Ladakh (Land of high passes) is the highest plateau of Kashmir (in nowadays divided between India, Pakistan and China) with much of it being over 3,000 m, spanning the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges and the upper Indus River valley. In Middle Age, it constituted for long time an independent kingdom, constantly harassed by more powerful neighbors, Tibet, China, Mogul Empire or proper Kashmir. In 1842, Ladakh was incorporated into the Dogra state of Jammu and Kashmir, and at the time of the partition of India in 1947, the Dogra ruler signed the Instrument of Accession to India, so today Ladakh is part of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Influences were not only political but also religious, the region being in the area of contact between Buddhism and Islamism, the conflicts started in the 13th century, with the Islamic conquest of South Asia, continuing until today.
