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OVERLAND CARAVAN480 km Total NetworkActive: 1600 CE – 1950 CE

The Leh–Kullu Road and the Zanskar and Spiti Tracks

The southern approach to Ladakh from the Punjab hills, crossing the Rohtang, Baralacha and Taglang passes, with side tracks through Zanskar, Rupshu and Spiti.

6.0
Type: overland-caravanMap centre: [77.57°, 32.9°]Line: Line drawn through the OWTRAD halting places (T. M. Ciolek).

Places Along the Leh–Kullu Road and the Zanskar and Spiti Tracks

Rohtang Pass, on the Leh–Kullu Road and the Zanskar and Spiti Tracks
Rohtang PassCC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Bara-lacha la, on the Leh–Kullu Road and the Zanskar and Spiti Tracks
Bara-lacha laCC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
Taglang La, on the Leh–Kullu Road and the Zanskar and Spiti Tracks
Taglang LaCC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Commercial Genesis & Spatial Network

Goods bound for Leh and on to Yarkand left the Punjab hills at Kullu, crossed the Rohtang Pass into Lahaul, and climbed the Baralacha La to the Lingti plain, where the territory of Ladakh began. From there the road crossed the high Rupshu plateau and the Taglang La to reach the Indus above Leh. The modern Manali–Leh highway follows much the same line. Branch tracks left it for Zanskar over the Shingo La, for the Suru valley and Kargil, and through Rupshu and over the Parang La to Spiti and the Sutlej, the road by which shawl wool reached the weavers of Rampur.

Economic Impact & Cultural Diffusion

Gave the Punjab and the Kullu and Bashahr hill states a route into the Central Asian trade that avoided Kashmir, and it was the line the British favoured for that reason in the nineteenth century.

Caravanserais and Halting Places on This Route

46 caravan halting places recorded within 40 km of the mapped line. A caravanserai is a roadside inn; a halting place is a named camping ground with no permanent building. How caravans travelled and how a caravanserai worked.

Zingzingbar, India

Zingzingbar

Caravan halting place · India · 32.7833° N, 77.3333° E

Zingzingbar is a Border Roads Organization road-building camp and tea house way-station situated 25 kilometres (16 mi) from Darcha on the Manali to Leh road in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh. It is situated at an altitude of around 14,010 feet (4,270 m). The location has temporary shelters and dhabas that can be used by trekkers and tourists for accommodation. Zingzingbar is the proposed south portal of the Bara-lacha-la tunnel, situated approximately 125 kilometres (78 mi) from Manali. The north portal of this tunnel is expected to be at Keylong Sarai. The tunnel will reduce the transit time on the avalanche and landslide prone route by up to 2 hrs.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Photo via Wikimedia Commons

All Recorded Stopping Places

NameTypeCountryCoordinates
ZingzingbarCaravan halting placeIndia32.7833° N, 77.3333° E
Chung TungCaravan halting placeIndia32.8000° N, 78.3167° E
DakbajanCaravan halting placeIndia32.7500° N, 77.1500° E
DebringCaravan halting place—33.4667° N, 77.8167° E
FariabadCaravan halting placeIndia33.9167° N, 76.0333° E
HurlingCaravan halting placeIndia32.0667° N, 78.5333° E
KenlungCaravan halting placeIndia32.8333° N, 77.4500° E
KhalaCaravan halting placeIndia32.9333° N, 78.1167° E
KharlungCaravan halting placeIndia32.9167° N, 78.3000° E
KhiangshisaCaravan halting placeIndia32.8167° N, 78.0833° E
KhurmafuCaravan halting placeIndia33.8000° N, 76.9333° E
Khurna SumdoCaravan halting place—33.7000° N, 77.3667° E
LakongCaravan halting placeIndia32.9333° N, 77.1667° E
Lama GuruCaravan halting placeIndia32.8667° N, 77.7167° E
LapurbaCaravan halting place—33.6500° N, 77.3667° E
LashitangaCaravan halting placeIndia32.2833° N, 78.2833° E
LichuCaravan halting placeIndia32.3833° N, 77.6167° E
LingtiCaravan halting placeIndia32.9000° N, 77.5667° E
LunCaravan halting place—33.2500° N, 77.6500° E
LungturmaCaravan halting placeIndia33.1333° N, 77.5167° E
LuntunnuCaravan halting placeIndia33.0667° N, 77.5833° E
MuldemCaravan halting placeIndia32.9667° N, 77.6000° E
MurshunCaravan halting placeIndia33.2833° N, 77.3500° E
NiriCaravan halting placeIndia33.5167° N, 77.2333° E
Niri SumdoCaravan halting place—33.5667° N, 77.2333° E
NumahCaravan halting place—33.1167° N, 77.8667° E
NyamurCaravan halting place—33.3333° N, 78.0667° E
PangCaravan halting place—33.1333° N, 77.7833° E
PangotCaravan halting placeIndia33.8667° N, 76.9333° E
PatseoCaravan halting placeIndia32.7500° N, 77.2333° E
PeldoCaravan halting placeIndia33.0167° N, 78.3000° E
PungiadoCaravan halting placeIndia32.9667° N, 78.3500° E
Purang SumdoCaravan halting place—33.5333° N, 77.7333° E
Puti RuniCaravan halting placeIndia32.2833° N, 77.5333° E
RachogbaCaravan halting placeIndia33.0167° N, 77.6000° E
RamjakCaravan halting placeIndia32.8500° N, 77.1167° E
SangthaCaravan halting place—33.3167° N, 77.7000° E
SumdoCaravan halting placeIndia33.0667° N, 77.6333° E
Sumdo (2)Caravan halting placeIndia33.2333° N, 78.3833° E
SutakCaravan halting placeIndia33.2000° N, 77.4833° E
TangolebCaravan halting placeIndia32.8500° N, 78.3167° E
Topo KomaCaravan halting placeIndia32.6000° N, 77.5167° E
TrakkurCaravan halting placeIndia33.8167° N, 76.4333° E
TsakshangCaravan halting placeIndia33.1000° N, 78.2667° E
UmdungCaravan halting placeIndia32.6500° N, 78.3667° E
UtiCaravan halting placeIndia32.8333° N, 78.4833° E

Sources: Wikidata (caravanserais, CC0) and the OWTRAD project (halting places). All caravanserais and halting places

Logistics, Caravanserais & Overland Hazards

  • ▲Open for roughly four months a year; the Baralacha and Rohtang passes are closed by snow from autumn to early summer
  • ▲About ten stages between Lahaul and the Indus have no permanent settlement
  • ▲Unbridged glacial streams had to be forded early in the day before the melt rose
  • ▲Camps such as Zingzingbar, Patseo and Pang served as seasonal fairs where traders exchanged loads

Custodial Empires & Polities

Sovereign states that safeguarded, taxed, or maintained garrisons along this route:

Kingdom of Ladakh (Namgyal Dynasty)Kingdom of KulluBashahr StateSikh EmpireBritish Raj

More Routes in This Region

The Himalaya and South Asia

The Leh–Lhasa Road and the Western Tibet Passes1,700 km

overland caravan • 1684 CE – 1950 CE

The Leh–Yarkand Caravan Route (Karakoram Pass)770 km

overland caravan • 1600 CE – 1949 CE

The Grand Trunk Road (Uttarapatha)2,700 km

overland caravan • 300 BCE – Present Day

Nearby Routes in Other Regions

The Great Silk Road6,400 km

overland caravan • 130 BCE – 1453 CE

Caravan Routes of the Persian Deserts3,200 km

overland caravan • 550 BCE – 1930 CE

The Ancient Tea Horse Road (Chamagudao)3,200 km

overland caravan • 618 CE – 1950 CE