Mangsha Dhura

Mangsha Dhura (also known as Mankshang Dhura in older gazettes) is a historic high-altitude mountain pass in the Himalayas, situated along the northern border of the Kuthi Valley in the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand, India with Tibet, China. Located at an elevation of approximately , the pass historically connected the Kumaon division of India with Tibet. The pass, along with the broader Kuthi valley on the left bank of the river, is under Indian administration but is disputed by Nepal.

Geography

Mangsha Dhura is situated on the rugged northern frontier of the Kuthi Valley, which is part of the historical Byans ethnographic region. It lies near other significant high-altitude passes such as Limpiya Dhura (historically spelled Lankpya Dhura), which also joins the Kuthi valley with Tibet. Geographically, Mangsha Dhura is located to the south-east of Limpiya Dhura and slightly lower down the valley.

The glaciers at the foot of the Mangsha and Limpiya passes serve as the source of the Kuthi Yankti river. The Kuthi Yankti is the western headwater and largest tributary of the Kali River, joining the eastern headwater (the Kalapani river) further south.

History

Mangsha Dhura functioned as a historic travel, trade, and pilgrimage route across the snowy mountainous ridge that defines the true frontier line of the Kumaon Himalayas.

During the mid-19th century, the pass was documented by British explorers and administrators. In 1846, British officer Lieutenant Henry Strachey undertook a journey to Cho Mapan (Lake Manasarowar) and Cho Lagan (Rakshastal). While planning his route through the Kuthi valley, the local padhan (village headman) of Kuthi, named Rechung, informed Strachey of the two primary passes at the head of the valley: Lankpya (Limpiya) and Mankshang (Mangsha). According to local knowledge, both passes afforded direct communication to the southern and western shores of the sacred Tibetan lakes without forcing travelers to pass through heavily populated Tibetan administrative and trading centers like Pruang (Purang Town).

Strachey noted that the Mangsha pass was considered by the locals to be a slightly more difficult crossing than its neighbor to the north-west. Historical gazetteers compiled by Edwin T. Atkinson (1886) and H. G. Walton (1911) later formally recorded the pass and its glaciers as the origin point of the Kuthi Yankti river within the Byans patti (division) of the old Darma pargana.

See also

• Limpiya Dhura
• Lipulekh Pass
• Kuthi Valley
• Kalapani territory