Ladakh is a high-altitude region, characterised by an alternating valley-range configuration with complex terrain and micro-climates operating over the terrain-facets and snowfall. The altitude varies from about 3000 metres in Kargil to more than 8000 metres in Karakoram.
It lies at a strategic location between the Indus River valley and the Hindukhush Mountains, which makes this “Land of high passes” one of the major routes for movement of people. Through the years, the region has faced multi-layered cultural movements, genetic assimilation and demographic changes.
The initial settlement in the years goes back to the early Neolithic age (12,000 years ago) and still continues despite its harsh, inhospitable and cold climate. In a first high-throughput mitochondrial DNA study, scientists led by JC Bose Fellow, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) Kumarasamy Thangaraj and Niraj Rai, senior scientist, DST-Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP), Lucknow, have unravelled the genetic history of the Ladakhi population.
