ABSTRACT
The Himalayan range continues to edge higher, projecting a massive rising physical presence due to the ongoing collision between the Indian subcontinent and the Laurasian landmass to its north. In a political sense the zone of intersection also intermittently shifts higher on the scale of conflict or cooperation, in acknowledgement of the continuous political pressure underlying the current uneasy stability in the region. The extent of the Himalayan mountain system depends on which ranges are included. Geographers Zurick and Karan (1999) use a conservative boundary framework from the Indus River in Pakistan’s Baltistan region through the Brahmaputra River in northeastern India, running more than 2,600 kilometers across five countries (Pakistan, India, Nepal, Tibet/China, and Bhutan). Segments in the range can be divided to reflect political as well as physical characteristics, from Nepal and the contested Punjab to Sikkim and the Hindu Kush. The Pamir Plateau, to which the term “Roof of the World” was first applied, illustrates the connectivity of this mega region from Pakistan through China (Shirakawa 1976). The limestone seabed of the Tethys, upraised by the Indo-Eurasian plate collision, currently towers an average of 13,100 feet. The plateau spawns major rivers supplying the countries of south, southeast, and east Asia: the Indus of Pakistan, the Salween of Myanmar, Thailand’s Irrawaddy, China’s Yangtze and Yellow rivers, and Bangladesh’s Brahmaputra (Palin 2004). This chapter focuses on the border area spanning northwest to northeast India to illustrate interactions linking regional edges from China to Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim Asian cultural regions. Mt. Everest within the Himalayan massif, from Katmandu to Paro, Bhutan. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203796443/4905de19-9b5f-4de2-a31d-b7662c22ff25/content/fig3_1_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
