About the Book Ladakh, which is situated in the Himalayas on the borders of Tibet, Sinkiang and Kashmir, is a remote land. Until the beginning of the 19th century, the region was an independent kingdom, but in 1833 it was included as part of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. From the outside world the region was isolated for political and military reasons. In 1974, it was opened to international tourism. Buddhism, Islam and Christianity flourished in Ladakh. The author has thoughtfully given Ladakh's unique history, traditions and way of life. The etymological meaning of the word Ladakh has been taken from 'La' that means mountain passes and 'Dak' indicates country, i.e., "the country of mountain passes". A group of a tribe people originally used to live in Ladakh and those people were vagabonds.
The religion and the religious activities have made a great influence upon the lives of the Ladakh people. The Ladakh always complain that "instead of being made free sons of free India", they were thrown at the mercy of the Kashmiris. The Buddhists have grievances against the state administration and this was controlled by the valley Muslims.
I hope this work will be useful for teachers, researchers and students who have interest in Ladakh studies.
About the Author Dr. K.L. Hazra got his M.A., LL.B., and Diploma in French language from the University of Calcutta. He received his Ph.D. degree at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. He was a Commonwealth scholar. He was one of India's leading Indologists. He was a well-known author of South and South-East Asian History, Culture and Civilisation. He had the author of several scholarly publications on Buddhism.
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