Daulat Beg Oldi | |
|---|---|
Military Base | |
 Indian Air ForceAntonov An-32 taking off from Daulat Beg Oldi ALG | |
  Daulat Beg Oldi Location in Ladakh, India Show map of Ladakh Daulat Beg Oldi Daulat Beg Oldi (India) Show map of India | |
| Coordinates:35°23′24″N77°55′30″E / 35.390°N 77.925°E /35.390; 77.925 | |
| Country |  India |
| Union Territory | Ladakh |
| District | Leh |
| Elevation | 5,100 m (16,700 ft) |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
Daulat Beg Oldi (also Oldie,DBO) is a traditional campsite and current military base located in the midst of theKarakoram Range in northernLadakh, India. It is on the historictrade route between Ladakh and theTarim Basin, and is the last campsite before theKarakoram Pass. It is said to be named afterSultan Said Khan ("Daulat Beg" [The Statesman]) of theYarkent Khanate, who died here on his return journey from an invasion of Ladakh and Kashmir.Chip Chap River, the main headwater of theShyok River, flows just to the south. TheLine of Actual Control with Chinese-controlledAksai Chin is five miles to the east.
An Indian border outpost was established here in the summer of 1960.[1] AnAdvance Landing Ground was also constructed here, one of the world's highest airstrips. DBO has two road links constructed by theBorder Roads Organization, the 235 km-longDarbuk-Shyok-DBO Road,[2] and theSasoma–Saser La-DBO Road which provides an alternate and the shortest route to DBO from theNubra Valley.[3][4]
Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) lies at the northeastern corner of theKarakoram Range, at the northern edge ofDepsang Plains at an elevation of 5,100 metres (16,700 ft). The international border with China is 8 km to the north and theLine of Actual Control with Chinese-controlledAksai Chin is 9 km to the east. Other thanSiachen Glacier military bases, DBO is India's northernmost settlement. The nearest civilian town isMurgo to the south, which has a small population ofBaltis.[6]
The temperature plummets as low as -55 C in the winters. The weather deteriorates frequently with strong icy winds lashing much of DBO. DBO has very little if any vegetation or wildlife. Communication is possible only throughINMARSAT (satellite) phones.
Daulat Beg Oldi literally means "spot where the great and rich man died"[7] inTurki.[8] There are various folklore about whom this refers to—such as the tale about this place being the location where a large caravan was destroyed,[9] or the tale about this place being the burial site of a rich man and his treasure.[10]
According to British colonial-era surgeonHenry Walter Bellew,[11][12] Daulat Baig Oldi means "the lord of the state died here", and the "lord" was early 16th-centurySultan Said Khan of theYarkent Khanate.[11] Said Khan purportedly died at this place while returning to Yarkent from a campaign in Ladakh.[13][14][15] He is sometimes given the title ofGhaza for his military expeditions.[15]
The account of this military expedition was recorded by his general,Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat, who was the Sultan's first cousin, in the history titledTarikh-i-Rashidi (تاریخ رشیدی) (History of Rashid).[12]
In autumn 1531 (Safar 938AH), Sultan Said Khan left Yarkand with Haidar and a few thousand men. On first crossing the Karakorum, the Sultan fell ill with severealtitude sickness, but managed to recover. In the course of a few months of campaigning, they were able to devastateNubra Valley. As winter approached, they split forces. The Sultan left forBaltistan; Haidar left for Kashmir. In Baltistan, the Sultan encountered a population of friendly Muslims, but he turned on them, killing and enslaving them, possibly because they were Shiites which orthodox Yarkandi Sunnis considered heretic. On the way to Kashmir, Haider defeated theDras nearZoji La. In Kashmir, he and his troops were hosted by the king ofSrinagar. In the spring, the two parties met up again inMaryul, and the Sultan decided to return to Yarkand, but instructed Haider to conquer Tibet for Islam before his departure.[11][16]
On his way back to Yarkand in the summer of 1533 (end of 939AH), the Sultan once again suffered severe altitude sickness. This time he succumbed nearKarakoram Pass. Bellew argues that the location of his death was at Daulat Beg Oldi. News of the sultan's death led to a bloody struggle for the succession, ending in the ascension ofAbdurashid Khan. Abdurashid Khan recalled the forces in Tibet and exiled Haidar. By then, Haidar had had some successes against theChangpa Tibetans ofBaryang, but his forces suffered greatly from the altitude and elements. By the time the army returned to Yarkand, of the original several thousands, fewer than a dozen were left. The exiled Haidar took refuge with his maternal aunt in Badakhshan. He eventually joined the ranks of theMughal Empire, where he wrote theTarikh-i-Rashidi.[11][16][17]
The trade route via the Karakoram Pass was used by caravans traveling between Leh and theTarim Basin. Daulat Beg Oldi was a halting point for the caravans.Filippo de Filippi, who explored the area in 1913–1914, described:[18]
But on the other hand the caravans come and go incessantly, in the summer, in astonishing numbers. The first one of the season passed on June 28th, coming from Sanju on the Yarkand road; then more and larger ones came; in July there were four in one day, almost all travelling from Central Asia toward Leh—the Ladakhis usually do their trading at home. The caravans were of all sizes, from small groups of 3 or 4 men with 5 or 6 animals to large parties with 40 or more pack-animals; the men on foot or riding asses, the better-to-do merchants on caparisoned horses ...
Filippi also wrote that the experienced caravaners passed through the Depsang Plains without stopping, travelling a distance of 31 miles between Daulat Beg Oldi andMurgo in a single day.[18] Others stopped, either at Qizil Langar to the south of Depsang La, or atBurtsa further south.
The trading caravans declined during the 1940s during tensions inXinjiang (Chinese Turkestan) and completely stopped in the 1950s.[19] In 1953, the Indian consulate inKashgar was closed down. Indian prime ministerJawaharlal Nehru told the Parliament that the Chinese wished to treatXinjiang as a "closed area". Subsequently, China built theXinjiang–Tibet Highway throughAksai Chin.[20]
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TheRepublic of China (1912–1949), having faced a revolution in Tibet in 1911, apparently made secret plans to acquire Aksai Chin plateau in order to create a road link between Xinjiang and Tibet. These plans began to get manifested in public maps only towards the end of its rule.[21]
While the Republic of China claims included the Aksai Chin proper, they stopped well behind the Karakoram mountains, leaving all the rivers that flow into the Shyok River within India, including theChip Chap River. (See map.) Communist China also published the "Big Map of the People's Republic of China" in 1956 with a similar boundary, now called the1956 claim line.[22][23]
However, in 1960 China advanced its claim line further west, dissecting the Chip Chap River.[23] The Chinese said little by way of justification for this advancement other than to claim that it was their "traditional customary boundary" which was allegedly formed through a "long historical process". They claimed that the line was altered in the recent past only due to "British imperialism".[e][24][25][26]
Meanwhile, India continued to claim the entire Aksai Chin plateau.
A border post was established at Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) in 1960 under the supervision of theIntelligence Bureau (IB). By September 1961, the Chinese had established a post in theChip Chap Valley about 4 miles east of the DBO post as well as roads leading to it.[1][27] The Indian Army then set up posts at Burtsa, Qizil Langar, at a 'track junction' in the Depsang Plains and at Sultan Chushku. These were intended to block any further extension of Chinese roads. The Intelligence Bureau post at DBO was also reinforced with an Army unit.[27]
The DBO post was fired upon by Chinese forces during theSino-Indian War on 21 July and 4 August 1962.[28]
In April 2013, a platoon-sized contingent of thePeople's Liberation Armyestablished a campsite 30 km southeast of DBO,[29] a location in the Indian military's "DBO sector." In reference to their own perception of the LAC's location, India initially claimed that the Chinese camp was 10 km on their side, later revising this to a 19 km claim,[30] and claimed that Chinese military helicopters had violated Indian airspace during the incident.[31] In early May, both sides withdrew their units further back.
High-speed public 4G/5G mobile and internet connectivity was made available in early 2025.[32]
Daulat Beg Oldi Advanced Landing Ground  | |
|---|---|
| Summary | |
| Airport type | Military |
| Operator | Indian Airforce |
| Location | Ladakh, India |
| Elevation AMSL | 16,730 ft / 5,099 m |
 Interactive map of Daulat Beg Oldi Advanced Landing Ground | |
TheIndian Army maintains helipads and a gravel airstrip here, the highest airstrip in the world. Routine sorties are carried out usingAn-32 aircraft to provide relief and supplies to the troops stationed nearby.[33] The base was established during the Sino-Indian conflict in 1962, with the first landing by Squadron Leader C.K.S Raje who set a record for the world's highest aircraft landing at the time. It was operated with American-suppliedFairchild Packets from 1962 to 1966, whenit had to be closed down suddenly when an earthquake caused loosening of the surface soil, making the area unsuitable for fixed-wing aircraft.[34] Work was undertaken to make the airfield operational again, and was marked on 31 May 2008, when anIndian Air ForceAn-32 landed.[35]
TheIndian Air Force first landed transports here between 1962 and 1965 and then after a gap for 43 years, the IAF started landing at DBO in 2008. In a significant demonstration of its capabilities, the Indian Air Force landed aC-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft in Daulat Beg Oldi on 20 August 2013, thirty kilometers from where the2013 Daulat Beg Oldi Incident took place in April 2013. This landing could qualify as a world record for a medium-lift aircraft landing at this altitude.[36][37][38]
In 2001, the Indian government decided to construct a motorable road from Leh to Daulat Beg Oldi. The road was completed in 2019. The 255-km isDarbuk-Shyok-DBO Road (DS-DBO Road) runs at elevations between 4,000 and 5,000 metres (13,000–16,000 ft). It follows the old winter caravan route via the Shyok River valley going viaMurgo, Burtsa Nala and Depsang Plains. The travel time is said to be six hours.[39]
Sasoma–Saser La Road to DBO provides a much shorter alternative access fromNubra Valley to DBO as compared to the longer 230 km route via "DS-DBO Road",[3][4] reducing the travel time between Nubra valley and DBO from 2 days to mere 6 hours.[40]
While an alternate route to connect Daulat Beg Oldi with the Border Personnel Meeting Hut was approved by the Standing Committee of theNational Board for Wildlife (SC-NBWL) in October 2024 for quick troop and logistics movement, the actual construction of a 10.26 km (6.38 mi)-stretch of a road link for this purpose was approved later, in July 2025.[41]
The overall 130 km (81 mi)-long link namedSasoma–Sasser La–Sasser Brangsa–Gapshan–DBO link would serve as an alternative to the DS-DBO Road and will aid troop movement between DBO andSiachen Base Camp. The road has nine bridges which are currently capable of carrying weights of up to 40 t (88,000 lb) with plans to convert then to Class-70 bridges in coming future to assist in movements of heavy armoured vehicles. The construction and maintenance is being assigned to theBorder Roads Organisation (BRO) underProject Vijayak (Sasoma–Sasser Brangsa) at cost of₹300crore (US$35 million) andHimank (Sasser Brangsa–DBO) at a cost of₹200 crore (US$24 million).[42][43]
As of July 2025, the road's construction was complete fromSasoma to Sasser Brangsa and until east ofMurgo and Gashpan. All types of artillery guns were transported upto the point to test the capacity and all have been a success. While 70% of the works are completed, the road is expected to be operationalised by October–November 2026, following which it will serve between March and September during the summers. However, a tunnel at 17,800 ft (5,400 m)Sasser La is being proposed to provide all-year, all-weather service. Following clearance by government, an estimated 4–5 years is expected to operationalise the proposed tunnel.[42][43]
As of September 2025, India has accelerated infrastructure at Daulat Beg Oldi, including new road alignments, 70-tonne bridge upgrades, andoptical fibre connectivity to forward posts. These measures reduce travel time, enhance logistics, and strengthen operational preparedness along theLine of Actual Control.[44]
Daulat Beg Oldi –Tianwendian is the highest of the five officially agreedBorder Personnel Meeting points between theIndian Army and thePeople's Liberation Army of China for regular consultations and interactions between the two armies, which helps in defusing stand-offs.[45] The first meeting at this location was held on 1 August 2015 (PLA Day). The events included a Chinese cultural programme and other ceremonies meant to improve relations. Later in the month, India hosted a delegation from the PLA on the occasion ofIndian Independence Day and celebrated with traditional songs and dances from Indian culture,Gatka martial arts, and motorcycle acrobatics performed by theIndian Army Corps of Signals.[46] The first ceremonial BPM ever held on New Year's Day was here in 2016.[45]
A meeting hut was constructed approximately a year after the meeting point was opened.[47]
The nearest inhabited town is Murgo to the south, which has a small population of Baltis who primarily depend on apricot farming and yak rearing.
Daulat Beg Oldi, the spot where the great and rich man died
Daulat Beguldi (Turki for "Daulat Beg died", an appropriate name for so desolate a spot)
Daulat Beg and his large caravan was entirely destroyed about eighteen miles from the Karakoram pass on the Indian side.
It was believed that the rich man, Daulat Beg was buried here with his treasure.
According to H.W. Bellew, he was no ordinary traveller but a great warrior, a partisan of Babur, the conqueror of Ferghana and the king of Yarkand and Kashgar.
(p66) Daulat Beg Uild ... "The lord of the State died" ... (p67) Hydar ... wrote the Tarikhi Rashidi from which these details are derived
Daulat Bak Oldi (the royal prince died here), close to the Karakorum pass, is so called because Sultan Said Khan of Kashgar, on his return from a successful campaign against West Tibet, died here from mountain sickness (Plate 50)
Some 400 years earlier, in ad 1527, a Yarkandi invader, Sultan Saiad Khan Ghazi (also known as Daulat Beg) of Yarkand, briefly conquered Kashmir after fighting a battle along this pass. He died in 1531 at Daulat Beg Oldi (meaning, where Daulat Beg died) at the foot of the Karakoram pass, after he was returning from an unsuccessful attempt to invade Tibet.
On the 16th dhu-l-hiddjja 939/July 9th, 1533, on the way back from campaign in Minor Tibet (Ladakh) the founder of the Moghuliyya-Chaghataid state in Eastern Turkestan, Sultan Said-khan died.
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