The Charding Nullah, traditionally known as the Lhari stream and called Demchok River by China,[a] is a small river that originates near the Charding La pass that is also on the border between the two countries and flows northeast to join the Indus River near a peak called "Demchok Karpo" or "Lhari Karpo" (white holy peak of Demchok). There are villages on both sides of the mouth of the river called by the same name "Demchok", which is presumed to have been a single village originally, and has gotten split into two due to geopolitcal reasons. The river serves as the de facto border between China and India in the southern part of the Demchok sector.[a]
The Indian government refers to the river as "Charding Nullah" after its place of origin, the Charding La pass, with nullah meaning a mountain stream.
The Chinese government uses the term "Demchok river" by the location of its mouth, near the Demchok Karpo peak and the Demchok village.[a]
Some of the historical documents call the river "Lhari stream".[4] Lhari,[b] meaning "holy mountain" in Tibetan, is a reference to the white rocky peak (4,865 m) behind the Ladakhi Demchok village.[5][6] It has also been referred to as "Lari Karpo" ("white lhari") and "Demchok Lari Karpo" in Tibetan documents.[7][c]
"Lhari stream at Demchok" is the phrase used in the 1684 Treaty of Tingmosgang,[10] forming the basis for the Indian government's identification of the stream with Charding Nullah.[11][d] The Indian identification is supported by scholars.[14][15]
The Charding Nullah originates below the Charding La pass, which is on a large spur that divides the Sutlej river basin from the Indus river basin. In this area, the Sutlej river tributaries flow southeast into West Tibet and the Indus river and its tributaries flow northwest, parallel to the Himalayan ranges.
The Charding Nullah flows northeast along a narrow mountain valley. Halfway down the valley it is joined by another nullah from the left, called Nilung (or Nilu/Ninglung). The Charding–Nilung Nullah Junction (CNNJ, 4900 m), near Nilding, is recognised by both the Indian and Chinese border troops as a strategic point.[16]
The entire area surrounding the Charding Nullah is referred to as the Changthang plateau. It consists of rocky mountain heights of Ladakh and Kailas ranges and sandy river valleys which are only good for grazing yaks, sheep and goats (the famous pashmina goats) reared by Changpa nomads.[17] The Indian-controlled northern side of the nullah is close to Hanle, the site of the Hanle Monastery. The Chinese-controlled southern side has the village of Tashigang (Zhaxigang) which also has a monastery, both having been built by the Ladakhi ruler Sengge Namgyal (r. 1616–1642).[18] At the end of Tibet–Ladakh–Mughal War, the Tibetan troops retreated to Tashigang where they fortified themselves.[19]
At the bottom of the valley, the Charding Nullah branches into a 2 km-wide delta as it joins the Indus river.[20] During the British colonial period, there were villages on both the sides of the delta, going by the name "Demchok". The southern village appears to have been the main one, frequently referred to by travelers.[21][22]
Prior to the Sino-Indian War of 1962, India had established a border post to the south of the delta (called "High Ground"). As the war progressed, the post was evacuated and the Chinese forces occupied it.[23][6] China has repeatedly attempted to block India's access to Patrol Points (PP) in this area of Demchok sector.
^ abcOn 21 September 1965, the Indian Government wrote to the Chinese Government, complaining of Chinese troops who were said to have "moved forward in strength right up to the Charding Nullah and have assumed a threatening posture at the Indian civilian post on the western [northwestern] side of the Nullah on the Indian side of the 'line of actual control'." The Chinese Government responded on 24 September stating, "In fact, it was Indian troops who on September 18, intruded into the vicinity of the Demchok village on the Chinese side of the 'line of actual control' after crossing the Demchok River from Parigas (in Tibet, China)..."[3]
^Alternative spellings of Lahri include "Lahri", "Lari" or "Lairi"
^Scholars translate the Tibetan term lha-ri as "soul mountain". Many peaks in Tibet are named lhari including a "Demchok lhari" in the northern suburbs of Lhasa.[8][9] "Karpo", meaning "white", serves to distinguish the Ladakh's mountain peak from the others.
^Fisher et al. states that the Lhari stream flows "five miles southeast of Demchok".[12] This is incorrect. The reference was actually to the Indian alignment of the border, which was five miles southeast of Demchok.[13]
^Indian Report, Part 2 (1962), pp. 47–48: "There was only one Lhari in the area, and that was the stream joining the Indus near Demchok at Longitude 79° 28' E and Latitude 32° 42' N."
^Lamb, The China-India border (1964), p. 24: "Strachey's Demchok is clearly the same as that of the 1683/4/7 agreement [Treaty of Tingmosgang], which source Ramsay (p. 181) is quoting when he writes, under the heading Demchok, 'on the left bank of the Lari Karpo stream which forms the boundary between Ladakh and Ghardok (Lhasa) territory'. The Kashmir Atlas location of the boundary near Demchok, which is confirmed in such recent sources as Foreign Office (1920), p. 4, is not easy to explain."
^Fisher, Rose & Huttenback, Himalayan Battleground (1963), p. 107: 'The Indian delegation found these two documents (neither of which had been known to them previously) extremely interesting, for they supported the Indian rather than the Chinese description of the border. "Lari Karpo" was identified as the『Lha‐ri』stream described as the boundary between Ladakh and Tibet in the 1684 treaty that the Indians claim is the traditional border in this area.'
^Ahmed, Monisha (2004), "The Politics of Pashmina: The Changpas of Eastern Ladakh", Nomadic Peoples, New Series, 8 (2), White Horse Press: 89–106, doi:10.3167/082279404780446041, JSTOR43123726
Handa, Buddhist Western Himalaya (2001), p. 143: "Magnificent monasteries were built at Hemis, Theg-mchog (Chemrey), Anle [Hanle] and Tashigong [Tashigang]."
Jina, Prem Singh (1996), Ladakh: The Land and the People, Indus Publishing, p. 88, ISBN978-81-7387-057-6: "He [Sengge Namgyal] built many monasteries such as Hemis, Chemde, Wanla [Hanle] and Tashigang. He also built the castle of Leh palace."
Shakspo, Nawang Tsering (1999), "The Foremost Teachers of the Kings of Ladakh", in Martijn van Beek; Kristoffer Brix Bertelsen; Poul Pedersen (eds.), Recent Research on Ladakh 8, Aarhus University Press, p. 286, ISBN978-87-7288-791-3: "They founded the renowned Hemis Gonpa, Chemre Gonpa and Wanla Gonpa [Hanle]. Sengge Namgyal also had a monastery built at Tashigang in western Tibet."
Lange, Decoding Mid-19th Century Maps of the Border Area (2017): According to Hedin, "Right in front of us the monastery Tashi-gang gradually grows larger. Its walls are erected on the top of an isolated rock of solid porphyrite, which crops up from the bottom of the Indus valley like an island drawn out from north to south. (…) on the short side stand two round free-standing towers, (…). The whole is surrounded by a moat 10 feet deep (…)".
^Lange, Decoding Mid-19th Century Maps of the Border Area (2017), p. 353: 'At present officially located in India, the village of Demchok marked the border between Tibet and Ladakh for a long time. Abdul Wahid Radhu, a former representative of the Lopchak caravan, described Demchok in his travel account as "the first location on the Tibetan side of the border".'
^Indian Report, Part 3 (1962), pp. 3–4: According to a report by the governor of Ladakh in 1904–05, "I visited Demchok on the boundary with Lhasa. ... A nullah falls into the Indus river from the south-west and it (Demchok) is situated at the junction of the river. Across is the boundary of Lhasa, where there are 8 to 9 huts of the Lhasa zamindars. On this side there are only two zamindars."
Ahmad, Zahiruddin (September–December 1968), "New Light on the Tibet-Ladakh-Mughal War of 1679-84", East and West, 18 (3/4), Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente (IsIAO): 340–361, JSTOR29755343
