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The traveller from India will look in vain for similarities between the land
and people he has left and those he encounters in Ladakh. The faces and physique
of the Ladakhis, and the clothes they wear , are more akin to those of Tibet
and Central Asia than of India. The original population may have been dards,
an Indo -Aryan race from down the Indus. But Immigration from Tibet, perhaps
the millennium or so ago, largely overwhelmed the culture of the Dards and Obliterated
their racial characteristics. In Eastern and central Ladakh, todays population
seems to be mostly of Tibetan origin. Further west, in and around Kargil, there
is much in the people's appearance that suggests a mixed origin.
Buddhism reached Tibet from India via Ladakh, and there are ancient Buddist
rock engravings all over the region, even in areas like Dras and the lower Suru
Valley which today are inhabited by an exclusively Muslim population. Islam
too came from the west. A peaceful penetration of the Shia sect spearheaded
by missionaries, its success was guaranteed by the early conversion of the sub-rulers
of Dras, Kargil and the Suru Valley.
The demeanor of the people is effected by their religion, especially among the
women. Among the Buddhists, as also the Muslims of the Leh areas, women not
only work in the house and field, but also do business and interact freely with
men other than their own relations. The Natural joie -de-vivre of the Ladakhis
is given free rein by the ancient traditions of the region. Monastic and other
religious festivals, many of which fall in winter, provide the excuse for convivial
gatherings. Summer pastimes all over the region are archery and polo. Among
the Buddhists , these often develop into open air parties accompanied by dance
and song, at which chang, the local brew made from fermented barley, flows freely.
Of the secular culture, the most important element is the rich oral literature
of songs and poems for every occasion, as well as local versions of the Kesar
Saga, the Tibetan national epic.
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