Tangtse

In 1679, the Tibetan forces under the command of Galdan Chhewang fought an advance guard of Ladakhi forces in Guge (West Tibet). After defeating them, they invaded Ladakh itself. The route taken by the Tibetans is believed to have been via Rudok, Chushul and the Lung Chu valley.[18] The Ladakhis joined the battle at Lung-Khung (Long Kongma) and repulsed the attack.[19][20]

The following year, Tibet sent formidable reinforcements (estimated at 5,000 troops along with several seasoned commanders) and the Tibetans returned. A battle was fought at the "foot of the Chang La pass", which would again indicate the valley between Durbuk and Tangtse. Cunnigham gives the location of the final battle as Balaskya and Petech as dPal-rgyas.[21][22] The Ladakhis were roundly defeated and withdrew to the fort of Basgo in northern Ladakh. After a three-year siege, they requested assistance from the Mughal forces in Kashmir, who fought off the Tibetans and chased them to the Pangong area.[23]

Rudok and Guge, which were previously under the control of Ladakh, slipped out of Ladakhi hands. In 1684, they agreed to respect the new borders in a Treaty of Tingmosgang.

After the defeat of the Zorawar Singh's forces in West Tibet, the Tibetans were incited by Ladakhi rebels, who wanted to overthrow the Dogras ensconced in Ladakh. Apparently to lend support to them, the Tibetan forces marched to Ladakh and camped at "Dumra".[24] The most likely location of this encampment is in the valley between Tangtse and Durbuk. It is reported that Lhasa dispatched an additional 5,000 troops to join them here.[25] The Tibetan accounts say that they established a defence post was at "Lung-wu" (Long Yogma),[26] described as a place between "Rudok and the Pangong Lake".[27][28][lower-alpha 3]

The Ladakhi rebels had declared their minor king Jigmet Senge Namgyal as an independent ruler, who wrote to the Sikh emperor Sher Singh stating that he had submitted to the Chinese emperor and offered truce terms.[30] No response was received. After the arrival of the reinforcements, led by Dewan Hari Chand and Wazir Ratanu, the Dogras challenged the Tibetan encampments at Tangtse and the Loi Yogma valley. Skirmishes continued for several days with a loss of 300 men for the Dogras. Eventually, the Dogras employed a decisive flooding tactic, following a suggestion from a Nubra chieftain, which dislodged the Tibetans from their trenches and led to a Dogra victory.[31]

Afterwards a 'Treaty of Chushul' was agreed by the two sides, restoring the status quo ante bellum. The Ladakhi ruler was granted privileges appropriate to his rank, and trade and diplomatic missions were restored to their traditional operation..

Trade routes of Ladakh, with the Chang Chenmo and Pangong routes passing through Tankse

During the Dogra rule, Tankse was the headquarters of a subdistrict (a kardari, often called an ilaqa), which controlled access to the Chang Chenmo Valley. Phobrang, Chushul, and Durbuk were under its control.[32]

The Chang Chenmo route to Central Asia passed through Tankse, which the British attempted to promote as the main trade route between Leh and Yarkand in the late 19th century. Tankse was described as a large village with 50 houses. It had a rest house and a government supply depot. Travellers were advised to procure their supplies here, to sustain themselves till reaching Sanju, about 350 miles away.[32]

With the eruption of the Sino-Indian border dispute in the late 1950s, the Indian government had ample documents from the time of Dogra administration to demonstrate that the Chang Chenmo Valley and the Aksai Chin plateau belonged to Ladakh.[33] The Kashmir state records classified these regions as part of the Tankse ilaqa and revenue records were available with regular assessments and settlements of revenue. The revenue maps showed the large stretches of uninhabited territories, which are now occupied by China, as part of the Tankse ilaqa.[34]

Tangtse is a well-known and important site of Tocharian, Sogdian, Śārāda and Arabic inscriptions.[35][36] A Franco-Indian Archaeological Mission in Ladakh called the rock art at Tangste as "the most important" site for rock art in Ladakh, providing information about Ladakh towards the end of the 1st millennium AD.[36] The mission found "about 300 petroglyphs" and "almost 70 rock inscriptions in various scripts".[36] Some authors classify some of the signs here as tamgas.[37] Volutes can be seen on some of the inscriptions of animals.[38] Compositions from Ruthok and Tangtse are noted to be similar.[39]