The current wave of protests in Leh driven by calls for statehood and constitutional safeguards under the Sixth Schedule—has reignited interest in how Ladakh became part of India. The decisive chapter opened in the 1830s when Zorawar Singh Kahluria, the celebrated Dogra general serving Raja Gulab Singh of Jammu, launched a bold trans-Himalayan campaign. In 1834 his troops crossed treacherous passes, defeated the Ladakhi king Tshepal Namgyal, and ended centuries of independent rule. Zorawar’s ambitions extended into western Tibet, where he died in 1841 during a harsh winter campaign. 

His successors, notably Diwan Hari Chand, struck back swiftly, routing the Tibetan army in the dramatic Battle of Chushul in 1842. By breaching Tibetan defenses and flooding their trenches, they forced a treaty that confirmed Dogra sovereignty over Ladakh and set the Indo-Tibetan boundary. When the British East India Company sold the princely state of Jammu & Kashmir to Gulab Singh under the 1846 Treaty of Amritsar, Ladakh became a permanent part of that domain. A century later, Maharaja Hari Singh’s Instrument of Accession formally integrated it with independent India. Today’s demonstrations echo that layered history of conquest, diplomacy, and contested identity across the high Himalaya.