Milam is the last village situated in

Johar valley Johar Valley (also known as ''Milam Valley'' or ''Gori Ganga Valley'') is a valley located in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand, India, along the Gori Ganga river. The valley used to be a major trade route with Tibet. The best known villages ...

Pithoragarh district Pithoragarh district is the easternmost district in the state of Uttarakhand. It is located in the Himalayas and has an area of and a population of 483,439 (as of 2011). The city of Pithoragarh, located in Saur Valley, is its headquarters. T ...

in the state of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

, India. The river

Gori Ganga Gori Ganga ( Kumaoni: ''Gori Gād'') is a river in the Munsiari tehsil of the Pithoragarh District, part of the state of Uttarakhand in northern India. Its principal source is the Milam Glacier, just northeast of Nanda Devi along with the Glac ...

originates from

Milam Glacier Milam Glacier is a major glacier of the Kumaon Himalaya. History It is located in the tehsil of Munsiyari, part of the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand, India, about northeast of Nanda Devi. It ranges in elevation from about to about at ...

and flows past the village to meet with Kali ganga at

Jauljibi Jauljibi is the small bazaar of Indo-Nepal border (Mahakali Zone) situated at the confluences of Kali and Gori Rivers. The name refers to bazaars on both sides of the river, with the Nepal-side bazaar being rather small compared to that on the I ...

Historical trade with Tibet

Milam is on a route over high mountain passes ( Unta Dhura, Jandi Dhura and Kingribingri Dhura) to Gyanima mandi in

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

. The border is closed since the

Sino-Indian War The Sino-Indian War took place between China and India from October to November 1962, as a major flare-up of the Sino-Indian border dispute. There had been a series of violent border skirmishes between the two countries after the 1959 Tib ...

of 1962, and Milam is now a ghost village with very few inhabitants. Before the war, it used to be a trade center bustling with 500 families. As of now all trade with Tibet is stopped and the families have settled in

Munsiyari Munsiyari ( Kumaoni: ''Munsyār'') is the name of the sub-division headquarters, a conglomeration of revenue villages and it also refers to the entire region as Munsiyari Tehsil and Sub Division in the Pithoragarh District in the hill-state of ...

and other places in the lower ranges. In summer months very few people go there and cultivate medicinal plants, high altitude Buckwheat and Jambhu. Tibetan merchants visited this place and traded in Borax, precious stones,

Pashmina Pashmina (, ) refers to, depending on the source, a term for cashmere wool of the Changthangi cashmere goat,Janet Rizvi: ''Pashmina: The Kashmir Shawl and Beyond''. Marg Foundation, 2009. ISBN 978-8185026909. for fine Indian cashmere woolRobert R ...

and salt. The inhabitants of Milam too travelled along with pack mules to Tibet. They took rice, cotton clothes, jaggery, sugar, etc. to sell in Tibetan markets. The famous pandit-explorers

Nain Singh Nain Singh (21 October 18301 February 1882), also known as Nain Singh Rawat, was one of the first Indian explorers (dubbed "pundits") employed by the British to explore the Himalayas and Central Asia. He came from the Johar Valley in Kumaon. He ...

and Kishan Singh who mapped Tibet territory belong to this village.

Trekking

The trek to Milam village starts from

a road head that can be reached from

Almora Almora ( Kumaoni: ''Almāḍ'') is a municipal board and a cantonment town in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Almora district. Almora is located on a ridge at the southern edge of the Kumaon Hills of the ...

Pithoragarh Pithoragarh ( Kumaoni: ''Pithor'garh'') is a Himalayan city with a Municipal Board in Pithoragarh district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the fourth largest city of Kumaon and the largest in Kumaon hills. It is an education hub of t ...

. The trek passes through Lilam, Bogudiar, Rilkot, Martoli, Burfu and Bilju. Prominent peaks situated above the glacier are

Hardeol Hardeol or 'Temple of God' is one of the major peaks of the Kumaon Himalaya. It is the highest peak on the northern side of the ring of peaks guarding the Nanda Devi Sanctuary, and lies at the northeast corner of this ring. It is situated at th ...

, Trisuli, Nanda Ghoonti etc. Some of the camping places above the glacier are Nitwal dhar, Suraj kund etc.

Nandadevi Nanda Devi is the second-highest mountain in India, after Kangchenjunga, and the highest located entirely within the country (Kangchenjunga is on the border of India and Nepal). It is the 23rd-highest peak in the world. Nanda Devi was consid ...

East base camp can be reached through a side valley from Ghangar and Pacchu villages. The ideal trekking period is from May to October excluding

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

months. However, as the inhabitants of the upper villages tend to move down the valley for the winter months trekkers may find that food and accommodation is not available especially after the festival of Diwali.

Prominent people

Krishna Singh Rawat Rai Bahadur Kishen Singh or Krishna (1850–1921) was a native Indian explorer, termed a ''pundit'' by the British, who was employed by the Survey of India. His code-name was 'A.K.' and his accomplishments would rival those of his famous cousin ...

(1850-1921), honorary titled as

Rai Bahadur RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Italy), Ministry of Eco ...

British raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

, was an Indian explorer and cartographer. He was first to map the

Ramgarh crater Ramgarh crater, also known as ''Ramgarh structure'', ''Ramgarh Dome'' and ''Ramgarh astrobleme'', is a meteor impact crater of diameter in Kota, Rajasthan, Kota plateau of Vindhya range located adjacent to Ramgarh village in Mangrol, Rajastha ...

on a finer scale of (1 : 63,360).BALASUNDARAM, M., DUBE, A. Ramgarh, 1973, "Structure, India",

Nature (journal) ''Nature'' is a British weekly scientific journal founded and based in London, England. As a multidisciplinary publication, ''Nature'' features peer-reviewed research from a variety of academic disciplines, mainly in science and technology. ...

, 242, 40 doi:10.1038/242040a0. *

Nain Singh Rawat Nain Singh (21 October 18301 February 1882), also known as Nain Singh Rawat, was one of the first Indian explorers (dubbed "pundits") employed by the British to explore the Himalayas and Central Asia. He came from the Johar Valley in Kumaon. He ...

, honorary titled as C.I.E by British raj, was an Indian explorer, he was the cousin of the explorer Krishna Singh Rawat. He would later say that Thok Jalung was the coldest place he had ever visited.Hopkirk, p. 39.

References

{{Pithoragarh district Villages in Pithoragarh district

Historical trade with Tibet

Trekking

Prominent people

See also

References