Camels and Salt at Changla Pass, Ladakh

                              

Sonam Wangdu

Sonam Wangdu, 95 yrs, from Chemrey village in Leh, Ladakh, India, distinctly recalls that when he was young, Hor traders ( Turkic origin people from Yarkand, Kashgar, and surrounding regions), would descend the Changla Pass with camels and Horbungs-large donkeys from central Asia, that resembled Ladakhi horses. The Hor traders brought high-quality goods, especially sought-after items like silk and carpets. They had two varieties of silk: Shayee, which was considered superior, and Tutsey, which was of slightly lower quality. On the way back these traders preferred to return via the Khardungla Pass rather than Changla.

The other travelers to cross the Changla Pass were the Tibetan traders, who would bring salt from the lakes of Mindum Tsaka and Kyeltse in Tibet during the 8th or 9th month of the Ladakhi calendar. There was an unwritten code in Chemrey that required Tibetan salt traders to camp on land belonging to the Chemrey Gompa for at least three days before moving on to land owned by local families. In return for using the Gompa's or the families' land, the traders would leave behind rilmang (sheep/goat dung) to fertilize the land.

The salt market in Chemrey lasted for two to three months,during which the Tibetan traders would come and go. The market would attract traders from all over Ladakh including Sham and Baltistan. Baltistani traders would bring goods such as Phating (apricots), Osey (mulberries), and sometimes butter, which Wangdu recalls was of inferior quality compared to the butter brought by the Tibetan traders. Occasionally, a few Zanskari traders would venture to Kharu and Chemrey to sell butter, but this was rare.

During the Dogra rule, there was an important government official, known as the Munshi, residing in Tangste village. The Munshi was responsible for controlling trade, including salt, and for collecting fees from traders entering and leaving Ladakh via Changla. There was a government Kutti (house) in Tangste where the Munshi lived. Wangdu remembers that the father of the renowned Ladakhi scholar, the late Tashi Rabgais, from the Tukchupa family of Sakti village, once served as the Munshi at Tangste.

Sonam Wangdu fondly remembers many of his Tibetan friends, including Rabang Talmo and Thinley, who would come to Chemrey every year to trade their salt.