The Leh–Lhasa Road and the Western Tibet Passes
The road up the Indus from Leh across the Changthang plateau to Gartok and on to Lhasa, by which western Tibet’s shawl wool reached Ladakh and Kashmir.
Places Along the Leh–Lhasa Road and the Western Tibet Passes
Commercial Genesis & Spatial Network
The Treaty of Tingmosgang in 1684 fixed the pattern of this trade: the raw shawl wool of western Tibet was to be sold through Ladakh, and a state caravan, the Lopchak mission, travelled from Leh to Lhasa every third year while a tea caravan came the other way. The road followed the upper Indus to Demchok and the summer trading camp at Gartok, then ran east past Mount Kailash along the Tsangpo to Shigatse and Lhasa. Side tracks reached it from the Pangong lake, from Hanle, and over the Niti, Unta Dhura and Nelang passes of Garhwal and Kumaon, where Bhotiya traders carried grain north and salt and wool south.
Economic Impact & Cultural Diffusion
Supplied the pashm on which the Kashmir shawl industry depended, and tied the economies of Ladakh, western Tibet and the central Himalaya together for more than two and a half centuries.
Caravanserais and Halting Places on This Route
32 caravan halting places recorded within 40 km of the mapped line. A caravanserai is a roadside inn; a halting place is a named camping ground with no permanent building. How caravans travelled and how a caravanserai worked.
| Name | Type | Country | Coordinates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chartse | Caravan halting place | — | 33.9000° N, 78.6000° E |
| Chongdongmale | Caravan halting place | India | 32.5167° N, 79.0333° E |
| Dachung Yogma | Caravan halting place | India | 33.4333° N, 78.7833° E |
| Dangangongmale | Caravan halting place | India | 32.7667° N, 78.6167° E |
| Digra | Caravan halting place | China | 33.5500° N, 78.8833° E |
| Fukche | Caravan halting place | China | 32.9667° N, 79.1833° E |
| Gangrale | Caravan halting place | India | 33.1000° N, 79.0500° E |
| Gongrale | Caravan halting place | India | 32.8333° N, 78.7500° E |
| Kaksang | Caravan halting place | India | 33.4500° N, 78.5667° E |
| Kanatal | Caravan halting place | India | 30.9667° N, 78.5667° E |
| Karale | Caravan halting place | India | 32.6667° N, 79.1500° E |
| Khargok Fort | Caravan halting place | India | 33.1000° N, 78.7333° E |
| Lagankhel | Caravan halting place | China | 32.8500° N, 79.3333° E |
| Lekaru | Caravan halting place | India | 32.8833° N, 78.9667° E |
| Loma | Caravan halting place | India | 33.1667° N, 78.8333° E |
| Lunghale | Caravan halting place | China | 33.0333° N, 79.1167° E |
| Lungkung | Caravan halting place | India | 33.2000° N, 78.9833° E |
| Lungnakle | Caravan halting place | India | 32.9833° N, 78.9833° E |
| Mankhang | Caravan halting place | India | 33.0333° N, 78.8333° E |
| Miksadiu | Caravan halting place | India | 32.5000° N, 78.9667° E |
| Nelda Serbonle | Caravan halting place | India | 32.9667° N, 78.7833° E |
| Pololung | Caravan halting place | India | 32.7333° N, 79.1500° E |
| Puktse | Caravan halting place | China | 32.9667° N, 79.1833° E |
| Sangcha Talla | Caravan halting place | India | 30.7667° N, 80.1667° E |
| Shurok Sumdo | Caravan halting place | India | 33.0667° N, 78.5500° E |
| Spanggur | Caravan halting place | India | 33.5667° N, 78.7833° E |
| Sumdole | Caravan halting place | India | 32.6000° N, 78.7000° E |
| Sumdole (2) | Caravan halting place | India | 32.4333° N, 79.0500° E |
| Surai Thota | Caravan halting place | India | 30.5333° N, 79.7667° E |
| Tarabuk | Caravan halting place | China | 33.2667° N, 79.1000° E |
| Tarakokpole | Caravan halting place | India | 32.9167° N, 78.9333° E |
| Yahle | Caravan halting place | India | 33.3833° N, 78.5167° E |
Sources: Wikidata (caravanserais, CC0) and the OWTRAD project (halting places). All caravanserais and halting places
Logistics, Caravanserais & Overland Hazards
- ▲Almost the whole road lies above 4,000 metres on the Changthang plateau
- ▲Goods moved on sheep and goats as well as yaks, each sheep carrying a pair of small saddle bags
- ▲Trade concentrated in short summer fairs, as at Gartok, because the passes closed for half the year
- ▲Villages on the route owed transport labour and animals to the official caravans
Custodial Empires & Polities
Sovereign states that safeguarded, taxed, or maintained garrisons along this route: