Dhorpatan is a village in

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

Baglung District Baglung District ( ne, बागलुङ जिल्ला ), a part of Gandaki Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Baglung as its district headquarters, covers an area of and has a population (2011) o ...

, 3,900 meters elevation in an east-west valley south of the

Dhaulagiri Dhaulagiri is the seventh highest mountain in the world at above sea level, and the highest mountain within the borders of a single country (Nepal). It was first climbed on 13 May 1960 by a Swiss-Austrian-Nepali expedition. Annapurna I () is ...

mountain range in the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

s.Millard, C. (2007). Democracy and Dissent in Nepal: An Overview and some Perceptions in the Valley of Dhorpatan. Pages 281–304 in Gellner, D. (ed.) Resistance and the State: Nepalese Experiences. Berghahn Books. It is the headquarters of

Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve is the only hunting reserve in Nepal. Established in 1987 it covers an area of in the Dhaulagiri Himal of western Nepal in the Eastern Rukum, Myagdi and Baglung Districts. In elevation, it ranges from . Flora and faun ...

. There is a small community of indigenous

Kham Magar The Kham Magars (खाम मगर), also known in scholarship as the Northern Magars, are a Tibeto-Burman language-speaking indigenous ethnic tribal community native to Nepal. In general, Kham Magars refer to themselves using their clan na ...

people as well as

Tibetan refugees Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

. The enclosing valley is drained to the west by the Uttar Ganga, tributary of the

Bheri River The Bheri River is a major tributary of the ''Karnali River'' draining the western Dhaulagiri range in western Nepal. It has three important upper tributaries. Sani Bheri River drains southern slopes of this range while Thuli Bheri River drain ...

, which in turn joins the

Karnali River Karnali may refer to: Places in Nepal * Karnali Bridge, a bridge over the Karnali River in Nepal * Karnali Highway, a vital transport link in Nepal * Karnali Province, a federal province in Nepal * Karnali River, a river in Nepal and India origin ...

. The east-west orientation of Dhorpatan Valley offers an easy—by himalayan standards—route between the Karnali basin of western Nepal and the

Gandaki River The Gandaki River, also known as the Narayani and the Gandak, is one of the major rivers in Nepal and a left bank tributary of the Ganges in India. Its total catchment area amounts to , most of it in Nepal. In the Nepal Himalayas, it is notabl ...

basin in the center, over a 3,400-meter pass on the watershed 18 km east of the town. This was an historic migration route for

Khas people Khas people (; ne, खस) popularly known as Khas Arya are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the Himalayas, Himalayan region of South Asia, what is now present-day Nepal, Indian states of Uttarakhand, West B ...

eastward in the late

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. Ensuing political evolution led to the unification of the

Kingdom of Nepal The Kingdom of Nepal ( ne, नेपाल अधिराज्य), also known as the Gorkha Empire ( ne, गोरखा अधिराज्य) or Asal Hindustan ( ne, असल हिन्दुस्तान)(), was a Hindu king ...

from loose confederations in the Karnali and Gandaki' regions and from other confederations further east. A seasonal

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a conventional fixed-wing aircraft that has short runway requirements for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for use on airstrips with harsh conditio ...

airstrip 1 km to the west serves the valley. Dhorpatan can also be reached from

Baglung Baglung is a municipality in western Nepal, west of Kathmandu. It is the administrative headquarters of Baglung District and Dhaulagiri Zone. Baglung serves as the major center for business, finance, education, service and healthcare for the pe ...

via Burtibang by bus or jeep, and by jeep from

Beni is a Japanese R&B singer, who debuted in 2004 under the Avex Trax label. In 2008, Arashiro left Avex Trax and transferred to Universal Music Japan where she started to perform as simply Beni (stylized as BENI). She was initially best known fo ...

via Myagdi Khola.

Dolpa Dolpa District ( ne, :ne:डोल्पा जिल्ला, डोल्पा जिल्ला), is a district, located in Karnali Province of Nepal, It is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal and one of ten district of Karnali. Th ...

is a few days trek to the north around the western

range. There are a few homestay lodges serving basic food, tea, coffee and milk. Cottages are available for hunters holding entry and hunting permits. During the summer months large herds of livestock are taken northwards from the

Rapti Zone Rapti Zone ( ne, राप्ती अञ्चल ) was one of the fourteen zones, located in the Mid-Western Development Region of Nepal. It was named after the West Rapti River which drains Rolpa, Pyuthan and part of Dang districts. The r ...

by Kham Magar people for grazing in surrounding pastureland. Animal husbandry, handicrafts and some tourism are the key economic activities of the people in the region.

References

Populated places in Baglung District Valleys of Nepal {{Baglung-geo-stub