Gelensiniak, or ''Geling Sinyik'', is a village in the Limeking Circle of the Upper Subansiri district in

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares int ...

, India, close to the region's border with Tibet. The Gelen Vinayak Bhat
Despite Modi-Xi bonhomie, China moves into Arunachal Pradesh, builds new road and barracks
The Print, 22 June 2018. Uses the full form Gelen Bung. or Gelling river (called

Tsari Chu The Subansiri River; is a trans- Himalayan river and a tributary of the Brahmaputra River that flows through Tibet's Lhünzê County, Shannan Prefecture and the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. The Subansiri is long, with a dra ...

in Tibet) flows down from

Migyitun Migyitun (), also called Tsari or Zhari (), is a town in the Lhöntse County of Tibet's Shannan Prefecture. It is on the banks of the Tsari Chu river close to the McMahon Line, the ''de facto'' border with India's Arunachal Pradesh. It is also ...

and

Longju Longju or Longzu () is a disputed area in the eastern sector of the China–India border, controlled by China but claimed by India. The village of Longju is located in the Tsari Chu valley south of the town of Migyitun, considered the histori ...

and joins the

Subansiri River The Subansiri River; is a trans- Himalayan river and a tributary of the Brahmaputra River that flows through Tibet's Lhünzê County, Shannan Prefecture and the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. The Subansiri is long, with a draina ...

here. Gelensiniak is strategically located between

Taksing Taksing is a village and headquarters of an eponymous Circle in the Upper Subansiri district, Arunachal Pradesh, India. The region of Taksing is populated by Tagin people. The village is on the bank of the Subansiri River, shortly after the r ...

and Limeking. The region is populated by the Mara clan of

Tagin people Tagin may refer to: * Tagin people of Northeast India ** Tagin language, the Sino-Tibetan language spoken by them * Tagin (Hebrew writing), decorations drawn over some Hebrew letters in Jewish scrolls * Tajine A tajine or tagine ( ar, طاجي� ...

. Behind Gelensiniak, on a vertical cliff top is a flat area known as Tame Chung Chung ("place of snakes", abbreviated TCC), which hosts military camps for Indian border troops. Until road access to the Tame Chung Chung was built by the

Border Roads Organisation The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is a road construction executive force in India that provides support to and is now a part of the Indian Armed Forces. BRO develops and maintains road networks in India's border areas and friendly neighboring ...

in 2018, the camps were supplied only by helicopters.Satellite image of the road to Tame Chung Chung
EO Browser, 28 May 2020. Distance of India-China Border Road constructed in 2018 from Gelensiniak (Tama Chung Chung) to

is 80 km.BRO creates history through road link to China border
Business Standard, 2018.

Name

The name "Geling Sinyik" evidently denotes the confluence of the two rivers: ''Geling'', i.e., the

river, and ''Sinik'', i.e., the

History

Tsari pilgrimage

Gelensiniak lies on the route of the 12-yearly Tsari pilgrimage of the Tibetans around the Dakpa Sheri mountain. The pilgrimage went down the

valley up to Gelensiniak and returned via the Subansiri valley, back into the Tibetan territory. The last Tsari pilgrimage was conducted in 1956, after which the Sino-Indian border conflict put a stop to the relations between the two regions.

Sino-Indian border conflict

After the

1959 Tibetan uprising The 1959 Tibetan uprising (also known by other names) began on 10 March 1959, when a revolt erupted in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which had been under the effective control of the People's Republic of China since the Seventeen Point Agreemen ...

, Chinese troops arrived in Tibet in large numbers and started militarising the border. The Indian border post at

, near

, was attacked and driven out. India withdrew the border post to Maja. At the beginning of 1962, the Chinese activity along the border increased again. On 23 October, the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

began with the Chinese troops attacking with superior force. The Asaphila post, manned by

Jammu and Kashmir Rifles The Jammu and Kashmir Rifles is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. Its origins lay in the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. After the accession of the state to the Indian Union in October 1947, ...

, lost one JCO and 17 other ranks. After this, all the Indian border posts were ordered to withdraw to

Taliha Taliha is a village in the Upper Subansiri district in Arunachal Pradesh state of India. It is one of the 60 constituencies of Legislative Assembly of Arunachal Pradesh. Name of current MLA (September-2016) of this constituency is Punji Mara ...

. It is believed that the Chinese would have occupied all the vacated posts. On 16 November, two thousand Chinese troops were found in the Gelensiniak area equipped with heavy weaponry. After the war, the Chinese withdrew to their previous positions, except that they retained possession of the

area in the Tsari Chu valley.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{citation , first1=P.B. , last1=Sinha , first2=A.A. , last2=Athale , first3=S. N. , last3=Prasad , title=History of the Conflict with China, 1962 , publisher=History Division, Ministry of Defence, Government of India , year=1992 , url=http://www.php.isn.ethz.ch/lory1.ethz.ch/collections/coll_india/documents/WarWithChina_1962_000.pdf , ref={{sfnref, Sinha & Athale, History of the Conflict with China, 1992 Villages in Upper Subansiri district Borders of Arunachal Pradesh