Gya'nyima

Gyanema ^[1] or Gya'nyima ^[2] (Tibetan : རྒྱ་ཉི་མ, Wylie : rgya nyi ma, THL : gya nyi ma) ^[2] is a large plain at the border between the Zanda County and Burang County in western Tibet, which was once used for an annual market of Indo-Tibetan trade. The border has been sealed and the market shut down since the Sino-Indian War of 1962. ^[3] At the present time, there is only a small settlement at the western edge of the plain called Xilanta (Chinese :西兰塔), ^[2] where China operates a military outpost.

Geography

15km
9.3miles

TIBET
(CHINA)

NEPAL

KUMAON
(INDIA)

Kali
River

Gori
Ganga

Darma /
Dhauli

Lasser
Yankti

Darma

Kuthi
Yankti

Tinkar
Khola

Kalapani

Darma La

Kungribingri La

Unta Dhura

Milam

Munsyari

Shib Chilam

Xilanta

Gyanema Khar

Gyanema
Plain

Gunji

Kuthi

Lympiyadhura

Kalapani

Lipulekh
Pass

   

Indo-Tibetan border near Kumaon and Zanda County

The Gynema plain lies between two tributaries of Lamchang Chu (Tibetan : ལམ་འཕྲང་ཆུ, Wylie : lam 'phrang chu), one in the west that rises below the Darma Pass (and called Darma Yankti by the Indians) and another in the east that rises in the hills further east and forms a large lake called Gago Cuo (Chinese :嘎果错; pinyin :Gā guǒ cuò) or Gyanema Lake. At the top of the lake on a hillock there was a fort called Gyanemakhar, which is now in ruins. Lamchang Chu drains into the Sutlej River and flows west. Immediately to the south of the Gyanema plain is the basin of the Karnali River, which flows east. Thus the plain itself may be said to form the water divide between Sutlej and Karnali.

The Gyanema market was accessible from all the three Bhotiya valleys of Kumaon. The Joharis accessed it via the triple passes of Unta Dhura, Jainti and Kungribingri passes. ^[4] The Darmiyas could use the Darma Pass. And, the Byansis of Kuthi Valley could access it via Lympiadhura. ^[5]

On the Tibetan side, the Gyanema plain was roughly equidistant from the Daba Town and the Burang Town (also called Taklakot). Traders would bring their goods for the annual market from their normal residence. The Tibetan goods were salt, borax, wool, skins, cloth and utensils. They exchanged them for silver, wheat, rice, satoo, ghur, candied sugar, pepper, beads, and other Indian manufactures. ^[6]

References

1. Kak 2001, p. 179.
2. Ngari Prefecture, KNAB place name database. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
3. Kak 2001, p. 187.
4. Kak 2001, pp. 179–180.
5. Oko, Christina Willis (2019), A Grammar of Darma, BRILL, p. 13, ISBN   978-90-04-40949-1
6. Landor, A. H. S. (1905), Tibet And Nepal, London: A & C Black, p. 197

Bibliography

• Kak, Manju (Spring 2001), "Those Who Once Walked Mountains", India International Centre Quarterly, 27/28: 177–192, JSTOR   23005709
• Longstaff, Thomas George (1950), This My Voyage, John Murray – via archive.org
• Sherring, Charles A. (1906), Western Tibet and the British Borderland, T. G. Longstaff, Edward Arnold – via archive.org

30°48′N80°42′E / 30.800°N 80.700°E / 30.800; 80.700