Everything about The Mustagh Pass totally explained
The
Mustagh Pass or
Muztagh Pass is a pass across the
Baltoro Muztagh range in the
Karakorams and includes
K2, the world's second highest mountain. The crest of the Baltoro Muztagh marks the present border between
Pakistani and
Chinese territory.
There are actually two passes, the eastern or 'Old' Mustagh Pass (alt. about 5,422 m.) and the so-called 'New' Mustagh Pass, about 16 km (10 miles) to the west (altitude variously given as 5,700 and 5,800 m.) The pass is on the watershed between the rivers which flow towards the
Tarim Basin and those flowing to the
Indian Ocean.
The route across the Mustagh Pass is the shortest route from
Yarkand to
Skardu on the upper
Indus River in
Baltistan, from where caravans used to head on to
Srinigar in
Kashmir. The pass is situated about midway between the
Karakoram Pass to the east, which leads to
Leh in
Ladakh, and the
Kilik and
Mintaka passes to the west which lead to
Hunza and
Gilgit.
The route has been impassible to caravans since at least the middle of the 19th century due to the movement of the glaciers on it and, by 1861, when
Godwin-Austen did his survey of the region, it was only in use by a few
Baltis living in Yarkand who crossed it to visit their families. Frederic Drew reported that there had been no crossings between
Yarkand and Baltistan between 1863 and 1870.
It is unclear how much it was used in ancient times, though it's possible that it was in use as early as the
Later Han Dynasty. It also seems possible, even likely, that this is the route the Chinese pilgrim monk
Fa Xian took in 399 CE on his way to India.
There was apparently more abundant fodder and fuel along the
Yarkand River than on the approaches to the Karakoram Pass:
» "Turdi Kol took me a few miles further down the river and showed me two other equally good camping-grounds, and he says that there's considerably more pasture in the lower part of this valley than in that of the
Karakash River, where
Shahidula is situated, and that in the old days the valley was populated and cultivated and merchants went to and fro by the Mustagh Pass to Baltistan."
Francis Younghusband (1863-1942) was the first European known to cross the pass which he did with much difficulty in 1887 after a request from Colonel
Mark Sever Bell (1843-1906), finally reaching the village of
Askole in Baltistan.
Apparently there have only been two recorded crossings of the pass since then, "by an Italian expedition of exploration in 1929, and a French ski expedition in 1986."
Footnotes
Further Information
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