101 International Journal of Advanced Education and Research www.alleducationjournal.com ISSN: 2455-5746 Received: 26-03-2020; Accepted: 21-04-2020; Published: 29-04-2020 Volume 5, Issue 2, 2020, Page No. 101-104 Inter-community relations in Ladakh through the ages till now Nazia Jabeen Research Scholar, Department of History, Panjab University, Chandigarh, Punjab, India Abstract The present study seeks to analyse the inter-communal relationship between Muslims and Buddhists in Ladakh through the ages till now. The relationship between the Buddhists and Muslims had remained cordial till 19th century. For many centuries both the communities had been living in harmony. There was no any communal conflict between them. Inter-religious marriages were common between the two communities. However, after independence the communal harmony and traditional bonding, which was shared by the two communities, dramatically changed. Religion and politics clearly have interacted in Ladakh since independence. The underlying organization of formal politics was along the communal lines. The political leaders used religion and played their part in spreading communalism to put pressure on the state government to accept the Ladakhi demands. Keywords: inter-community relations, Ladakh Introduction Ladakh consists of two districts, Kargil and Leh. The district of Kargil is predominantly inhabited by Muslims with a Buddhist minority in Zanskar valley. Leh district is inhabited by a Buddhist majority with some Muslims in a few villages and towns of Leh. Muslims are further divided into Shias (Balti) and Sunnis (Argon) with Shia Muslims constituting majority in Ladakh. Buddhists and Muslims are equal in number while Christians form one per cent of the total population of Ladakh. Religion has been a very important factor determining the socio-cultural and political pulse of the people. In Ladakh, religion plays a very significant role in the life of the people. It is believed that Buddhism first penetrated into Ladakh from Kashmir and it was introduced into Ladakh during the reign of Ashoka [1] . It is said that the first contacts with Islam in Ladakh resulted from visits of a Sufi saint, Sayyid Ali Hamadani who visited Kashmir three times. During the course of his second visit to Kashmir in 1349 A.D., he visited Ladakh and Baltistan also and possibly converted some people Ladakh to Islam. The mosque at Shey village in Leh District called Shah Hamdan Mosque is the first mosque in Ladakh which was founded by Sayyid Ali Hamdani [2] . The spread of Islam in Ladakh is said to have further hastened when the Ladakhi Buddhist King Jamiang Namgyal married Gyal Khatoon, a daughter of a Shia King of Baltistan, in the 16 th century. As a result of the marital connection with Baltistan, it is assumed that several hundred Shia Muslims from Baltistan migrated to Ladakh and permanently settled in the region. Inter-communal relations till 19 th century If we look at the inter-community relations after the advent of Islam in Ladakh, the relationship between these two communities was cordial. The Muslim and the Buddhist communities coexisted peacefully for centuries. Although the cognizance of adhering to their religious systems remained strong, Buddhists and Muslims in Ladakh shared a broad similar culture. The local Muslims spoke the same language and wore the same dress as their Buddhist counterparts and their food habits were also same. The whole community including Buddhists and Muslims would gather to celebrate wedding ceremonies, dancing, singing and eating together. Both the communities would visit each other’s house during the time of Losar (the Ladakhi Buddhist New Year festival) and Eid. In Kuksho village in Kargil District, both Muslims and Buddhists lived in the same families, practised mixed religion combining elements of both the Buddhism and the Islam and had mixed names [3] . In several villages, the Muslims would often visit Buddhist oracles and healers called Lah-pa (male) and Lha- mo (female) for the cure, and the Buddhists would visit Muslim pirs called Akhon to seek healing and for a cure. The Buddhist monk and the Akhon of the village had equal respect and trust of the villagers. The Buddhists used to attend the Shia mourning rituals at the occasion of Muharram likewise at the time of Losar, the Buddhist King used to take a large procession in the Leh main market and it was customary that the Buddhist commander of the cavalry of the king would visit the Sunni Mosque in the Leh market to offer oil for the lamps in the mosque and seek blessings of cleric for the king [4] . All major religious festivals celebrated in Buddhist monasteries were attended with so much enthusiasm by the Buddhists as well as the Muslims alike. There is a Muslim influence on the Ladakhi folk music. Similarly, the mosque and imambaras of Ladakh are fine examples of local Ladakhi architecture. Inter-religious marriages among the Muslims and the Buddhists in Ladakh was common. Inter-religious marriages were practiced often independently by the members of aristocratic families as well as commoners. If we look at the historical accounts, there were countless wars fought between the Ladakhi Buddhist rulers and the Shia Muslim kings of Baltistan but these wars did not create any resentment among the people of different communities of Ladakh and they co-existed peacefully for many centuries and had a friendly relationship with each other. Jamyang Namgyal, who ruled Ladakh in 17 th century, married Gyal Khatoon, the daughter of the Shia ruler of Baltistan and she