Only a few know that Galwan Valley bears the name of a young Ladakhi adventurer, Ghulam Rassul Galwan, whose courage and grit etched him into history.
When the tragic clash of June 15 brought Galwan Valley into the national spotlight, many Indians heard its name for the very first time. This remote, rugged land in Eastern Ladakh became the stage of the deadliest confrontation between Indian soldiers and China’s People’s Liberation Army since 1975. According to reports, 20 Indian soldiers, including a Colonel, were killed while several others suffered grave injuries in the violent clash. Situated east of the Siachen Glacier, Galwan Valley provides the only direct access to Aksai Chin — making it a priceless prize in the ongoing standoff. The river that flows through it, originating in the Karakoram range and joining the Shyok, has long dictated the destiny of empires.
Only a few know that this Valley bears the name of a young Ladakhi adventurer, Ghulam Rassul Galwan, whose courage and grit etched him into history.
The Boy Who Found a Way Through Mountains
Born around 1878 into a family struggling under the harsh system of begar, forced labour demanded of Ladakhi villagers, Rassul Galwan had no choice but to join caravans as early as 12, braving hunger, and death in order to earn a living. But, in 1892, while accompanying Charles Murray, the 7th Earl of Dunmore, on a mission through the Pamirs, disaster struck. The expedition caravan was trapped by a wall of jagged mountains and gorges in Aksai Chin. It was then that 14-year-old Galwan drew upon his instincts and intimate knowledge of the treacherous terrain, he found a safe passage through a ravine and saved the mission.
So impressed was Murray that he named the newfound passage “Galwan Nullah” — a rare honor, as colonial explorers seldom named landmarks after locals. From that moment, both the river and the Valley became forever tied to his name.
Over the next three decades, Galwan journeyed across the Himalayas, Tibet, the Karakoram, Central Asia, and the Pamirs. He served alongside some of the most celebrated explorers of his time — Major HH Godwin-Austen, who measured K2 in 1887, and Sir Francis Younghusband, the empire-builder and spymaster who shaped the Anglo-Tibetan Treaty of 1904.
Rising to the role of Caravan Bashi (caravan leader), Galwan managed men, money, animals, and diplomacy — acting as the crucial bridge between Western adventurers and Asian rulers. Encouraged by American explorer Robert Barrett and his wife Katherine, Galwan penned his life’s adventures in his autobiography “Servant of the Sahibs” (1923) — considered one of the first English-language autobiographies from Jammu & Kashmir.
“From Leh to Kashgar was a 44-day difficult trek, which for many Western explorers was an adventure in itself. Galwan used to do it just to join an expedition at Kashgar or rush to Leh to collect his pay without a thought to his discomforts and danger or the majesty around him. To him the bitterly cold and endless wasteland from Pamirs to Takla Makan to Tengri Nor was a second home,” wrote Romesh Bhattacharji, a retired IRS officer.
By the twilight of his life, Galwan had become the Akasakal of Ladakh — the chief native assistant to the British Joint Commissioner in Leh. From an impoverished child of forced labour, he rose to a figure of social respect and economic stability, leaving behind land and legacy that benefitted generations of his family. He passed away in 1925, but his name endures, carved into the Valley that is today at the heart of India’s most critical frontier.
His great-grandson, journalist Rasul Bailay, reflects with pride and pain, “Growing up, I heard a lot of stories about my great grandfather. These were part of family folklore. His hard work and sacrifice are what allowed successive generations in his family to live in material comfort.”
But when the conversation turns to China, he says, “Galwan river valley is India’s land. As Indians, we are emotional about every inch of our territory. Ladakh was once an integral part of the ‘Silk Route’, but the context within which that phrase exists today in the form of ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative carries very different geopolitical connotations with an expansionist China. During my great grandfather’s time, the region was caught up in the ‘Great Game’ between the British and Russian Empire. Today, the players have changed, which are India and China. Things are unfolding in a different avatar. This is indeed the new ‘Great Game’.”