Sonam Tsepal now aged 102, from the Guji family of Leh 

Sonam Tsepal has been no ordinary trader. Now aged 102, from the Guji family of Leh, he is among the last of the legendary traders from Ladakh. He spent months each year travelling for trade through the remote and ‘punishing’ terrains of the Trans-Himalayas into the middle of the 20th century.

In his youth, Tsepal was regarded as one of the most capable traders of his generation. For 13 years before the border closed following the Chinese invasion of Tibet, Tsepal travelled regularly to western Tibet and built a remarkably successful business. He carried substantial quantities of rice, sugar, barley, phey (flour), phating (dried apricots) and other essentials that were scarce in Tibet. In return, he obtained wool, pashmina and toosh, which he sold to the Kashmiri merchants in Leh. Each journey yielded a handsome profit.

Tsepal’s journeys demanded careful pre-paration. Each autumn, Tsepal and other traders walked to the salt market at Sakti to buy salt from the visiting Changpa traders. From Sakti, he used to return to Leh, where he rested for a few days before joining other local traders on the road to Kargil, a place where salt brought cash rather than barter. With the earnings from Kargil, he purchased the supplies required for the Tibetan trade, including rice, sugar and other essentials that arrived from Kashmir for the Kargil market. Through the winter, these goods were stored at home while the traders waited for the season to turn.

By the fifth month, around the time of Hemis Tsechu, Tsepal and his companions used to set out for Tibet. He was in his early twenties when he undertook his first journey, travelling with his friend Gombo of the Michikpa family and Skalzang of the Olmochey household in Stok.  The  outbound  caravan  typically  consisted  of  a  horse  for personal use of the trader and donkeys and Ladakhi sheep to load the cargo. They crossed the Changla and descended to Tangos, from where two established routes branched towards the frontier and eventually met at Chushul. The first route passed through the Sato Kargyam valley. The other road wound south-east past Spangmik, Man and Merak, the string of villages lying south of Pangong Lake. Tsepal and his companions always chose the Sato Kargyam route, crossing the Kanju Kongka La before descending into Chushul.

An interesting feature of these journeys was that the caravans did not consist of traders alone. In those days, young Ladakhi monks travelling to Tibetan monasteries for their education were traditionally placed in the care of traders. Tsepal readily agreed to assist as many novices as needed. From Gertse, the final destination of the Ladakhi traders, the monks came under the care of Tibetan traders arriving from Lhasa, who then escorted them to their designated monasteries, either personally or through trusted intermediaries, ensuring each novice reached his monastic home. Tsepal had heard that a few monks from Ladakh chose an alternate route to Tibet through Darjeeling.

After about ten days from Leh city, the Ladakhis reached Rudok, the first major settlement in Tibet. The traders halted there for a few days; Rudok served as an important staging point where a part of the trade was conducted. In those days, it was common to meet traders from Sham as well as Argon traders from Leh and Chushot.

On their arrival, local officials would receive the visitors, count and weigh the goods, and prepare them for inspection. A senior official then would assess the tax known as tsongthal, levied in barley at the rate of one bo for each khal of load. The journey from Rudok to Gertse took another two weeks, slightly more than the time from Leh to Rudok.

On the way from Rudok to Gertse, Tsepal usually brought his horse but left it midway in the care of Tibetan nomads at Kul, a seasonal settlement between Rudok and Rawang where the grazing grounds were better than those around Gertse. While passing through Rawang, he often met Argon traders who came to acquire pashmina. From what he recalls, the Argon traders did not continue on to Gertse.

Although Tsepal did not source salt from Tibet, he once visited the salt-lake of Mingdun Tsaka by chance. The caravan had taken a diversion after the news that the Tungans, fleeing persecution, were moving toward the border and were said to be looting travellers. At the lake, he watched extractors wade in with leather wrapped around their legs and leather gloves. They dug the salt bearing soil from the bed, heaped it, and carried it out to dry. The salt from Mingdun Tsaka, red in colour, was considered the finest in Ladakh.

According to Tsepal, Gertse would be bustling with traders from across Ladakh. Merchants from Bodh Kharbu in the west to the settlements  of  Changthang  in  the  east  came  each  year.  Tsephal remembers families such as the Gangley Guru, Tsaskan, Lamanurbu, the Moljoks of Saspol and the Yugopa households from different parts of Ladakh who travelled regularly to Gertse. Besides the Ladakhis, the market drew visitors from Karja in the present day Himachal Pradesh as well as Tibetans from outside Gertse. Each Ladakhi trader maintained a friendly household in the settlement that offered him preference during trading.

The nomads of Gertse were prosperous. Tsepal’s local friend Skarma Sonam was among the wealthiest in the region, maintaining a herd of about 5000 animals including goats. He lived with his family in a large rebo, a temporary shelter. Another prominent figure, Sanak Tashi,  owned  nearly  500  yaks.  In  those  days,  Gertse  had  no permanent houses except one for the Gertse Spon, the senior official who came only during the trading season. Once every three years, the nomads invited Lamas from Lhasa to perform prayers in their settlement.

After a few days of settling in, the senior-most Ladakhi trader would be summoned to meet the Gertse Spon, the official responsible for supervising trade on behalf of the Tibetan government. Traders from Karja attended these sessions along with Tibetan traders from elsewhere. Meetings typically lasted several days during which barter and purchase rates, were negotiated. According to Tsepal, the system of transaction was intricate. Payments were not made directly to nomads  who  supplied  wool,  pashmina  or  livestock.  Instead, settlements were routed through the Spon, who was understood to compensate the nomads later. The rule for toosh was an exception, since Ladakhi traders were allowed to purchase it directly from local sellers.

Among the Karja traders, Tsepal recalls a Karjapa named Gonbo, who arrived with few donkeys and nearly 500 Karja sheep. The Karjapas entered the Indus valley by crossing Taglang La and from there followed the same road to Tibet as the Ladakhis. The Karja sheep, he observed, were not as hardy as the Tibetan breed. While the Karja sheep could carry about five battis of load, the Tibetan sheep bore seven to nine. When he first visited the region, a Tibetan sheep cost around five rupees. By his final journey, the price had risen to 19.

After completing their trade, the Ladakhi caravans prepared for the long journey back home. On return, Tsepal stopped at Kul to reclaim his horse. After weeks of grazing, the animal had grown stronger and noticeably healthier. According to Tsepal, the whole rhythm of travel changed sharply on the homeward journey. When they travelled toward Tibet, the caravans moved through the day and often continued for several hours after sunset in order to make good time across the plateau. The return was far slower because the traders brought back hundreds of additional sheep purchased in Tibet, each heavily laden with wool, pashmina or toosh. The animals required frequent rest, and this steady need for pause slowed the entire caravan.

Customs also distinguished the trading groups. Argon traders did not travel after sunset. The Karjapas kept loads tied to their sheep throughout the journey while Ladakhi traders unloaded their animals each evening. The practice of never unloading appears again in the work of the Tibetan salt traders, whose sheep slept with the load on their backs.

The traders would be back in Leh, usually around the Chemrey festival. The wool, pashmina and toosh that Tsepal brought from Tibet were sold at a substantial profit, often three times or more than the purchase price. These were sold to the Hoshiarpur Lalas in the Leh market. The Lalas either purchased the fibre for resale to visiting Kashmiri merchants or acted as intermediaries, brokering agreements between Ladakhi traders and the Kashmiris. In those days, Lala Shaadi Lal and Hargo Ram were especially well-known among the Ladakhis.

There was a year when the Kashmiri traders did not arrive in Leh, leaving the Ladakhis with no buyers for their wool and pashmina. Tsepal and his friend Michikpa Gonbo chose to carry their pashmina to Srinagar. They stored the wool for the next season and, once conditions allowed, loaded the pashmina on donkeys and travelled to Kargil. From there they hired horses from Drass villagers and set out for Srinagar, where Gonbo was familiar with the Kashmiri trading houses. The effort proved worthwhile as they could still make a good profit on the pashmina.