Ladakh Wazarat

Ladakh Wazarat was the largest administrative unit of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, comprising modern day Ladakh, Baltistan, Aksai Chin, and until 1901, Gilgit and Astore. With an area of around 45,762 square miles (118,520 km²) in 1941, it comprised more than half of the princely state.^[1]

Ladakh Wazarat in 1946.

Ladakh and Baltistan had been conquered by the Dogra general Zorawar Singh during 1835–1840. Gulab Singh, the first maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, was confirmed on his possession of these regions by the British under the 1846 Treaty of Amritsar.^[2] The administrative setup of Ladakh Wazarat itself is dated to 1860s, during the governship of Mehta Basti Ram, while the Wazarat (alternatively translated to district or province) of Ladakh was established only in 1889. Before it the local administration was in the hands of the local rajas.^[3] The official appointed to Ladakh was known as Wazir-i-Wazarat, and his status was similar to the governors of other districts of the state.^[4]

Ladakh Wazarat in 1939, subdivided into the tehsils of Leh, Skardu and Kargil.

Ladakh Wazarat was a district of the Jammu province until 1901, when the Frontier District Wazarat was abolished and the then existing unit was divided into Gilgit Wazarat (comprising Gilgit and Astore) and Ladakh Wazarat. A new tehsil, Kargil, was created from the Purig and Kharmang ilaqas of Skardu and the Zanskar ilaqa of Kishtwar district. The Wazir-i-Wazarat was made directly accountable to the Revenue Minister.^[4]

After the First Indo-Pakistani war in 1948 parts of the Ladakh Wazarat, containing Skardu Tehsil and a portion of Kargil Tehsil, came under Pakistani control, with Indian control over the remainder. Aksai Chin came under the Chinese control after the Sino-Indian War of 1962.