Kargil district
Kargil is a district that forms part of the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir, currently administered by India as part of the Union Territory of Ladakh. It lies close to the Line of Control and is bordered by Pakistan-administered Gilgit–Baltistan to the north, the Kashmir Valley and Jammu to the west, Leh district to the east, and Himachal Pradesh to the south.
Administratively, Kargil is divided into nine blocks: Kargil, Drass, Sankoo, Taisuru, Shargole, Shakar-Chiktan, Zanskar, GM Pore/Trespone, and Lungnak. The district has three tehsils—Kargil, Zanskar, and Sankoo. Zanskar and Drass also function as sub-divisions, each headed by a Sub-Divisional Magistrate.
Name
The name Kargil is said to derive from the Balti-Tibetan words Khar and Rkil. Khar means "Castle" and rkil means "Centre" - thus a place between castles (as the place lay between many kingdoms). The ancient name of Kargil was Purig.
Demographics
With a population of 140,000, Kargil is the only Muslim majority district in Ladakh. Of the total population, 85% are Muslim, of which 73% follow Shia Islam. Most of the district's Muslims are found in Kargil town, Drass, Wakha and the lower Suru valley. The remainder 14% are followers of Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, mostly found in Zanskar with small populations in the upper Suru valley (Rangdum) and around Shergol and Mulbekh. Another 1% of the population follow Hinduism and Sikhism.
Purig and Balti people of Tibetan origin (converting from Buddhism to Islam in the 16th Century) mainly live in Kargil. They have mixed with the Dard, Mon and other Aryan people. The mainly Muslim Dards live in the valley of Drass and speak Shina. A small number of Buddhist Dard, known as Brokpa, live in the Dha-Hanu region near the Lamayuru monastery. Some Arghons also live in Kargil Town. Later, immigrants from Kashmir and Hindus Jammu have come to live in Kargil.
Gallery
Local girls in Kargil
buddhist girl dancing on a folk song
View of Suru Valley
Panorama of Kargil Town
Lifeline of Ladakh region - the Zoji La
Poyen Village
Sunset in the mountains
Kargil in the winter
The Kun and Nun mountain range in Kargil.
Row of chortens (or stupas) at the village of Purne. Each of the elements that constitute these edifices, as well as their colour, has a symbolic meaning in Tibetan Buddhism.
Farmland in Kargil lies straddled below the mountains and above a flowing stream.
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