Kashmir’s silk route

Kashmir with great geo-strategic significance, connecting Indian sub-continent with Central Asia and rest of the world, since ancient times, has   served as an economic corridor between South and Central Asia. The three principal highways were facilitating such connections, leading to Khorasan, India and Tibet. The Zojila (11,300 feet.) Pass has been since ages, an important thoroughfare, connecting Kashmir with Ladakh and with Tibet, Turkistan and China. The movement on this Pass used to  continue from June to November every year, though top of Zojila remained under snow until end of June.

The Silk Road used to be a major trading route in the first millennium B.C.  It connected the kingdom of Kamboja, which is now Afghanistan and Tajikistan, to cities and cultural centers in northern India. The Silk Road extended approximately 6,437 kilometers (4,000 miles) across some of the world’s most formidable landscapes.

  Although, the route was not more secure than others, however, it was considered the  chief trade route, known as silk route between Kashmir and Central Asia. This Pass gave a unique commercial importance to the erstwhile state as it  was traversed by moving traders  for transportation of goods over Kashmir and onwards into Kargil, Leh and Central Asia.

Like Kashmir, the passes of Ladakh are equally  famous. Categorized into three groups, one among them was the Tibetan Route or Leh-Demchak (Tibet) route, the main communication link between Leh and Tibet, connecting Leh with the Tibetan city of Lhasa. Here, traders had choice depending on the city of destination.

The Karakoram Pass was another  important  route into Central Asia and a regular means of communication between India and Turkestan.

From Kar-kil to Kargil

In addition, one of the important trans-Kashmir outlets through Zojila was Kargil-Iskardu-Gilgit link road. Kargil was  equidistant from Kashmir, Baltistan and Ladakh— hence, its ancient name—Kar-kil meaning equal distance, which later on transformed into Kargil.   Gilgit was equally an important  trade link between Kashmir and India on one side  and Xinjiang China and Central Asia on the other. 

Kashmir has maintained commercial and cultural relations with South and Central Asia through these links since ancient times, and served as a trading belt  that connected multiple geographic areas. The merchant community that conducted trade between India and Central Asia across Kashmir, was broadly fragmented into two groups, the ‘Andijanese’ or ‘Kashmiris’ and Afghans. Andijanese would traded at Kashgar, which in first quarter of the 19th century, was a bigger city than Yarkand, wherefrom Afghan traders used to operate. (Cambridge history of China. Vol X p 83). The Andijanese also operated at Kokand, Tashkent and Bukhara though their role was considerably smaller at Tibet, Ladakh, Baltistan and  Yarkand .

  Since Kashmir bordered closely with Central Asia, its capital city, Srinagar, was the hub of trading activity for the Turkish, Tibetan, Ladakhi, Balti  and Kashmiri merchants. These traders had rest houses as well as religious Shrines in Kashmir. Cambridge history of China. Vol X).

The erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed special status in the Indian subcontinent as it offered a direct land access of India to Turkestan, Yarkand, Khotan, and facilitated free movement of diverse goods, merchants, explorers, spies and soldiers across different routes criss-crossing Kashmir. However, the Partition of Indian sub-continent in 1947, emergence of India and Pakistan and the sequential wars between them in 1965 and  1971 on Jammu & Kashmir led to the permanent  closure of traditional trans-Ladakh and trans-Gilgit land routes.

Some  books about the Silk Route

• `India and the Silk Roads’ by Jagjeet Lally
• `Silk Route Expedition, Phase III: Leh-Chushul’, written by the University of Kashmir’s Centre of Central Asian Studies.
• `Kashmir and Kashghar: A Narrative of the Journey of the Embassy to Kashghar (1873-74)’
• `Buddhism on the Silk Route’