1. Perak
These two regions are located in the far north-west of India in the Himalayas. For centuries, the capital of Ladakh, Leh, was a crossroads on the historic Silk Road from Sinkiang to West Asia, Tibet and the plains of India. The area was characterised by a Tibetan Buddhist culture with many ancient monasteries. The area was characterized by a Tibetan Buddhist culture with numerous old monasteries.
After the Chinese occupation of Tibet in the 1950s, the ancient trade routes to the north were blocked. A brief Indo-Chinese border war in 1962 ended in victory for China, which occupied the northernmost province of Ladakh, »Aksai Chin«. After that, the area became more of a focus for India. A road from Srinagar/Kashmir opened Ladakh to motorized traffic for the first time.
When India was granted Muslim Kashmir after independence in 1947, it led to a permanent conflict with its neighbour Pakistan. Kashmir has been largely closed to foreign visitors by India for security reasons. The only way for tourists to reach Ladak today is by air.
The muslim traders from Kashmir have shifted their activities from Srinagar to Leh. The once dominant Tibetan Buddhist culture in Ladakh has lost its influence.
To this day, Ladakh and Zanskar show local variations from the architecture, iconography and everyday culture of Tibet. This section of our website features some objects from this region that are not found in this form in Tibet.
