Spiti


From Encyclopedia Britannica (11th edition, 1910)

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Spiti, an extensive minor division of Kangra district in the Punjab, India. Area, 2155 sq. m., the population (1901) being only 3231, all Buddhists. It consists of an outlying Tibetan valley among the external ranges of the Himalayas, which has a mean elevation of 12,981 ft. and contains on its borders many peaks over 20,000 ft. and one in the outer Himalayas of 23,064 ft. in altitude. Spiti originally formed part of the kingdom of Ladakh, and came into the hands of the British in 1846. The river Spiti rises at the converging angle of the Kamzam and outer Himalayan ranges at a height of 20,073 ft., drains the whole valley of Spiti, and falls into the Sutlej after a course of 120 m.