Arghons
Encyclopedia
The Arghons are a small community of descendants of immigrants from Yarkand and Kashmir
that have intermingled with the local Ladakhi community, residing mainly in Leh and Kargil
towns of Ladakh
in the state of Jammu & Kashmir in India
. They are Sunni Muslims.
They first arrived as traders and merchants from Central Asia
and Kashmir
in the 17th century and were among the first Muslims to settle in the Buddhist Kingdom. Most were traders but some included religious people. Most central Asian merchants returned home at the end of the caravan season. Those who remained and settled in Ladakh
married ladakhis and are now known as Arghons.
Today they are merchants although some, a very few, have taken to agriculture. Most of them today speak the Ladakhi language but are also conversant in Turkic
and Tibetan.
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
that have intermingled with the local Ladakhi community, residing mainly in Leh and Kargil
Kargil town
Kargil is a town, which serves as the headquarters of Kargil District of Ladakh in the state of Jammu and Kashmir in India. It is the second largest town in Ladakh after Leh...
towns of Ladakh
Ladakh
Ladakh is a region of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of the Republic of India. It lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent...
in the state of Jammu & Kashmir in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. They are Sunni Muslims.
They first arrived as traders and merchants from Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
and Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
in the 17th century and were among the first Muslims to settle in the Buddhist Kingdom. Most were traders but some included religious people. Most central Asian merchants returned home at the end of the caravan season. Those who remained and settled in Ladakh
Ladakh
Ladakh is a region of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of the Republic of India. It lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent...
married ladakhis and are now known as Arghons.
Today they are merchants although some, a very few, have taken to agriculture. Most of them today speak the Ladakhi language but are also conversant in Turkic
Turkic languages
The Turkic languages constitute a language family of at least thirty five languages, spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean to Siberia and Western China, and are considered to be part of the proposed Altaic language family.Turkic languages are spoken...
and Tibetan.