Zangla

Zangla stands on the right bank of the Zanskar River in the western Himalayas, beneath a hilltop royal fortress. It was the seat of one of Zanskar's hereditary rulers. His small domain included Zangla and several neighbouring villages, while a second royal house at Padum ruled the larger part of the country. In 1823 the Hungarian scholar Sándor Kőrösi Csoma came to Zangla and lived at the palace while studying Tibetan with a local teacher. His work there contributed to a Tibetan-English dictionary, bringing the language and its literature to a wider scholarly audience. Around the fortress and its valley settlements, Buddhist monasteries and the royal houses remained important features of Zanskar's social landscape.