Dras: Difference between revisions

{{otherusesother uses}}

| name = Dras

| native_name =

| native_name_lang =

| other_name =

| nickname = The Gateway to Ladakh

| settlement_type = [[Town]]

| image_skyline = Drass and Tololing Range.jpg

| image_alt =

| image_caption = View of Dras in [[Kargil district]], [[Ladakh]]

| pushpin_map = India Ladakh#India

| pushpin_relief = y

| pushpin_label_position = right

| pushpin_map_alt =

| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Ladakh, India

| coordinates = {{coord|34.446769|N|75.758629|E|display=inline,title}}

| subdivision_type = [[Country]]

| subdivision_name = {{flag|India}}

| subdivision_type1 = [[States and union territories of India|Union Territory]]

| subdivision_name1 = {{flagicon image|Flag of Ladakh, India.svg}} [[Ladakh]]

| subdivision_type2 = [[List of districts of India|District]]

| subdivision_name2 = [[KargilDras district|KargilDras]]

| subdivision_type3 = [[List of tehsils in India|Tehsil]]

| subdivision_name3 = Dras<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kargil.nic.in/revenue-villages/|title=Revenue Villages &#124; District Kargil, Union Territory of Ladakh &#124; India}}</ref>

| established_title = <!-- Established -->

| established_date =

| founder =

| named_for =

| government_type =

| governing_body =

| unit_pref = Metric

| area_footnotes =

| area_rank =

| area_total_km2 =

| elevation_footnotes = <ref name="Dras Elevation">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=54RgJ6FgMl0C&pg=PA226 |title=Cold Deserts of India |last=Singh Negi |first=Sharad |publisher=Indus Publishing |year=2002 |isbn=8173871272 |page=226 |language=en}}</ref>

| elevation_m = 3300

| population_total = 21,988 in 2011

| population_as_of =

| population_rank =

| population_density_km2 = auto

| population_demonym =

| population_footnotes =

| demographics_type1 = Languages

| demographics1_title1 = Official

| demographics1_info1 =

| demographics1_title2 = Spoken

| demographics1_info2 = [[Ladakhi language|Ladakhi]], [[Hindi]], [[Purgi language|Purgi]], [[Shina language|Shina]], [[Balti language|Balti]], [[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri ]]

| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]

| utc_offset1 = +5:30

| postal_code_type = [[Postal Index Number|PIN]]

| postal_code = 194102

| registration_plate = LA-01

| website = {{URL|http://kargil.gov.in/}}

| footnotes =

| official_name = Drass

| module = {{Infobox mapframe |wikidata=yes |coord={{WikidataCoord|display=i}}}}

'''Dras''' (also spelt '''Drass''', [[ISO 15919|ISO]] [[transliteration]]: ''{{lang|inc|Drās}}''), also known locally in [[Shina language|Shina]] as '''Himababs''', '''Hembabs''', or '''Humas''', is a [[town]] and [[List of hill stations in India|hill station]], nearand [[Kargil]]the inheadquarters theof [[KargilDrass district]] of the [[union territory]] of [[Ladakh]] in [[India]]. It is on the [[National Highway 1 (India)|NH 1]] <ref>former name [[National Highway 1D (India, old numbering)|NH 1D]] before [[List of National Highways in India by highway number|renumbering]] of all national highways</ref> between [[Zoji La]] pass and [[Kargil]]. A tourist hub for its high-altitude trekking routes and tourist sites, it is often called "The Gateway to Ladakh".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ladakh-kashmir.com/cities-jammu-kashmir/dras-india.html |title=Page on Dras from |publisher=ladakh-kashmir.com |access-date=2012-06-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207003511/http://www.ladakh-kashmir.com/cities-jammu-kashmir/dras-india.html |archive-date=7 February 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The government's official spelling of the town's name is "Drass".{{cn|date=October 2024}}

[[File:Kargil War Memorial, Operation Vijay.jpg|thumb|right|[[Dras War Memorial]] with Tololing Ranges in Backgroundbackground]]

During the [[First Kashmir War|invasion by Pakistan in 1947-48]], the reinforced [[Gilgit Scouts]], having gone over to Pakistan, attacked the Kargil area on 10 May 1948. The Indian army, which was by nowthen in charge of the defence ofdefending Kashmir, sent reinforcements. However, they could not reach Dras in time and Dras fell to the Gilgitis on 6 June 1948. Kargil and Skardu also fell in short order.{{sfn|Cheema, Crimson Chinar|2015|pp=48,&nbsp;102–103}} In November 1948, the Indian Army launched [[Operation Bison (Jammu & Kashmir 1948)|Operation Bison]], supported by tanks, and retook Dras and Kargil. Skardu, however, remained under the control of Pakistan.{{sfn|Cheema, Crimson Chinar|2015|pp=111–112}} The 1949 [[Karachi Agreement|ceasefire line]] runs 12&nbsp;km north of Dras through [[Point 5353]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Swami |first=Praveen |author-link=Praveen Swami |title=Pakistan still occupies key Dras point |newspaper=The Hindu Business Line |date=11 August 2000 |url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2000/08/11/stories/14115502.htm |access-date=29 September 2017}}</ref>

The ceasefire line was renamed the [[Line of Control]] in the 1972 [[Simla Agreement]], byin which India and Pakistan agreed to respect the line without prejudice to their stated positions.

However, in the early months of 1999, Pakistani soldiers, masquerading as ''mujahideen'', infiltrated into the area and took control of the peaks overlooking Dras and the highway, in particular [[Tololing]], 4&nbsp;km from Dras, and [[Tiger Hill, Kargil|Tiger Hill]], 8&nbsp;km from Dras. They directed artillery fire at Dras and the highway, leading to the [[Kargil War]]. The Indian army cleared the Tololing and Tiger Hill peaks by July 1999.

|May high C = 14.34

|May mean C = 7.48

|May low C = 01.51

The major ethnic groups are the [[Shina people ]], who speak the [[Indo-Aryan language|Indo-Aryan]] language [[Shina language|Shina]], and the [[BaltiPurgi people]], whose language, [[Baltipurgi language| similar to Balti]], belongs to the [[Tibetic languages|Tibetic group]]. The local population is 64% male and 36% female. In total the population of Dras per the 2011 Census is 21988. Out of this, 14731 are males while 7257 are females. This block has 2767 kids in the age bracket of 0–6 years. Among them 1417 are boys and 1350 are girls. Population is almost 100% Muslim and Dras is also unique in whole Ladakh for being the only sub division where a non-Tibetan/Mongolian tribe forms majority as well as being the only sub division where Sunni Muslims form majority. The Dard shin people are almost entirely Sunnis making up around 65-75% population while they purgi (Tibetan) are mostly Shias forming 25-35% of the population. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/PopulationFinder/Sub_Districts_Master.aspx?state_code=01&district_code=08 |title=Page 4. Rambirpur (Drass) |publisher=Censusindia.gov.in |access-date=2012-06-15}}</ref>

Many of the inhabitants of Dras farm, cultivatingcultivate primary crops like barley. The locals also raise livestock like cattle and ponies.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Keatinge|first=Hilary|date=1993|title=The Road to Leh|url=https://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/199304/the.road.to.leh.htm|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-08|website=[[Aramco World]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160212023318/http://archive.aramcoworld.com:80/issue/199304/the.road.to.leh.htm |archive-date=12 February 2016 }}</ref>

Common foods comprisingin the diet of the people include potatoes, barley, beeflamb, mutton and drinks like tea.<ref name=":0" />

Dras has been developed as a tourist destination since 1999, following the Kargil War., This new facet of the local economy initially took the form ofwhen visitors specifically arrivingcame to see the war zone.<ref>{{cite book |title=Counterinsurgency, Democracy, and the Politics of Identity in India: From Warfare to Welfare? |first=Mona |last=Bhan |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-13450-983-6 |pages=1, 178–179 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wZTDAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1}}</ref> NotableThe places[[Kargil include:War Memorial]] is 7&nbsp;km from Dras.