Flora and Fauna

The region exhibits varied vegetation, including herbs, shrubs, and trees like Shukpa, Stagpa, Umbu, Seva, Skyrepa, Spenme, Kangtakari, Askuta, Garma, Yuled, and Kumout. The local population, known as Brokpa, observes rituals at a juniper shrine named Chilligi Deuha.^[12]

Himalayan Ibex.

Despite the challenging climate, the area is home to diverse bird and mammal species. Observations include Pallas Dippers, Blue whistling thrush, Brown Dipper and Greenish Leaf Warblers, Common Swift, Eurasian Crag Martin, Large-billed Crow, Mountain Chiffchaff, Grey Wagtail, Hume's leaf warbler, Red-mantled Rosefinch and Red-fronted Serin. The Himalayan Himalayan Ibex sporadically appears in the landscape.^[13]

Brokpas

The Brokpa people, also known as the Minaro tribe, have a rich and diverse history with multiple theories surrounding their origins. Some sources suggest they are descendants of Alexander the Great's lost army, while others propose that they are the only surviving descendants of the indigenous Aryans in India.^[17][18][19] The region is inhabited by the Brokpas — an exonym, used by the Ladakhis (lit. Highlanders) —, who are a sub-group of the Shin people.^[2] From their oral history, it can be reasoned that Dah-Hanu region was first occupied c. 10th century by a group of migratory Shinas who practiced the largely-animist ancient Dardic religion, and staked claim to the Minaro ethnic identity.^[2] About six hundred years hence, another group of Shinas — influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism — migrated to Dah-Hanu, fomenting a conflict but yet chose to live together.^[2] Until its absorption into the Maryul kingdom, their chiefs wielded nominal autonomy in the region.^[3]

Uninfluenced by Islam to any significant extent, the Brokpas of Dah-Hanu maintained a unique culture unlike most of neighboring Shinas.^{[2][web 2]}

kargil war

The Aryan Valley, encompassing the Batalik-Yaldor-Chorbatla sector and characterized by rugged terrain and strategic heights ranging from 5000 to 5600 meters, became a pivotal theater during the Kargil War. In May 1999, shepherd Tashi Namgyal, hailing from Garkhon village in Aryan Valley, played a crucial role in early intruder detection at the Jubar ridgeline. Employing binoculars, his vigilant observation promptly alerted the Indian Army to the presence of six individuals clad in black Pathani outfits. This episode exemplified the significance of local contributions, as the shepherd's alertness became instrumental in shaping the unfolding narrative of the conflict.

The Yaldor and Chorbat sectors, accessible by moving upwards from Dah and Hanuthang within the Aryan Valley, held strategic importance during the Kargil War due to their distinctive geographical features. These sectors emerged as focal points of the conflict, with the elevation changes contributing to their strategic significance.

Responding to the intrusion, The Indian Air Force successfully evicted intruders from strategically occupied heights in the Aryan Valley's Batalik-Yaldor-Chorbatla sector.^[20][21][22]

The Kargil War has impacted Brogpa villagers' traditional practices. Military occupation of high alpine pastures reduced goat ownership but increased the use of donkeys. Men now serve as army porters, transporting supplies to border posts and occasionally bringing back deceased individuals. The conflict has dramatically altered the landscape of Brogpa villages, transforming once-fertile fields into active battle-zones.^[23]

Aryan association and neologism

In 1880, G. W. Leitner, a British orientalist, called the Brokpas "remnants of an ancient and pure Aryan race" — this trope would be reinforced by other colonial administrators, effectively exoticising them.^[24][25] Mona Bhan, a Professor of South Asian Studies and Anthropology at Syracuse University, notes that such a historical racialising of linguistic and cultural traits has persisted even in modern ethnography on the Brokpas.^[26]

In 1980, H. P. S. Ahluwalia reported having met three German Neo-nazi female tourists who attended a Brokpa festival and hoped to be impregnated by the "pure Aryans"; such mythical tourists would be a staple of media coverage on the region.^[27] Over time, the Brokpas imbibed the Aryan characterization to the extent of tracing descent from Alexander's army.^{[web 3][28]} During the 2003 elections to the Kargil Hill Council, they claimed representation to the minority seats based on their Aryan identity, among other factors.^[24] However, this self-fashioning differed from the usual connotations of "Aryan" in the West.^[29] For the Brokpas, their Aryan identity laid in a millennia-old-struggle to maintain a unique identity in the face of persecution by various rulers, as told through folk-lores, and was a tool to improve their abject socioeconomic marginalization.^[29]

Beginning in 2010, as the Government wished to attract tourism to the region, local travel agents began to market the "Aryan-ness" of the inhabitants;^[29] the state government reinforced the trend by projecting the Brokpa people as "pure specimens of the Aryan race".^{[web 1]} Some Brogpas even changed their surnames to "Aryan".^[30] The name "Aryan Valley" was created within this discourse.^{[web 1]} In 2019, locals demanded that the "Aryan valley" be declared as a heritage village to boost tourism.^{[web 2]} The discourse on the Aryan traits of the Brokpas has been increasingly appropriated by right-wing Hindutva groups to leverage their supposed indigeneity against the Muslim other and to "validate their hold on India's disputed territory".^{[web 1][31]}