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Lanak La () or Lanak Pass (; hi, लानक दर्रा) is a mountain pass in the disputed Aksai Chin region, administered by China as part of the Tibet Autonomous Region. It is claimed by India as its border pass.
Lanak La had been a well-established frontier point between Ladakh and Tibet, as confirmed by travellers from William Moorcroft in 1820 onwards. Several travellers wrote in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that the traditional boundary between India and Tibet was at Lanak La. They also state that the border was accepted by both sides.
There are substantial Kashmiri Government records for the area of the Chang Chenmo valley up to the Lanak pass. In addition to the revenue records, 1908 Ladakh Settlement Report, reports of several survey teams, the Jammu and Kashmir Game Preservation Act of 1951, there are Kashmiri documents relating to the construction and maintenance of trade routes, rest houses, and storehouses in the Chang Chenmo valley. All of them placed the entire valley up to the Lanak Pass within Ladakh.
Chinese maps also recognised Lanak La as the boundary till 1951.
In 1956, the People's Republic of China published what appears to be its first self-defined map, in which Kongka Pass was marked as the boundary.
There was no Chinese presence in the area of Lanak La till June 1958, when an Indian patrol party had gone up to it along the Changchenmo Valley.
There was an Indian flag planted there until 1956.
In the following year, Chinese troops had infiltrated into the Changchenmo Valley. In October 1959, as an Indian border patrol party was attempting to set up posts in the vicinity of the Kongka Pass,
they were ambushed by Chinese troops, killing some of them and taking others prisoner.
Some western scholars such as Larry Wortzel and
File:The great plateau; being an account of exploration in Central Tibet, 1903, and of the Gartok expedition, 1904-1905 (1905) (14776461552).jpg, Map by
Chang Chenmo River marked on OpenStreetMap
{{Mountain passes of China Mountain passes of China Mountain passes of Tibet Ngari Prefecture Chang Chenmo Valley Borders of Ladakh Aksai Chin
History
Lanak La had been a well-established frontier point between Ladakh and Tibet, as confirmed by travellers from William Moorcroft in 1820 onwards. Several travellers wrote in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that the traditional boundary between India and Tibet was at Lanak La. They also state that the border was accepted by both sides.
There are substantial Kashmiri Government records for the area of the Chang Chenmo valley up to the Lanak pass. In addition to the revenue records, 1908 Ladakh Settlement Report, reports of several survey teams, the Jammu and Kashmir Game Preservation Act of 1951, there are Kashmiri documents relating to the construction and maintenance of trade routes, rest houses, and storehouses in the Chang Chenmo valley. All of them placed the entire valley up to the Lanak Pass within Ladakh.
Chinese claims
Chinese maps also recognised Lanak La as the boundary till 1951.
In 1956, the People's Republic of China published what appears to be its first self-defined map, in which Kongka Pass was marked as the boundary.
There was no Chinese presence in the area of Lanak La till June 1958, when an Indian patrol party had gone up to it along the Changchenmo Valley.
There was an Indian flag planted there until 1956.
In the following year, Chinese troops had infiltrated into the Changchenmo Valley. In October 1959, as an Indian border patrol party was attempting to set up posts in the vicinity of the Kongka Pass,
they were ambushed by Chinese troops, killing some of them and taking others prisoner.
Some western scholars such as Larry Wortzel and Allen S. Whiting
Allen Suess Whiting (October 27, 1926 – January 11, 2018) was an American political scientist and former government official specializing in the foreign relations of China.
Whiting was University of Arizona Regents' Professor of Political Scienc ...
appear to endorse the Chinese claim that Kongka Pass was the "traditional" boundary of Tibet. Other scholars however point out the Chinese inconsistencies.
Historical maps
Cecil Rawling
Brigadier-General Cecil Godfrey Rawling, (16 February 1870 – 28 October 1917) was a British soldier, explorer and author whose expeditions to Tibet and Dutch New Guinea brought acclaim from the Royal Geographical Society and awards from the ...
, showing Lanak La on the boundary in inset map (1905)
File:STANFORD(1917) p61 PLATE19. SINKIANG (14597194848).jpg, Map including Lanak La (Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
, 1917)
File:NI-44-06 Lungmu Co, China.jpg, Map including Lanak La (DMA
DMA may refer to:
Arts
* ''DMA'' (magazine), a defunct dance music magazine
* Dallas Museum of Art, an art museum in Texas, US
* Danish Music Awards, an award show held in Denmark
* BT Digital Music Awards, an annual event in the UK
* Doctor of M ...
, 1989)
File:Aksai detail.png, Map including Lanak La (labeled as ''La-na-k'o Shan-k'ou'', CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
, 2013)
See also
* List of locations in Aksai ChinReferences
Bibliography
*External links
Chang Chenmo River marked on OpenStreetMap
{{Mountain passes of China Mountain passes of China Mountain passes of Tibet Ngari Prefecture Chang Chenmo Valley Borders of Ladakh Aksai Chin