Who Are the Changpa?
The Changpa (also Champa) are nomadic herders numbering approximately 15,000-20,000 inhabiting the Changtang Plateau of eastern Ladakh, India, and western Tibet, at altitudes of 4,000-5,500 meters, making them among the world's highest-dwelling peoples. The Changpa are ethnically Tibetan, speaking Ladakhi and Tibetan dialects, practicing Tibetan Buddhism, and maintaining nomadic pastoralist lifestyle adapted to extreme high-altitude environment. Their primary livelihood centers on herding Changra goats, source of the world's finest pashmina wool—the ultra-fine undercoat fiber fetches premium prices and forms basis of Kashmir shawl industry. Changpa also herd yaks, sheep, and occasionally horses, moving seasonally between pastures across the vast, treeless Changtang grasslands. They live in traditional rebo tents (black yak-hair tents), consume diet based on dairy products, tsampa (roasted barley flour), butter tea, and meat. Changpa culture maintains strong Tibetan Buddhist practices with monasteries, prayer flags, and ritual observances integrated into pastoral lifestyle. Modern challenges include harsh climate, political tensions (Ladakh borders disputed areas), development pressures encouraging settlement, and pashmina market fluctuations. Indian and Chinese Changpa face separation by international borders restricting traditional migration routes.