-520-07211-4.
5. Goldstein, Melvyn; Beal, Cynthia (1990). Nomads of Western Tibet . Berkeley, CA, USA: University of California Press. pp.  60. ISBN   978-0-520-07211-4.
6. Goldstein, Melvyn; Beal, Cynthia (1990). Nomads of Western Tibet . Berkeley, CA, USA: University of California Press. pp.  83. ISBN   978-0-520-07211-4.
7. Kala, Chandra Prakash 2005. Indigenous uses, population density, and conservation of threatened medicinal plants in protected areas of the Indian Himalayas. Conservation Biology, 19 (2): 368-378.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00602.x/abstract
8. Kala, C.P. 2003. Medicinal Plants of Indian Trans Himalaya. Bishan Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehradun, India http://www.saujanyabooks.com/details.aspx?id=14874
9. "Ladakhis want to reclaim pashmina. But can they?". 8 May 2021.

• Namgail, T., Bhatnagar, Y.V., Mishra, C., Bagchi, S. (2007). Pastoral nomads of the Indian changtang: production system, land use and socio-economic changes. Human Ecology, 35: 497–504.
• Mohd Iqbal Yatoo, Maheshwar Singh, Syed Shafat Kubrevi, Mir Shabir, Ruksar Dar, Kunzes Angmo (2014). Safeguarding a national asset: a review on problems faced by pashmina farmers in Changthang and their amelioration. Indian Journal of Animal Science. 84(12):1251-1255.

Footnotes

• Who cares about the Chang-thang?

30°00′00″N90°00′00″E / 30.0000°N 90.0000°E / 30.0000; 90.0000