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 ...

's Baglung District, 3,900 meters elevation in an east-west valley south of the Dhaulagiri 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 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 diale ...

. The enclosing valley is drained to the west by the Uttar Ganga, tributary of the Bheri River, which in turn joins the Karnali River. 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 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 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 via Burtibang by bus or jeep, and by jeep from Beni via Myagdi Khola. Dolpa is a few days trek to the north around the western Dhaulagiri 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 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