Expedition of Said Khan (Etymology) (1906-8) including Daulat Beg Oldi (labeled as Daulat Beguldi) (
RGS, early 20th century) , 1953) Daulat Beg Oldi literally means "spot where the great and rich man died" Said Khan purportedly died at this place while returning to Yarkent from a campaign in Ladakh. The account of this military expedition was recorded by his general,
Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat, who was the Sultan's first cousin, in the history titled
Tarikh-i-Rashidi (تاریخ رشیدی) (
History of Rashid). In autumn 1531 (Safar 938
AH), Sultan Said Khan left Yarkand with Haidar and a few thousand men. On first crossing the Karakorum, the Sultan fell ill with severe
altitude sickness, but managed to recover. In the course of a few months of campaigning, they were able to devastate
Nubra Valley. As winter approached, they split forces. The Sultan left for
Baltistan; Haidar left for Kashmir. In Baltistan, the Sultan encountered a population of friendly Muslims, but he turned on them, killing and enslaving them, possibly because they were Shiites which orthodox Yarkandi Sunnis considered heretic. On the way to Kashmir, Haider defeated the
Dras near
Zoji La. In Kashmir, he and his troops were hosted by the king of
Srinagar. In the spring, the two parties met up again in
Maryul, and the Sultan decided to return to Yarkand, but instructed Haider to conquer Tibet for Islam before his departure. On his way back to Yarkand in the summer of 1533 (end of 939
AH), the Sultan once again suffered severe altitude sickness. This time he succumbed near
Karakoram Pass. Bellew argues that the location of his death was at Daulat Beg Oldi. News of the sultan's death led to a bloody struggle for the succession, ending in the ascension of
Abdurashid Khan. Abdurashid Khan recalled the forces in Tibet and exiled Haidar. By then, Haidar had had some successes against the
Changpa Tibetans of
Baryang, but his forces suffered greatly from the altitude and elements. By the time the army returned to Yarkand, of the original several thousands, fewer than a dozen were left. The exiled Haidar took refuge with his maternal aunt in Badakhshan. He eventually joined the ranks of the
Mughal Empire, where he wrote the
Tarikh-i-Rashidi.
Modern era The trade route via the Karakoram Pass was used by caravans traveling between Leh and the
Tarim Basin. Daulat Beg Oldi was a halting point for the caravans.
Filippo de Filippi, who explored the area in 1913–1914, described: Filippi also wrote that the experienced caravaners passed through the Depsang Plains without stopping, travelling a distance of 31 miles between Daulat Beg Oldi and
Murgo in a single day. In 1953, the Indian consulate in
Kashgar was closed down. Indian prime minister
Jawaharlal Nehru told the Parliament that the Chinese wished to treat
Xinjiang as a "closed area". Subsequently, China built the
Xinjiang–Tibet Highway through
Aksai Chin. == Sino-Indian border dispute ==