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OVERLAND CARAVAN770 km Total NetworkActive: 1600 CE – 1949 CE

The Leh–Yarkand Caravan Route (Karakoram Pass)

The high caravan track linking Ladakh with the Tarim Basin oases over the 5,540 m Karakoram Pass, a southern feeder of the Silk Road used until the mid twentieth century.

6.0
Type: overland-caravanMap centre: [78.1°, 35.08°]Line: Line drawn through the OWTRAD halting places (T. M. Ciolek); the stretch north of the Karakoram Pass is from OWTRAD data set tmcCNm1000.

Places Along the Leh–Yarkand Caravan Route (Karakoram Pass)

Leh, on the Leh–Yarkand Caravan Route (Karakoram Pass)
LehCC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Nubra, on the Leh–Yarkand Caravan Route (Karakoram Pass)
NubraCC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Saser La, on the Leh–Yarkand Caravan Route (Karakoram Pass)
Saser LaPublic domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Commercial Genesis & Spatial Network

From the bazaar at Leh, caravans of ponies, yaks and Bactrian camels climbed north toward Yarkand in about a month of marching. The summer route crossed the Khardung La into the Nubra valley, then the glaciated Saser La, the Depsang plains and the Karakoram Pass. In winter, when the Saser La was closed, caravans followed the frozen bed of the Shyok river instead. A third line, opened under British encouragement in the 1870s, ran east through the Chang Chenmo valley and across the Lingzitang plains to the Karakash river. The camps along all three were not buildings but named halting grounds chosen for water, fuel and grazing.

Economic Impact & Cultural Diffusion

Carried the trade between British India and Chinese Turkestan and made Leh an entrepôt where Yarkandi, Kashmiri, Punjabi and Tibetan merchants met. The trade ended when the border closed in 1949.

Caravanserais and Halting Places on This Route

51 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.

Daulat Beg Oldi

Daulat Beg Oldi

Caravan halting place · 35.4000° N, 77.9333° E

Daulat Beg Oldi (also Oldie, DBO), in the Karakoram Range, is a historic campsite and current military base located in Nubra district in northern Ladakh in India. It is on the historic trade route between Ladakh and the Tarim Basin, and is the last campsite before the Karakoram Pass. It is said to be named after Sultan Said Khan ("Daulat Beg" [The Statesman]) of the Yarkent Khanate, who died here on his return journey from an invasion of Ladakh and Kashmir. Chip Chap River, the main headwater of the Shyok River, flows just to the south. The Line of Actual Control with Chinese-controlled Aksai Chin is five miles to the east. An Indian border outpost was established here in the summer of 1960. An Advance Landing Ground was also constructed here, one of the world's highest airstrips. DBO has two road links constructed by the Border Roads Organization, the 235 km-long Darbuk-Shyok-DBO Road, and the Sasoma–Saser La-DBO Road which provides an alternate and the shortest route to DBO from the Nubra Valley.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Photo via Wikimedia Commons

All Recorded Stopping Places

NameTypeCountryCoordinates
Daulat Beg OldiCaravan halting place—35.4000° N, 77.9333° E
AghamCaravan halting place—34.3167° N, 77.8333° E
AmtogorCaravan halting place—35.0500° N, 79.8167° E
BurtsaCaravan halting place—35.0833° N, 78.1000° E
Burtsa TangCaravan halting place—34.7333° N, 79.1500° E
ChagraCaravan halting place—34.0833° N, 78.4833° E
Chalan ChumikCaravan halting place—35.0500° N, 77.9500° E
Chhong JangalCaravan halting place—34.2167° N, 78.3000° E
ChongtashCaravan halting place—35.6167° N, 78.6333° E
Dal CompasCaravan halting place—34.9333° N, 78.6833° E
DangyailakCaravan halting place—34.4167° N, 78.3167° E
DonglungCaravan halting place—35.1500° N, 78.7667° E
GapshanCaravan halting place—35.2833° N, 77.7333° E
Goma TharuCaravan halting place—34.6500° N, 77.1333° E
HuzakharCaravan halting place—35.1333° N, 79.2833° E
JangalCaravan halting place—35.0167° N, 79.1500° E
KataklikCaravan halting place—34.9167° N, 78.0833° E
Katlang ChenmoCaravan halting place—34.5000° N, 78.2500° E
Kota JilgaCaravan halting place—34.4833° N, 78.8833° E
Kyapsang TardadCaravan halting place—34.3333° N, 79.0667° E
Kyrmgo TraggarCaravan halting place—34.3500° N, 79.1500° E
Lak TsungCaravan halting place—35.0167° N, 79.4333° E
Ling-shi-tangCaravan halting place—34.7833° N, 79.1667° E
Mapo TangCaravan halting place—35.3000° N, 79.3667° E
MundioCaravan halting place—34.6167° N, 78.1667° E
NischuCaravan halting place—34.6000° N, 79.0833° E
OraruchaCaravan halting place—34.2833° N, 78.4500° E
PachatangCaravan halting place—34.7167° N, 77.1500° E
Palong KarpoCaravan halting placeChina35.8167° N, 79.0667° E
PamzalCaravan halting place—34.2833° N, 78.7667° E
PanglungCaravan halting place—34.5333° N, 78.7667° E
RimdiCaravan halting place—34.1333° N, 78.6500° E
SamzumlingCaravan halting place—34.7000° N, 78.7333° E
Saser BrangsaCaravan halting place—35.0667° N, 77.7833° E
Shamal LungpaCaravan halting place—34.4833° N, 78.9167° E
Shokpa KunglangCaravan halting place—34.3500° N, 78.3167° E
Shor JilgaCaravan halting place—35.6833° N, 78.4833° E
Su-na-erhCaravan halting placeChina35.7500° N, 78.6667° E
SumnaCaravan halting place—35.2333° N, 79.0167° E
Tak MarpoCaravan halting placeChina35.7833° N, 78.8333° E
TangyarCaravan halting place—34.2667° N, 77.8667° E
Tobo MaruCaravan halting place—34.3167° N, 79.2833° E
Tobok MarpoCaravan halting place—34.6833° N, 79.4667° E
TsangtaCaravan halting place—34.7500° N, 79.5333° E
TsogstsoluCaravan halting place—34.2833° N, 78.7833° E
Tut YailakCaravan halting place—34.9833° N, 77.5833° E
UmlungCaravan halting place—34.9000° N, 77.5333° E
YaglungCaravan halting place—34.7667° N, 77.1333° E
YangpaCaravan halting placeChina35.5500° N, 79.4667° E
YargulakCaravan halting place—34.6667° N, 78.2167° E
Zalung SeruCaravan halting place—34.3667° N, 79.2833° E

Sources: Wikidata (caravanserais, CC0) and the OWTRAD project (halting places). All caravanserais and halting places

Logistics, Caravanserais & Overland Hazards

  • ▲Five passes above 5,000 metres, with long stages across plains that have no grazing or fuel
  • ▲The track over the Depsang plains and Karakoram Pass was marked by the bones of pack animals
  • ▲Summer melt made the Shyok and Nubra river fords impassable for days at a time
  • ▲Fodder for the barren stages had to be carried from the last villages in Nubra or bought at depots

Custodial Empires & Polities

Sovereign states that safeguarded, taxed, or maintained garrisons along this route:

Kingdom of Ladakh (Namgyal Dynasty)Dogra State of Jammu and KashmirBritish RajQing DynastyYarkand Khanate

More Routes in This Region

The Himalaya and South Asia

The Leh–Kullu Road and the Zanskar and Spiti Tracks480 km

overland caravan • 1600 CE – 1950 CE

The Leh–Lhasa Road and the Western Tibet Passes1,700 km

overland caravan • 1684 CE – 1950 CE

The Grand Trunk Road (Uttarapatha)2,700 km

overland caravan • 300 BCE – Present Day

Nearby Routes in Other Regions

The Great Silk Road6,400 km

overland caravan • 130 BCE – 1453 CE

Caravan Routes of the Persian Deserts3,200 km

overland caravan • 550 BCE – 1930 CE

The Ancient Tea Horse Road (Chamagudao)3,200 km

overland caravan • 618 CE – 1950 CE