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User:MarkH21/Demchok

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For the disputed area, see Demchok sector.

Demchok
ཌེམ་ཆོག་
Dêmqog, bDe-mChog
Village
Demchok is located in Ladakh
Demchok
Demchok
Location in Ladakh, India and Tibet, China
Demchok is located in India
Demchok
Demchok
Demchok (India)
Demchok is located in Tibet
Demchok
Demchok
Demchok (Tibet)
Demchok is located in China
Demchok
Demchok
Demchok (China)
Coordinates: 32°42′00″N 79°26′58″E / 32.699910°N 79.449520°E / 32.699910; 79.449520
countryIndia, China
regionIndian-administered Kashmir, Tibet Autonomous Region
provinceLadakh, Ngari Prefecture
districtLeh, Gar
subdistrictNyoma, Zhaxigang
Elevation
4,240 m (13,920 ft)
Population
 (2005)[1]
 • Total150
Time zonesUTC+5:30 (IST)
UTC+8:00 (CST)
Dêmqog
Chinese典角村
Hanyu PinyinDiǎnjiǎocūn
Literal meaningDêmqog village
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinDiǎnjiǎocūn

Demchok (Tibetan: ཌེམ་ཆོག, Wylie: Demchog, ZYPY: Dêmqog, historical: bDe-mChog[2]) is a village and military encampment in the disputed Demchok sector between China and India. The village is claimed by India as part of the Nyoma tehsil in the Leh district of Ladakh by India,[3][4] and claimed by China as part of the Ngari Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region.[5]: 39  The combined village had a population of about 150 in 2005.[1]

The Line of Actual Control (LAC) passes through the village, following the Charding Nullah upstream from the nearby Indus River. The part of the village on the northwestern bank of the river is administered by India, while the part of the village on the southeastern bank of the river is administered by China.[6] The Indian-claimed border extends 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of Demchok, while the Chinese-claimed border extends 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Demchok.[5]: 39, 48 

Combined village

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15km
10miles
 
 
 
 
 
Umling La
 
Chang La
 
Jara La
 
Charding La
 
Koyul
Lungpa
 
Nilu
 
Charding
Nullah
 
Indus River
 
Tashigong
(Zhaxigang)
 
Dêmqog–China
 
Hanle
 
Dungti
 
Chisumle
 
Dumchele
 
Fukche
 
Koyul
 
Demchok–India
Charding Nullah

Description

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The village lies 36.5 km east of Ukdungle (32°36′05″N 78°57′54″E / 32.6015°N 78.9651°E / 32.6015; 78.9651). The world’s highest motorable road passing through the Umling La pass (32°41′47″N 79°17′03″E / 32.6964°N 79.2842°E / 32.6964; 79.2842) in Ladakh at a height of 19,300 feet (5,900 m) connects to Demchok.[7][8] The village was described by Hugh Edward Richardson and Alastair Lamb as being divided by the Charding Nullah into two halves.[5]: 38 [9]: 246 

The combined village had a population of about 150 in 2005.[1]

History

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See also: Charding Nullah § History

The Chronicles of Ladakh mention that, at the conclusion of the Tibet–Ladakh–Mughal War in 1684, Tibet and Ladakh agreed on the Treaty of Tingmosgang. The Chronicles describe the treaty as fixing the boundary at "the Lhari stream at Demchok".

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.[10] A British boundary commission in 1846–1847 on the borders of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir described the village as:

[Demchok] is a hamlet of half a dozen huts and tents, not permanently inhabited, divided by a rivulet (entering the left bank of the Indus) which constitutes the boundary of this quarter between Gnari ... [in Tibet] ... and Ladakh.[11]

The Governor of Ladakh, who visited the border area in 1904–05 mentioned that the southern Tibetan village at Demchok had 8 or 9 huts, while the northern Ladakhi village at Demchok had only two.[12]

Demchok was on an old route linking Ladakh and Tibet along the bank of the Indus River that is closed as of 2012.[13] Though the Kailash Lake Manasarovar is 300 km away, the route there is mostly through plains.[14]

Village on the northwestern bank

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Demchok
ཌེམ་ཆོག
Dêmqog, bDe-mChog
Village
countryIndia, China
regionIndian-administered Kashmir, Tibet Autonomous Region
provinceLadakh, Ngari Prefecture
districtLeh, Gar
subdistrictNyoma, Zhaxigang
PanchayatKoyul
Government
 • SarpanchUgrain Chodon
Area
 • Total33 ha (82 acres)
Elevation
4,200 m (13,800 ft)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total78
 • Density240/km2 (610/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
Census code906
[3][15]

The Indian-administered part of Demchok had 31 households and a population of 78 according to the 2011 Census of India. The effective literacy rate (i.e. the literacy rate of population excluding children aged 6 and below) is 42.47%.[16] According to the sarpanch of Demchok in 2019, the village had a population of 69 people who are mostly nomads.[15] She said that residents of Demchok were moving to the town of Leh due to a lack of infrastructure and jobs.[15]

Demographics (2011 Census)[16]
Total Male Female
Population 78 43 35
Children aged below 6 years 5 4 1
Scheduled caste 1 1 0
Scheduled tribe 64 37 27
Literates 31 20 11
Workers (all) 51 27 24
Main workers (total) 49 26 23
Main workers: Cultivators 5 5 0
Main workers: Agricultural labourers 0 0 0
Main workers: Household industry workers 2 0 2
Main workers: Other 42 21 21
Marginal workers (total) 2 1 1
Marginal workers: Cultivators 0 0 0
Marginal workers: Agricultural labourers 0 0 0
Marginal workers: Household industry workers 0 0 0
Marginal workers: Others 2 1 1
Non-workers 27 16 11

Village on the southeastern bank

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Dêmqog lies a kilometer southeast from the western village across the Charding Nullah. Prior to the 1962 Sino-Indian War, India had established a border post called the "New Demchok post" on the southeastern bank of the Charding Nullah. As the war progressed, the post was evacuated and the Chinese forces occupied it.[17][18] Travel writer Romesh Bhattacharji states they expected to set up a trading village, but India never renewed trade after the war. He states that the southern Dêmqog village has only commercial buildings whereas the northern village has many security-related buildings.[19]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Luv Puri, "Ladakhis await re-opening of historic Tibet route". The Hindu. 2 August 2005.
  2. ^ Antiquities of Indian Tibet, Part (Volume) II, by A. H. Francke and edited by F. W. Thomas, (1926), pages 115-116.
  3. ^ a b "Blockwise Village Amenity Directory" (PDF). Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 September 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  4. ^ https://leh.nic.in/about-district/administrative-setup/village/
  5. ^ a b c Lamb, Alastair (1965). "Treaties, Maps and the Western Sector of the Sino-Indian Boundary Dispute" (PDF). The Australian Year Book of International Law. 1 (1): 37–52.
  6. ^ "Ladakhis deplore Krishna's remark on Demchok road". Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  7. ^ "BRO builds world's highest motorable road in Ladakh at 19,300 feet". Archived from the original on 2 November 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  8. ^ "Achievements of West Dte during the F/Y 2016-17" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  9. ^ Richardson, Hugh Edward (1962). Tibet and its History. Oxford University Press.
  10. ^ 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".'
  11. ^ Lamb, The China-India border (1964), p. 68.
  12. ^ 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."
  13. ^ "hindu.com - Ladakhis await re-opening of this historic Tibet route". Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  14. ^ "expressindia.com - 'Issue of opening Demchok road with China taken up'". Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  15. ^ a b c Sharma, Arteev (17 July 2019). "Lack of infra forcing people to migrate from frontier". Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  16. ^ a b "Leh district census". 2011 Census of India. Directorate of Census Operations. Archived from the original on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  17. ^ Cheema, Crimson Chinar (2015), p. 190.
  18. ^ Claude Arpi, The Case of Demchok, Indian Defence Review, 19 May 2017.
  19. ^ Bhattacharji, Ladakh (2012), Chapter 9: "Changthang: The High Plateau".

Bibliography

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Category:Villages in Nyoma tehsil Category:Populated places in Ngari Prefecture

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