page_title: Xaidulla
section_title: Geography and caravan trade
hierarchical_section_title: Xaidulla / Geography and caravan trade
caption_attribution_description: English: Image of map of the Baltistan, Aksai Chin, Chinese Turkestan in maps of Central Asia. The international border between the British Indian Empire (including the Kashmir region) and Chinese Turkestan is shown two-toned purple and pink. From the article, "On the Geographical Results of the Mission to Kashghar, under Sir T. Douglas Forsyth in 1873-74" by H. Trotter Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol. 48. (1878), pp. 173-234. Downloaded, resized to 33% of original size and annotated by Fowler&amp;fowler«Talk» 23:52, 8 July 2007 (UTC)
context_page_description: Xaidulla, also spelled Shahidullah and Shahidula, also Saitula from Mandarin Chinese, is a town in Pishan County in the southwestern part of Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China. It is strategically located on the upper Karakash River, just to the north of the Karakoram Pass on the old caravan route between the Tarim Basin and Ladakh. It lies next to the Chinese National Highway G219 between Kashgar and Tibet, 25 km east of Mazar and 115 km west of Dahongliutan.
  The modern town is located next to the People's Liberation Army barracks named Sanshili Yingfang or Sanshili Barracks. It is so named because the barracks is 30 "Chinese miles" upstream from the site of the historical border outpost. This name is a more common name used by motorists along the G219 highway.
context_section_description: Shahidulla is situated between the Kunlun mountains and the Karakoram range, "close to the southern foot of the former". It is at the western bend of the Karakash River, which originates in the Aksai Chin plains, flows northeast and makes a sharp bend to the west at the foot of the Kunlun range. After making another bend near Shahidulla, it flows northeast again, cutting through the Kunlun mountains towards Khotan. The traditional site of Shahidulla is located northwest of the modern town, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) downstream. 
  Caravaners talk about a "southern branch" of the Kunlun range at the foot of which the Karakash flows, and a "northern branch" (also called the "Kilian range") which has various passes (from the west to east, Yangi, Kilik, Kilian, Sanju, Hindu-tagh and Ilchi passes). The Kilian and Sanju passes are the most often mentioned, which lead to Kashgar. To the south of Shahidulla, the trade route passed through Suget Pass and, after crossing the Yarkand River at Ak-tagh, through the Karakoram Pass into Ladakh. An alternative route to Ladakh from Shahidulla (called the "Chang Chenmo route") went along the Karakash river till reaching the Aksai Chin plains and then to Ladakh via the Chang Chenmo valley. The Chang Chenmo route was only feasible for large traders. The Aksai Chin being desolate and barren, they had to carry fodder for the pack animals along with their cargo.
  The entire area between the Karakoram range and the Kunlun mountains is mostly uninhabited and has very little vegetation, except for the river valleys of Yarkand and Karakash. In these valleys, during the summer months, cultivation was possible. Kanjutis from Hunza used to cultivate in the Yarkand valley (called "Raskam" plots) and the Kirghiz from Turkestan used to cultivate in the area of Shahidullah. Shahidullah is described as a "seasonal township" in the sources, but it was little more than a campground in the 19th century.
  
  Kulbhushan Warikoo states that, of the two trade routes between Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, one in the west through Chitral and the Pamirs, and the other in the east through Shahidulla and Ladakh, the eastern route was more favoured by the traders as it was relatively safe from robberies and political turmoil:
  Such was the safety of this route that in the event of unfavourable weather or death of ponies, traders would march to a safe place leaving behind their goods which were fetched after the climate became favourable or substitute transport became available.
  The absence of turmoil was not a given. In fact, the traders applied pressure on the rulers to avoid conflict. The Ladakhi rulers especially heeded such warnings, dependent as they were on trade for their prosperity.
caption: 19th century trade routes through Shahidulla (located in the centre of the map, near the bend of the Karakash River). The bold lines represent the Karakoram range in the south and the "norther branch" of the Kunlun mountains in the north. The "southern branch" of the Kunlun mountains is unmarked. (Map not drawn to scale
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