[7] The Ladakh Chronicles spell the name of Kargil as Wylie: dkar skyil, THL: kar kyil.

The Kargil basin does give the feel of an expanse surrounded by low-pitched mountains, with the low Khurbathang plateau at the southeastern corner.

[13] Radhika Gupta has opined that it is a fitting description for a place that is equidistant from Srinagar, Leh and Skardu.

Scholar Janet Rizvi states that the Indus Valley between Marol and Dah is a narrow gorge and was not easily traversable in the pre-modern period.

So the normal trade route between Baltistan and Leh also ran via Kargil, using the Suru valley and Wakha Rong.

The Line of Control with Pakistan-administered Kashmir is roughly 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) to the north of Kargil.

A key height called Peak 13620, which overlooks the Kargil town and the Srinagar–Leh Highway, remained in Pakistani control at the end of the First Kashmir War.

During the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971, Indian forces pushed the Line of Control north of the ridgeline, ensuring Kargil's security.

[15][16] By the 18th or 19h century, its dynasty established a branch at Pashkum[a] (Wylie: pas kyum) to the southeast of Kargil in the Wakha Rong valley.

[16] During Zorawar Singh's invasion of Ladakh in 1834, the Dogras attacked both Sod Pasari and Pashkum and destroyed their forts.

[19][20] Alexander Cunningham described the "newl fort" at Kargil as a square of about sixty yards on the left bank of the Suru River, immediately above its junction with Wakha Rong.

But Dogras sent fresh forces under Wazir Lakhpat, who beat back the Tibetans and reestablished status quo ante.

During the colonial period, the significance of this trade route in Kargil town manifested in the form of a serai, a rest-house, and post and telegraph offices.

The small wooden shops and large emporiums of Kargil's small bazaar offered matches, kerosine oil, several varieties of sugar and tea, cotton cloth from Bombay and Manchester, and cheap glass and tinsel ornaments.

Fighting occurred along a 160 km long stretch of ridges overlooking the Srinagar–Leh Road, then the only road to Ladakh[29] The military outposts on the ridges above the highway were generally around 5,000 metres (16,000 ft) elevation, with a few as high as 5,485 metres (18,000 ft).

[30] Kargil has an average elevation of 2,676 metres (8,780 feet), and is situated along the banks of the Suru River (Indus).

[34] Greater Ladakh is the largest circulated bi-lingual newspaper in the Union Territory that publishes once in a week.