The Namgyal dynasty 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...

 was founded by Bhagan

Bhagan

Lhachen Bhagan was a Basgo king who united Ladakh in 1470 by overthrowing the king of Leh. He took on the surname Namgyal and founded a new dynasty which still survives today....

, a Basgo

Basgo

Basgo is a historical town situated on the bank of the Indus river in Ladakh. It was once an important cultural and political centre and is frequently mentioned in the Ladakhi Chronicles. It is known for its gompas such as Basgo Monastery and historical ruins....

 king, who reunited Ladakh by overthrowing the king of Leh. He took the surname Namgyal (meaning victorious) and founded a new dynasty which still survives today. King Tashi Namgyal (1555-1575) successfully managed to repel most 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...

n raiders, and built a royal fort on the top of the Namgyal Peak. Tsewang Namgyal temporarily extended his kingdom as far as Nepal

Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

.

During the reign of Jamyang Namgyal, concerted efforts were made to convert Ladakh to Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

 by destroying Buddhist artifacts. Today, few gompas exist from before this period.
Sengge Namgyal

Sengge Namgyal

Sengge Namygal was a 17th century Namgyal dynasty King of Ladakh, India from 1616 to his death in 1642. A Buddhist, he was noted for his immense work in building monasteries, palaces and shrines in Ladakh and is known as the "Lion King"....

 (r. 1616-1642), known as the 'Lion' King made efforts to restore Ladakh to its old glory by an ambitious and energetic building program including the Leh palace and the rebuilding of several gompas, the most famous of which are Hemis

Hemis

Hemis is a town in India 40 km southeast of Leh in Ladakh, well known for the Hemis monastery that was established in 1672 AD by king Senge Nampar Gyalva. Hemis is best known to tourists for the colorful festival held in July. Hemis also could be associated with the Hemis National Park, an...

 and Hanle

Hanle

Hanle can mean:* Hanle , located in eastern Indian Ladakh, near the Chinese border** The Indian Astronomical Observatory, adjacent to Hanle village, location of the highest major astronomical telescopes in the world and colloquially known as Hanle** Hanle Valley, valley containing Hanle village,...

.

He expanded the kingdom into Zanskar

Zanskar

Zanskar is a subdistrict or tehsil of the Kargil district, which lies in the eastern half of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The administrative centre is Padum...

 and Spiti

Spiti

-Geographical locations:*Lahaul and Spiti, a district in the state of Himachal Pradesh in India.*Spiti Valley, former heartland of the former Spiti district now combined.*Spiti River, in the Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh.*Spitia River-Language:...

, but was defeated by the Mughals, who had already occupied Kashmir and Baltistan

Baltistan

Baltistan , also known as بلتیول བལིུལ་ in the Balti language, is a region in northern Pakistan which forms Gilgit-Baltistan, bordering the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China. In addition, a part of Baltistan also falls into Jammu and Kashmir of India. It is situated in the Karakoram mountains...

. His son Deldan Namgyal (1642-1694) had to placate the Mughal

Mughal Empire

The Mughal Empire ,‎ or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...

 emperor Aurangzeb

Aurangzeb

Abul Muzaffar Muhy-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir , more commonly known as Aurangzeb or by his chosen imperial title Alamgir , was the sixth Mughal Emperor of India, whose reign lasted from 1658 until his death in 1707.Badshah Aurangzeb, having ruled most of the Indian subcontinent for nearly...

 by building a mosque in Leh. However, he successfully defeated the Mughal army in Baltistan. He sided with Bhutan

Bhutan

Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...

 in a religious dispute between Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

 and Bhutan, which resulted in an attempted invasion by the fifth Dalai Lama. Kashmiri help restored Ladakhi rule at a price - the building of a mosque in Leh and the conversion of the Ladakhi king to Islam. Also, all of Ladakh's valuable pashmina

Pashmina

Pashmina refers to a type of fine cashmere wool and the textiles made from it. The name comes from Pashmineh , made from Persian pashm . The wool comes from changthangi or pashmina goat, which is a special breed of goat indigenous to high altitudes of the Himalayas in Nepal, Pakistan and northern...

 wool had to go to Kashmir. The Treaty of Temisgam in 1684 settled the dispute between Tibet and Ladakh, but its independence was seriously restricted.

By the beginning of the 19th century, the Mughal empire had collapsed and Sikh

Sikh

A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...

 rule had been established in Punjab

Punjab region

The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...

 and Kashmir. However the Dogra region of Jammu remained under its Rajput rulers, the greatest of whom was Maharaja Gulab Singh

Maharaja Gulab Singh

Maharaja Gulab Singh was the founder and first Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, the second largest princely state in British India...

 (1792-1857)——his General Zorawar Singh

General Zorawar Singh

Zorawar Singh Kahluria was born in a village of Kahlur State in modern Himachal Pradesh, India....

 invaded Ladakh in 1834. King Tshespal Namgyal was dethroned and exiled to Stok

Stok

Stok or Stak, museum and gompa in village of the same name, situated in the Indus Valley 17 km south east of the Ladakhi capital, Leh. Stok is the current residence of the former royal family of Ladakh and the museum contains the shrines, crown, ceremonial dress and jewelry of the Ladakhi...

.

List of kings and period of reign

This list is not complete

• Lhachen Bhagan (1470-?)
• Tashi Namgyal (1555-1575)
• Tsewang Namgyal (1575-?)
• Jamyang Namgyal (?-1616)
• Sengge Namgyal
  Sengge Namgyal
  Sengge Namygal was a 17th century Namgyal dynasty King of Ladakh, India from 1616 to his death in 1642. A Buddhist, he was noted for his immense work in building monasteries, palaces and shrines in Ladakh and is known as the "Lion King"....
  
   (1616-1642)
• Deldan Namgyal (1642-1694)
• Tsepal Namgyal (?-1834)