Ladakh Range

The Ladakh Range is a mountain range in central Ladakh in India with its northern tip extending into Baltistan in Pakistan. It lies between the Indus and Shyok river valleys, stretching to 230 miles . Leh, the capital city of Ladakh, is at the foot of the Ladakh Range in the Indus river valley.

Geography

The Ladakh Range is regarded as a southern extension of the Karakoram Range, which runs for 230 miles from the confluence of the Indus and Shyok rivers in Baltistan to the Tibetan border of Ladakh in the southeast. The southern extension of the Ladakh Range is called the Kailash Range, especially in Tibet.
The Ladakh Range forms the northeastern bank of the Indus River and the western bank of the Shyok River.
The Ladakh Range has an average height of about 6,000 metres and has no major peaks. Some of its peaks are less than 4,800 metres.
The main mountain passes are Chorbat, Digar La, Khardung La, Chang La and Tsaka La.

Habitation

The city of Leh lies in the Indus Valley at the foot of the Ladakh Range. Leh is a historic trading town with trade routes to Yarkand and Tibet on the one hand, and Srinagar and rest of the Indian subcontinent on the other. The summer route from Leh to Yarkand passed through Khardung La to pass into the Nubra valley and thence to Yarkand via the Karakoram Pass and Suget Pass. The winter route passed through Digar La to reach the Shyok River valley and, again, reach the Karakoram Pass. The trade route to Tibet went via Gartok in the Indus river valley at the foot of the Kailash Range. By the Treaty of Tingmosgang signed in 1684, Ladakh had the exclusive right to trade in the pashmina wool from Tibet, which led to its prosperity.