Stance on the Sanju Pass and Hindutash Passes in Ladakh

Map titled Chinese Empire & Japan by John Bartholomew & published, in 1893 by John Walker and Co Ltd, London in The Handy Reference Atlas of the World depicting the International Boundary of India with East Turkistan on the Kuen Lun Range & depicting Kukalang & Hindutash Passes, & the Raskam Tract adjoining the Kuen Lun Range in northern Kashmir & the Karakash River in Kashmir as part of India and depicting the provinces of Bengal, Nepal, Assam including the Assam Himalaya, and Kashmir as part of India prior to 1947

According to Phunchok Stobdan, "...Kashmir’s sovereignty extended up to the Hindu-tash in the mid-19th century, when Maharaja Ranbir Singh ordered the building of a fort on a bluff at Shahidulla in 1864 to prevent the spillover of unrest when Yakub Beg was driven out by the Chinese from Khotan". "Remarkably, in the midst of the Great Game, British surveyor William H. Johnson travelled to Khotan in 1865 to establish a forward line to thwart Russian entry into the subcontinent. Johnson fixed a point — Brinjga — as India’s boundary in the Kunlun, opposite Karanghu Tagh of Ladakh. The Chinese Yangi Langar post fell deep inside Khotanese territory. A broad slice of territory along the Kunlun Mountain Range, on which Kilian and Sanju Passes are located, depicted India’s northernmost boundary line. Thus, the entire Karakash valley was ascribed to be part of Kashmir".Apart from the defence of Kashmir, Johnson was possibly prompted to draw the alignment for several reasons: First, Shahidulla formed a vital tract junction between the Karakoram and Kunlun ranges through which Uyghur, Indian and Tibetan caravans traversed; second, Karakash had a strong Indian Buddhist imprint since ancient times; third, the Uyghur tribes historically recognised Hindu-tagh or Hindu-tash to be the traditional frontier with India; fourth, the entire Karakash valley with its waters could have been easily brought under cultivation by farmers of Nubra and Changthang; fifth, settling the population in the valley would have been another consideration, though the area was prone to attacks by Kanjuti robbers; sixth, Yaqub Beg himself regarded the Kunlun range to be the limit of Kashgharia.

Stobdan also writes columns for The Indian Express and The Tribune (Chandigarh).^[3][5]