Tradeunofabrics at 16:24, 1 March 2026

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{{Short description|Ethnic group}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Changpa
| image = Changpa nomad girl with baby animal in Ladakh, 2013 (cropped).jpg
| population = India: 2,661 ([[2011 Indian Census|2011]])<ref name=Census>{{Cite web |website=Census of India Website |publisher=Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India |title=ST-14 Scheduled Tribe Population By Religious Community |url=https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/SCST-Series/ST14.html|access-date=2021-05-31}}</ref>
| popplace =
{{flag|China}} : {{ubl|[[Tibet Autonomous Region]]
*[[Xinjiang Autonomous Region]]
* [[Qinghai]]}}
{{flag|India}} : [[Ladakh]]
| languages = [[Changthang language]]
| religions = Mainly [[Buddhism]] (89%)<ref name=Census/>
*
{{small|Minority [[Islam]] (10%) and [[Hinduism]] (1%)}}<ref name=Census/>
| related_groups = [[Balti People|Baltis]], [[Ladakhis]], [[Purigpa]], and other [[Tibetan People]]
}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2018}}
[[File:Changpa Nomad of Ladakh.jpg|thumbnail|right|Changpa nomad]]
[[File:Changpa nomad girl.jpg|thumbnail|right|Changpa shepherd girl]]
[[File:Changpas nomadic people - Changtang - Tibet.jpg|thumb|Changpa nomadic family, Tibet]]

The '''Changpa''', or '''Champa''', are a semi-nomadic [[Tibetan people]] found mainly in the [[Changtang]] plateau in [[Ladakh]], [[India]]. A smaller number resides in the western regions of the [[Tibet Autonomous Region]] and were partially relocated for the establishment of the [[Changtang Nature Reserve]]. By 1989, there were half a million nomads living in the Changtang area.<ref name=GoldBeal>{{cite book |last1=Goldstein |first1=Melvyn |last2=Beal |first2=Cynthia |name-list-style=amp |year=1991|title=Nomads of Western Tibet |location=Berkeley, CA, USA |publisher=University of California Press |page=60 |isbn=0-520-07211-1}}</ref>

== Changpa of the Tibet Autonomous Region ==
The homeland of the Changpa is a high-altitude [[plateau]] known as the [[Changtang]], which forms a portion of western and northern Tibet extending to southeastern Ladakh, and ''Changpa'' means "northerners" in [[Standard Tibetan|Tibetan]].<ref name=Rizvi301>{{cite book |last=Rizvi |first=Janet |year=1999 |title=Trans-Himalayan Caravans |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=301 |isbn=0-19-564855-2}}</ref> Unlike many other nomadic groups in Tibet, the Changpa are not under pressure from settled farmers as the vast majority of land they inhabit is too inhospitable for farming.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Changtang Plateau |url=https://www.tibettravel.org/tibet-travel-guide/qiang-tang-grassland.html |access-date=2022-03-06 |website=Tibet Travel and Tours - Tibet Vista |language=en}}</ref>

Most of the Tibetan Changtang is now protected by means of nature reserves consisting of the [[Chang Tang Nature Reserve]], the second-largest nature reserve in the world, and four new adjoining smaller reserves totalling 496,000 km<sup>2</sup> (191,507 sq. miles) of connected Nature Reserves, which represents an area almost as large as [[Spain]] and bigger than 197 countries. Since the reserves were established, there has been a welcome increase in the number of endangered species. The protected areas stretch across parts of the [[Tibet Autonomous Region]], [[Xinjiang]] and [[Qinghai]] in [[China]].<ref name=GoldBeal/>

The Changpa of [[Ladakh]] are high-altitude pastoralists, raising mainly yaks and goats. Among the Ladakh Changpa, those who are still nomadic are known as '''Phalpa''' and they take their herds from the Hanley Valley to the village of Lato. Hanley is home to six isolated settlements, where the sedentary Changpa, the '''Fangpa''', reside. Despite their different lifestyles, both these groups intermarry. The Changpa speak [[Lahuli-Spiti language|Changskhat]], a dialect of [[Standard Tibetan|Tibetan]], and practice [[Tibetan Buddhism]].<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Champa |first=B.R |last=Rizvi |title=People of India Jammu and Kashmir |series=People of India |volume=XXV |editor1=K.N Pandita |editor2=S.D.S Charak |editor3=B.R Rizvi |name-list-style=amp |year=2003 |pages=182–184 |location=New Delhi |publisher=Manohar |isbn=8173041180}}</ref>

Only a small part of Changthang crosses the border into Ladakh, in the [[India]]n union territory of [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]]. It is, however, on a historically important route for travelers journeying from Ladakh to [[Lhasa]], and now has many different characteristics due to being part of India. Historically, the Changpa of Ladakh would migrate with their herds into Tibet, but with the Chinese takeover of Tibet, this route has been closed.<ref name=Rizvi301/>

As of 2001, the Changpa are classified as a [[Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes|Scheduled Tribe]] under the [[Reservation in India|Indian government's reservation program]] of [[affirmative action]].<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Census of India: Government of India |url=http://censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/SCST/scst_main.html |date=7 March 2007 |title=List of Scheduled Tribes |access-date=27 November 2012 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100605042409/http://censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/SCST/scst_main.html |archive-date=5 June 2010 }}</ref>

==Changpa and their goats==
For many Changpa, rearing of animals and consuming and selling their produce (milk and its products, hair and meat) is their only means of livelihood.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=atlasofhumanity.com |title=Changpa People of Ladakh, India |url=https://www.atlasofhumanity.com/changpa |access-date=2022-03-06 |website=Atlas Of Humanity |language=en}}</ref>

The Changpa rear the highly pedigreed and prized [[Changthangi|Changra goats]] (''Capra hircus'') that yield the rare Pashmina (Cashmere) fibre. The Changra goats are not raised for their meat but for their fibre (pashm). The pashmina fibre (Pashm in [[Persian language|Persian]]) is the finest fibre of all goat hair.<ref name=":0" />

==Documentary==
A documentary, ''[[Riding Solo to the Top of the World]]'', was directed by Gaurav Jani. Another documentary, ''The Nomadic Night'', depicting the life of the Changpa, was directed by [[:fr:Marianne_Chaud|Marianne Chaud]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Jani |first=Gaurav |title=Riding Solo to the Top of the World |date=2006-11-01 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903013/ |type=Documentary |publisher=Dirt Track Productions |access-date=2022-03-06}}</ref>

== References ==
<references>
https://www.pashma.com/blogs/news/changpa-pashmina-luxury-personified
</references>

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Ladakh]]
[[Category:Social groups of Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in China]]
[[Category:Tibetan people]]
[[Category:Modern nomads]]
[[Category:Pastoralists]]
[[Category:Scheduled Tribes of Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:Scheduled Tribes of India]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Ladakh]]

Changpa - Revision history

Tradeunofabrics at 16:24, 1 March 2026