01Over the passes to Leh
He rose in Gulab Singh’s service as the governor of Kishtwar. In 1834 he took a Dogra army over the passes from Kishtwar into Zanskar and Ladakh, fighting in country where the snow closes the roads for half the year. Over several campaigns down to 1840 Ladakh was brought under Jammu, and Leh became the seat of a Dogra governor. In 1840 he crossed into Baltistan and took Skardu. These conquests are the reason Ladakh became part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, and through it part of India.
02Into Tibet, 1841
In May 1841 he marched east into western Tibet with a few thousand Dogras and Ladakhis, took Rudok and Gartok, and reached Taklakot near Lake Mansarovar and Kailash. Winter came while he was still there, at well over 4,000 metres. A Tibetan army with Qing support came against the frozen, hungry camp. On 12 December 1841, at To-yo, he was struck down in battle, and most of his army died in the snow or was taken. The Treaty of Chushul of 1842 later restored the old Ladakh–Tibet border.
