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53-690: The Kalapani territory is an area under Indian administration as part of Pithoragarh district in the Kumaon Division of the Uttarakhand state, but it is also claimed by Nepal since 1997. According to Nepal's claim, it lies in Darchula district , Sudurpashchim Province . The territory represents part of the basin of the Kalapani river , one of the headwaters of the Kali River in

106-583: A West Himalayish language (closely related to the Zhang-Zhung language once spoken in West Tibet). The Byansis practise transhumance , living in their traditional homes in the high Himalayas during the summer and moving down to towns such as Dharchula in the winter. While high-altitude pastoralism is the mainstay of the Byansis, trade with western Tibet was also a key part of their livelihood. Both

159-780: A Tibetan script were written in an older form of the Zhangzhung language. This identification has been accepted by Takeuchi Tsuguhito ( 武内紹人 ) , who called the language "Old Zhangzhung" and added two further manuscripts. Two of these manuscripts are in the Stein collection of the British Library (IOL Tib J 755 (Ch. Fragment 43) and Or.8212/188) and three in the Pelliot collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale (Pelliot tibétain 1247, 1251 and 1252). In each case,

212-519: A district. There was an army cantonment, a church, and a mission school, resulting in the spread of Christianity in the region. The Bhotiya communities living in the Pithoragarh district historically practised transhumance between summer villages located at higher altitudes, close to the border with Tibet, and winter settlements located at lower altitudes, close to the Himalayan foothills and

265-482: A new link road to the Kailas-Manasarovar. Nepal objected to the exercise and said that it was violative of the prior understanding that boundary issues would be resolved through negotiation. India reaffirmed its commitment to negotiation but stated that the road follows the pre-existing route. The CPN-ML faction led by Bam Dev Gautam , which split off from CPN-UML in 1998, laid more expansive claims than

318-545: A new map of its own territory that expanded its claim an additional 335 square kilometres up to the Kuthi Yankti river, including Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura. It did not explain why a new claim arose. According to The Kathmandu Post , residents of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura, which India has claimed for decades, were not counted after the 1961 Nepal census. The final census report of 2021 Nepal census did not include data of Kuti, Gunji and Nabi villages of

371-468: A non- Qiangic language. Widmer (2014) classifies Zhangzhung within the eastern branch of West Himalayish, and lists the following cognates between Zhangzhung and Proto-West Himalayish. A number of scripts are recorded as being used for writing the Zhangzhung language. These are the Marchen script and its several descendants: F. W. Thomas suggested that three undeciphered Dunhuang manuscripts in

424-675: A part of the Almora district ). India also denied the Nepalese contention that Lipu Gad was the Kali River. In the Indian view, the Kali River begins only after Lipu Gad is joined by other streams arising from the Kalapani springs. Therefore, the Indian border leaves the midstream of river near Kalapani and follows the high watershed of the streams that join it. In May 2020, India inaugurated

477-433: A ranking of 546th among the 640 districts of India . The district has a population density of 69 inhabitants per square kilometre (180/sq mi). Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 5.13%. Pithoragarh has a sex ratio of 1021 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 82.93%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 24.90% and 4.04% of the population respectively. Native tribes in

530-688: A stream in the valley (elevation: 12,000 ft). The stream, bearing the name "Kalapani River", is formed from two streams, says the Gazetteer , one rising from the western end of the Lipulekh Pass ( Lipu Gad ) and another from the western declivity of the Kuntas peak ( Tera Gad ). Modern maps show two further streams joining from the southeast, which arise at the Om Parvat and Point 6172 respectively. The latter of these, called Pankha Gad , joins

583-544: A strong element of mutual security alliance, mirroring the earlier treaties with British India. No changes in India's border with Nepal are discernible from the maps of the period. The Kalapani territory continued to be shown as part of India. Following the Chinese take-over of Tibet in 1951, India increased its security presence along the northern border to inhibit possibilities of encroachment and infiltration. The Kalapani area

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636-506: Is 360 centimetres (140 in). Sati, Vishwambhar Prasad; Kumar, Kamlesh (2004). Uttaranchal: Dilemma of Plenties and Scarcities . Mittal Publications. ISBN   8170998980 . After June the district receives monsoon showers. Winter is a time for transhumance  – the seasonal migration of the Bhotiya tribe with their herds of livestock to lower, warmer areas. Locally, glaciers are known as Gal . Some important glaciers of

689-472: Is likely to have been included among such areas. Nepal too requested India's help in policing its northern border as early as 1950, and 17 posts are said to have been established jointly by the two countries. Nepal expert Sam Cowan states that, from the date of its independence, India "has assumed and acted on the basis that the trail to Lipu Lekh fell exclusively within its territory". The 1954 Trade Agreement between India and China mentioned Lipulekh as one of

742-661: Is located in the Himalayas and has an area of 7,110 km (2,750 sq mi) and a population of 483,439 (as of 2011). The city of Pithoragarh , located in Saur Valley , is its headquarters. The district is within the Kumaon division of Uttarakhand state. The Tibet plateau is situated to the north and Nepal is to the east. The Kali River which originates from the Kalagiri Mountain flows south, forming

795-515: Is one of the major festivals in this area. Languages of Pithoragarh district (2011) Kumaoni , with its several dialects, is the most widely spoken language. Hindi is the common language between the locals and outsiders, and English is spoken by some people, especially teachers, lecturers, and students in tertiary education. Several Sino-Tibetan languages of the West Himalayish branch are spoken by small communities. These include

848-601: Is one of the most intriguing of all Bön scriptures, since it is the only lengthy bilingual work in Zhang-zhung and Tibetan (some of the shorter but still significant sources for Zhang-zhung are signalled in Orofino 1990)." Bradley (2002) says Zhangzhung "is now agreed" to have been a Kanauri or West Himalayish language. Guillaume Jacques (2009) rebuts earlier hypotheses that Zhangzhung might have originated in eastern (rather than western) Tibet by having determined it to be

901-525: Is seen as one of the most prominent empires in Kumaon. Their rule also coincides with a period of cultural resurgence. Archaeological surveys point toward the development of culture and art forms in this period. British rule began on 2 December 1815 when Nepal was forced to sign the Sugauli Treaty . Pithoragarh remained a tehsil under Almora district until 1960 when its status was elevated to that of

954-522: The Anglo-Nepalese War occurred in 1814–1816. In 1815 the British general Ochterlony evicted the Nepalese from Garhwal and Kumaon across the Kali River, ending the 25-year rule of the region by Nepal. Octherlony offered peace terms to the Nepalese demanding British oversight through a Resident and the delimitation of Nepal's territories corresponding roughly to its present-day boundaries in

1007-514: The Himalayas at an altitude of 3600–5200 meters. The valley of Kalapani, with the Lipulekh Pass at the top, forms the Indian route to Kailash – Manasarovar , an ancient pilgrimage site. It is also the traditional trading route to Tibet for the Bhotiyas of Kumaon and the Tinkar valley of Nepal. The Kali River forms the boundary between India and Nepal in this region. However, India states that

1060-631: The Rajwar of Uku (now in Nepal), in the year 1364, Pithoragarh was ruled for the rest of the 14th century by three generations of Pals, and the kingdom extended from Pithoragarh to Askot . According to a Tamra Patra (inscribed copper or brass plaque) from 1420, the Pal dynasty, based out of Askot, was uprooted by Chand kings . Vijay Brahm (of the Brahm dynasty from Doti ) took over the empire as King. Following

1113-531: The Unification of Nepal under Prithvi Narayan Shah , Nepal attempted to enlarge its domains, conquering much of Sikkim in the east and, in the west, the basins of Gandaki and Karnali and the Uttarakhand regions of Garhwal and Kumaon . This brought them in conflict with the British , who controlled directly or indirectly the north Indian plains between Delhi and Calcutta. A series of campaigns termed

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1166-572: The Gangetic plains. With transhumance as a base, many of them would engage in annual trade visits to market towns such as Taklakot in western Tibet, and some would practice nomadic pastoralism as well. This way of life came to an abrupt end in the 1962 due to the Sino-Indian War . Trans-Himalayan trade was allowed again since the under 1990s. But unlike in the past, it was now to be conducted under state-imposed regulations and limitations, and

1219-544: The Kalapani area, which was included in the preliminary census report released in January 2022. According to the Almora District Gazetteer (1911) "Kalapani" (literally, "dark water") is the name given to a remarkable collection of springs near the Kalapani village. The springs rise from the north-eastern declivity of a peak known as Byans-Rikhi at an elevation of 14,220 feet (4,330 m) and flow into

1272-425: The Kalapani river instead of the river itself, thereby claiming the area now called the Kalapani territory. This is consistent with the British position that the Kali River begins only from the Kalapani springs, which meant that the agreement of Sugauli did not apply to the region above the springs. Scholars Manandhar and Koirala believe that the shifting of the border was motivated by strategic reasons. The inclusion of

1325-515: The Kalapani territory started in 1997, after India and China agreed to reopen the Lipulekh pass. Since that time, Nepalese maps have shown the area up to the Kalapani river, measuring 35 square kilometres, as part of Nepal's Darchula District . A joint technical committee of Indian and Nepalese officials have been discussing the issue since 1998, along with other border issues. But the matter has not yet been resolved. On 20 May 2020, Nepal released

1378-458: The Kalapani territory, they had also ceded to Nepalese control the western Tarai regions. Nepal's boundaries had moved on from those of the Sugauli treaty. In 1923, Nepal received recognition from the British as a completely independent state. In 1947, India acquired independence from their rule and became a republic. Nepal and India entered into a Treaty of Peace and Friendship in 1950, which had

1431-707: The Kali River and the Tinkar River meet the watershed between the tributaries of the Mapchu (Karnali) River on the one hand and the Tinkar River on the other hand. So the trijunction of the India–China–Nepal borders was at the meeting point of the watersheds of Karnali, Kali and Tinkar rivers, which lies just to the west of Tinkar Pass. Tinkar Pass is where the Border Pillar number 1 of the China–Nepal border

1484-555: The Limpiyadhura pass and the Lipulekh pass were frequently used by the Byansis, but the Lipulekh pass leading to the Tibetan trading town of Burang (or Taklakot) was the most popular. To the southeast of the Kalapani river is the Tinkar valley (presently in Nepal), with large villages of Changru and Tinkar. This area is also populated by Byansis. They have another pass referred to as Tinkar Pass that leads to Burang. Following

1537-483: The Nepalese government did not subscribe to these expansive demands. In a statement to the Indian Parliament in 2000, the Indian foreign minister Jaswant Singh suggested that Nepal had questioned the source of the Kalapani river. But he denied that there was any dispute regarding the matter. On 20 May 2020, Nepal for the first time released a map that followed through with the more expansive claims, showing

1590-614: The Nepalese government. Several Nepalese intellectuals drove these claims, chief among them being Buddhi Narayan Shrestha , the former Director General of the Land Survey Department. According to the intellectuals, the "Kali River" is in fact the Kuthi Yankti river that arises below the Limpiyadhura range. So they claim the entire area of Kumaon up to the Kuthi Valley , close to 400 km in total. Up to 2000,

1643-657: The areas east of the Lipu Gad/Kalapani River, their contention being that the Lipu Gad was in fact the Kali River up to its source. They wanted the western border shifted 5.5 km westwards so as to include the Lipulekh Pass. Indian officials responded that the administrative records dating back to 1830s show that the Kalapani area had been administered as part of the Pithoragarh district (then

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1696-543: The death of Gyan Chand, in a conflict with Kshetra Pal, the Pals were able to regain the throne. It is believed that Bharti Chand, an ancestor of Gyan Chand, had replaced Bams, the ruler of Pithoragarh, after defeating them in 1445. In the 16th century, the Chand dynasty again took control over Pithoragarh town and, in 1790, built a new fort on the hill where the present Girls Inter College is situated. The Chand rule, at its zenith,

1749-505: The district are magnesium ore , copper ore, limestone , and slate . There are 11 tehsils . Some attribute the name to King Prithvi Pal (Had his empire to Nainital & parts of UP) / Piru Gusain (Gusain refers to the younger son of a King), here the younger son of King of Askote (Pal)/ Pithora Shahi/ Pithora Chand from the Chand Dynasty , who built a fort named Pithora Garh in the Saur Valley . After its conquest by Bhartpal,

1802-620: The district are as follows: A wide variety of flora exists in the district, including many unique sub-tropical, temperate, and alpine plants. Bryophytes (mosses), pteridophytes (ferns), gymnosperms (conifers), and angiosperms (flowering plants) are present. Rare varieties of orchids are also present in the high-altitude valleys of Milan, Darma, Beyans, and Kuthi. Species present include: Zhang-Zhung language A small number of documents preserved in Dunhuang contain an undeciphered language that has been called Old Zhangzhung , but

1855-608: The district include the Van Rawats and Shaukas. Van Rawats are hunter-gatherers . Shaukas are traders. In Pithoragarh the Shaukas are divided into two main tribes. Johari Shaukas and Rung Shaukas. The Johari Shauka community inhabits the areas in Munsiyari while Rung Shaukas tribe are spread among the three valleys of Darma, Chaundas, and Byans. Kangdali Festival , celebrated once every 12 years by inhabitants of Chaundas Valley,

1908-646: The east and west. The Nepalese refusal to accede to these terms led to another campaign the following year, targeting the Kathmandu Valley , after which the Nepalese capitulated. The resulting agreement, the Sugauli Treaty , states in its Article 5: The king of Nepal renounces for himself, his heirs, and successors, all claims to and connexion with the countries lying to the West of the River Kali, and engages never to have any concern with those countries or

1961-522: The east of Kali. After consideration, the British governor-general in council accepted the demand. The Byans region to the east of Kali was transferred to Nepal, dividing the Byans pargana across the two countries. Not being satisfied with this, the Nepalese also extended a claim to the Kuthi valley further west, stating that the Kuthi Yankti stream, the western branch of the head waters, should be considered

2014-466: The eastern border with Nepal. The Hindu pilgrimage route for Mount Kailash - Lake Manasarovar passes through this district via Lipulekh Pass in the greater Himalayas. The district is administratively divided into six Tehsils : Munsyari ; Dharchula ; Didihat ; Berinag ; Gangolihat ; and Pithoragarh. Naini Saini Airport is the nearest civil airport, but it does not have a regular scheduled commercial passenger service. The mineral deposits present in

2067-474: The entire area to the east of Kuthi Yankti river as part of their territory. On 13 June 2020, the bill seeking to give legal status to the new map was unanimously approved by the lower house in the Nepal Parliament. Pithoragarh district ‹The template Manual is being considered for merging .›   Pithoragarh district is the easternmost district in the state of Uttarakhand. It

2120-551: The headwaters of the river are not included in the boundary. Here the border runs along the watershed. This is a position dating back to British India c.  1865 . Nepal has another pass, the Tinkar Pass (or "Tinkar Lipu"), close to the area. After India closed the Lipulekh Pass in the aftermath of the 1962 Sino-Indian War , much of the Bhotiya trade used to pass through the Tinkar Pass. The Nepalese protests regarding

2173-410: The highest point in the region, Point 6172, provides an unhindered view of the Tibetan plateau. For Manandhar and Koirala, this represents an "unauthorized", "unilateral" move on the part of the British. However Nepal was effectively a British-protected state at that time, even though the British termed it an "independent state with special treaty relations". Around the same time that the British claimed

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2226-405: The identification is controversial. A Cavern of Treasures ( Tibetan : མཛོད་ཕུག་ , Wylie : mdzod phug ) is a terma uncovered by Shenchen Luga ( Tibetan : གཤེན་ཆེན་ཀླུ་དགའ་ , Wylie : gshen chen klu dga' ) in the early eleventh century. Martin identifies the importance of this scripture for studies of the Zhangzhung language: For students of Tibetan culture in general, the mDzod phug

2279-524: The inhabitants thereof. Even though the Article was meant to set Kali River as the boundary of Nepal, initially the British administrators retained control of the entire Byans region both to the east and west of the Kali/Kalapani river, stating that it had been traditionally part of Kumaon. In 1817, the Nepalese made a representation to the British, claiming that they were entitled to the areas to

2332-486: The location of the springs themselves. The springs are considered sacred by the people of the area and "erroneously" regarded as the origin of the Kali River. However, they had been regarded as a landmark by the British from the very first survey undertaken by W. J. Webb in 1816. The area on both sides of the Kali River is called Byans, which was a pargana (district in Mughal times). It is populated by Byansis , who speak

2385-569: The main Kali River. Surveyor W. J. Webb and other British officials showed that the lesser stream flowing from the Kalapani springs "had always been recognised as the main branch of the Kali" and "had in fact given its name to the river". Consequently, the British Indian government retained the Kuthi valley. Some time around 1865, the British shifted the border near Kalapani to the watershed of

2438-477: The passes that could be used by Indo-Tibetan trade and pilgrimage traffic. Nepal was not mentioned in the Agreement. A State Police post was established at Kalapani in 1956, which remained in place till 1979, when it was replaced by Indo-Tibetan Border Police . The China–Nepal boundary agreement signed on 5 October 1961 states: The Chinese-Nepalese boundary line starts from the point where the watershed between

2491-427: The relevant text is written on the reverse side of a scroll containing an earlier Chinese Buddhist text. The texts are written in a style of Tibetan script dating from the late 8th or early 9th centuries. Takeuchi and Nishida claim to have partially deciphered the documents, which they believe to be separate medical texts. However, David Snellgrove , and more recently Dan Martin, have rejected Thomas's identification of

2544-474: The river very near the Kalapani village. The Gazetteer continues to state that the united stream of Kalapani flows five miles southwest, where it is joined by the Kuthi Yankti river that arises from the Limpiyadhura Pass (near the village of Gunji ). After this union, the river is called the "Kali River". Language being not entirely logical, the term "Kali River" is often applied to the river from

2597-538: The three closely related languages of Byangsi , Chaudangsi , and Darmiya , as well as Rangkas & Rawat . The Van Rawat tribe speaks their own variety of Kumaoni. Pithoragarh town, being in a valley, is relatively warm during summer and cool during winter. During the coldest months of December and January, the tropical and temperate mountain ridges and high locations receive snowfall and have an average temperature of 5.5–8.0 °C (41.9–46.4 °F). Pithoragarh district has extreme variation in temperature due to

2650-442: The watershed of the river — from 1961 to 1997; since then, says scholar Leo E. Rose , it became "convenient" of Nepal to raise the controversy for domestic political reasons. In September 1998, Nepal agreed with India that all border disputes, including Kalapani, would be resolved through bilateral talks. However, despite several rounds of negotiations from 1998 to the present, the issue remains unresolved. Nepal has laid claim to all

2703-442: The wide range of variations in altitude. The temperature rises from mid-March through mid-June. The areas above 3,500 metres (11,500 ft) remain in a permanent snow cover. Regions lying at 3,000–3,500 metres (9,800–11,500 ft) become snowbound for four to six months. At places like the river gorges at Dharchula , Jhulaghat , Ghat and Sera, temperatures reach 40 °C (104 °F). The annual average rainfall in lower reaches

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2756-488: Was allowed only across the Pithoragarh district's Lipu Lekh pass , whereas in earlier times, in Kumaon and Garwhal, the Trans-Himalayan trade had been conducted across several passes. In 1997, part of the Pithoragarh district was cut out to form the new Champawat district . According to the 2011 census Pithoragarh district has a population of 483,439, roughly equal to the nation of Suriname . This gives it

2809-400: Was placed, and still remains. After the 1962 border war with China, India closed the Lipulekh Pass. The Byansis of Kumaon then used the Tinkar Pass for all their trade with Tibet. In 1991, India and China agreed to reopen the Lipulekh pass, and the trade through it steadily increased. Nepal virtually ignored the Kalapani issue — the 35 km of area between the Lipu Gad/Kalapani River and

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