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The Ardagh–Johnson Line is the northeastern boundary of
W. H. Johnson was the lead surveyor of Ladakh in the Kashmir Survey team instituted 1847–1865 by the
In May 1865, W. H. Johnson of the
The Ardagh–Johnson Line is the northeastern boundary of Kashmir
Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...
drawn by surveyor William Johnson and recommended by John Charles Ardagh
Major-General Sir John Charles Ardagh (9 August 1840 – 30 September 1907), was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish officer of the British Army, who served as a military engineer, surveyor, intelligence officer, and colonial administrator.
Bio ...
as the official boundary of India. It abuts China's Xinjiang
Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...
and Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
autonomous regions.
The Ardagh–Johnson Line is one of three boundary lines considered by the British Indian government, the other two being the Macartney–MacDonald Line and a line along the Karakoram
The Karakoram () is a mountain range in the Kashmir region spanning the border of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwestern extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range is withi ...
range. The British preference among the three choices varied over time based on the perception of their strategic interests in India. The Ardagh–Johnson Line represented the "forward school" that wanted to advance the boundary as forward as possible as a defence against the growing Russian empire. The Indian Government believed that, following the Chinese reluctance to acquiesce to the more conservative Macartney–MacDonald Line, the British eventually reverted to the forward line in the Aksai Chin
Aksai Chin is a region administered by China partly in Hotan County, Hotan Prefecture, Xinjiang, and partly in Rutog County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibet, and constituting the easternmost portion of the larger Kashmir regio ...
area, which was then inherited by the independent Republic of India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area; the most populous country since 2023; and, since its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. Bounded by ...
. Independent scholars have not confirmed the claim.
Etymology
W. H. Johnson was the lead surveyor of Ladakh in the Kashmir Survey team instituted 1847–1865 by the Survey of India
The Survey of India is India's central engineering agency in charge of mapping and surveying.British Raj
The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent,
*
* lasting from 1858 to 1947.
*
* It is also called Crown rule ...
till 1947. (See Maps 2–4.)
Major General John Charles Ardagh
Major-General Sir John Charles Ardagh (9 August 1840 – 30 September 1907), was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish officer of the British Army, who served as a military engineer, surveyor, intelligence officer, and colonial administrator.
Bio ...
was the chief of the British military intelligence in London, who formally proposed to the British Indian government the alignment drawn by Johnson as the boundary of India in 1897.
The term "Johnson boundary" was used by historian Alastair Lamb
Alastair Lamb (1930–2023) was a British diplomatic history, diplomatic historian who authored several books on the Sino-Indian border dispute and the Kashmir conflict, Indo-Pakistani dispute over Kashmir. He also worked in archaeology and et ...
in his book ''The China–India Border'' (1964) and "Johnson line" by journalist Neville Maxwell. No names were used for the boundary lines in the northeast of Kashmir prior to these authors. Scholar Steven Hoffman later used "Ardagh–Johnson Line" to refer to the line generally shown on British maps, which differs from the "Johnson line" in its northern boundary.
Initial survey
In May 1865, W. H. Johnson of the Survey of India
The Survey of India is India's central engineering agency in charge of mapping and surveying.hitherto-unexplored Aksai Chin, following the main trade route — averaging about thirty miles per day.
The resulting map was published in 1867. Johnson noted that
Since the late 1800s, local government officials were increasingly unhappy with accuracy of such traverse-maps and as a result, new surveys (along with boundary commissions) were frequently set up. However, extremely inhospitable geological conditions of Northeast Kashmir and difficulty in determining water-sheds across the Aksai Chin meant a continued lack of precision surveys covering this region.
In 1888, the Joint Commissioner of Ladakh requested India's Foreign Department to demarcate boundaries across northern and eastern Kashmir in a clear manner. After much back and forth, the department concluded that Johnson (and those who followed him) had an unconvincing view of the Indus watershed and their traverse-maps were too imprecise (and lacking in details) to serve the purpose of adjudicating territorial boundaries.
In 1897 a British military officer, Sir John Ardagh, proposed a boundary line along the crest of the Kun Lun Mountains north of the Yarkand River. At the time Britain was concerned at the danger of Russian expansion as China weakened, and Ardagh argued that his line was more defensible. The Ardagh line was effectively a modification of the Johnson line, and became known as the "Ardagh–Johnson Line".
Khotan
Hotan (also known by #Etymology, other names) is a major oasis town in southwestern Xinjiang, an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region in Northwestern China. The city proper of Hotan broke off from the larger Hotan County to become an ...
's border was at Brinjga, in the Kunlun Mountains, and the entire Karakash Valley was within the territory of Kashmir. The boundary of Kashmir that he drew, stretching from Sanju Pass to the eastern edge of Chang Chenmo Valley along the Kunlun mountains, is referred to as the "Johnson Line".
In 1893, Hung Ta-chen, a senior Chinese official at St. Petersburg, provided a map which coincided with the Ardagh–Johnson line in broad details. It showed the boundary of Xinjiang up to Raskam. In the east, it was similar to the Ardagh–Johnson line, placing Aksai Chin in Kashmir territory.
Ardagh Proposal
Since the late 1800s, local government officials were increasingly unhappy with accuracy of such traverse-maps and as a result, new surveys (along with boundary commissions) were frequently set up. However, extremely inhospitable geological conditions of Northeast Kashmir and difficulty in determining water-sheds across the Aksai Chin meant a continued lack of precision surveys covering this region.
In 1888, the Joint Commissioner of Ladakh requested India's Foreign Department to demarcate boundaries across northern and eastern Kashmir in a clear manner. After much back and forth, the department concluded that Johnson (and those who followed him) had an unconvincing view of the Indus watershed and their traverse-maps were too imprecise (and lacking in details) to serve the purpose of adjudicating territorial boundaries.
In 1897 a British military officer, Sir John Ardagh, proposed a boundary line along the crest of the Kun Lun Mountains north of the Yarkand River. At the time Britain was concerned at the danger of Russian expansion as China weakened, and Ardagh argued that his line was more defensible. The Ardagh line was effectively a modification of the Johnson line, and became known as the "Ardagh–Johnson Line".
Aftermath
In 1911 theXinhai Revolution
The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC). The revolution was the culmination of a decade ...
resulted in power shifts in China, and by the end of World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, the British officially used the Ardagh–Johnson Line. From 1917 to 1933, the "Postal Atlas of China", published by the Government of China in Peking showed the boundary in Aksai Chin as per the Ardagh–Johnson line, which runs along the Kunlun Mountains
The Kunlun Mountains constitute one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending for more than . In the broadest sense, the chain forms the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau south of the Tarim Basin. Located in Western China, the Kun ...
. The "Peking University Atlas", published in 1925, also put the Aksai Chin in India.
Border of independent India
Uponindependence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
in 1947, the government of India fixed its official boundary in the west, which included the Aksai Chin, in a manner that resembled the Ardagh–Johnson Line. India's basis for defining the border was “''chiefly by long usage and custom''.”. Unlike the Johnson line, India did not claim the northern areas near Shahidulla and Khotan
Hotan (also known by #Etymology, other names) is a major oasis town in southwestern Xinjiang, an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region in Northwestern China. The city proper of Hotan broke off from the larger Hotan County to become an ...
.
Gallery
Notes
References
Bibliography
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