ABSTRACT
The emergence of the nation-state as the locus of geo-political governance in modernity reinforced the sanctity of borders. As the inhabitants moved from residents or subjects to enumerated citizens, the once fuzzy borders have been transformed into permanent dichotomies of insiders and outsiders. This chapter argues that in cultural zones of border areas, there is an ongoing process of reciprocal integration between refugees and hosts. This chapter seeks to discern the reciprocal integration between Tibetan refugees and Ladakhi hosts in the Indian Himalayan Union Territory of Ladakh after the arrival of Tibetan refugees into India since 1959. It specifically focuses on the symbiotic relationship between Tibetan nomads and the Ladakhi nomads, as well as dialectics of hegemonic dominance and contestations between Tibetan Buddhists and Ladakhi Buddhists in Ladakh.
