Kham Magar - Kham Isolation

Kham Isolation

Highlands inhabited by Kham are a rugged knot of ridges reaching 3,000 to 4,000 meters some 50 km south of the Dhaulagiri range, forming a triple divide between the Karnali-Bheri system to the west, the Gandaki system to the east, and the smaller (West) Rapti and Babai river systems that separate the two larger systems south of this point. Since uppermost tributaries of the Karnali and Gandaki rise beyond the highest Himalaya ranges, trade routes linking India and Tibet developed along these rivers, whereas high ridges along the Rapti's northern watershed and then the Dhaulagiri massif beyond were rigorous obstacles. Similarly, eastward migration of Khas peoples detoured around these highlands by following the Mahabharat Range to the south or Dhorpatan valley to the north which—by Himalayan standards—offers exceptionally easy east-west passage. The Kham highlands may also have been left as a buffer between the easternmost Baise kingdom, Salyan and the westernmost Chaubisi kingdom Pyuthan. For the Khas, the intervening highlands unsuited for rice cultivation were hardly worth contesting. The movement of political focus eastward to Kathmandu in the 18th century—250 kilometers and more than a week's journey—also contributed to the growing isolation of Kham lands.