Political-religious History of Ladakh

Abstract

The history of Ladakh has not been studied in detail in the sense of modern scientific historiography, and thus there are only a few credible and accurate studies of the history of this land, on which the present article builds. In it there is a chronological overview of the main events in the political-religious history of the land, starting with the settlement of the first peoples, the Dards and Mons, around the second century BC, and then with the gradual immigration of the Tibetan population, who represent the majority of the ethnic composition of the Ladakhi people. Until the 10th century, very little is known about the history of the land, as written and archaeological sources are very scarce. The Ladakhi kingdom, then called Maryul, was founded in 950, and the Ladakhi Chronicles, written at the royal court, represent almost the only written source for this area until the 15th century. From the 15th century onwards, other sources (Tibetan and Islamic, as well as other Ladakhi sources) are also available, and history is not only better known to us, but also presented more objectively, as we can compare different perspectives from different allied and enemy states.