Leh pronunciation (helpinfo)(Tibetan alphabet: ,Wylie: Gle), was the capital of the Himalayan kingdom of Ladakh, now the Leh District in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India. Leh, with an area of 45,110km, is the second largest district in the country (after Kutch, Gujarat) in terms of area. The town is still dominated by the now ruined Leh Palace, former mansion of the royal family of Ladakh, built in the same style and about the same time as the Potala Palace. Leh is at an altitude of 3524 metres (11,562ft) , and connects via National Highway 1D connects it to Srinagar in the southwest and to Manali in the south via Leh-Manali Highway Leh was an important stopover on trade routes along the Indus Valley between Tibet to the east, Kashmir to the west and also between India and China for centuries. The main goods carried were salt, grain, pashm or cashmere wool, charas or cannabis resin from the Tarim Basin, indigo, silk yarn and Banaras brocade. Although there are a few...
