View source for Aksai Chin

=== The Johnson Line ===
{{main|Johnson Line (boundary)}}
[[File:Hindutagh-pass-aksai-chin-center2-1873.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Map of [[Central Asia]] (1873) by [[Thomas Douglas Forsyth|T. Douglas Forsyth]]. The border claimed by the British for [[British Raj|India]] is shown in the two-toned purple and pink band with [[Shahidulla]] and the Kilik, Kilian and [[Sanju Pass|Sanju]] passes north of the border.]]
[[William Johnson (surveyor)|William Johnson]], a civil servant with the [[Survey of India]] proposed the "Johnson Line" in 1865, which put Aksai Chin in Kashmir. This was the time of the [[Dungan revolt (1862–1877)|Dungan revolt]], when China did not control most of [[Xinjiang]], so this line was never presented to the Chinese. Johnson presented this line to the Maharaja of Kashmir, who then claimed the 18,000 square kilometres contained within,<ref name="Guruswamy">Mohan Guruswamy, Mohan, [http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jun/20spec.htm "The Great India-China Game"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160930222001/http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jun/20spec.htm |date=30 September 2016 }}, [[Rediff.com|Rediff]], 23 June 2003.</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=October 2019|reason=See [[Talk:Sino-Indian War#Sources]]}} and by some accounts territory further north as far as the [[Sanju Pass]] in the [[Kun Lun Mountains]]. The Maharajah of Kashmir constructed a fort at Shahidulla (modern-day [[Xaidulla]]), and had troops stationed there for some years to protect caravans.{{sfn|Woodman|1969|pp=101, 360ff}} Eventually, most sources placed Shahidulla and the upper [[Karakash River]] firmly within the territory of Xinjiang (see accompanying map).{{citation needed|date=October 2019}} According to [[Francis Younghusband]], who explored the region in the late 1880s, there was only an abandoned fort and not one inhabited house at Shahidulla when he was there – it was just a convenient staging post and a convenient headquarters for the nomadic [[Kyrgyz people|Kirghiz]].<ref>Younghusband, Francis E. (1896). ''The Heart of a Continent''. John Murray, London. Facsimile reprint: (2005) Elbiron Classics, pp. 223–224.</ref>{{primary-source-inline|date=October 2019}} The abandoned fort had apparently been built a few years earlier by the Kashmiris.<ref>Grenard, Fernand (1904). ''Tibet: The Country and its Inhabitants''. Fernand Grenard. Translated by A. Teixeira de Mattos. Originally published by Hutchison and Co., London. 1904. Reprint: Cosmo Publications. Delhi. 1974, pp. 28–30.</ref>{{primary-source-inline|date=October 2019}} In 1878 the Chinese had [[Qing reconquest of Xinjiang|reconquered Xinjiang]], and by 1890 they already had Shahidulla before the issue was decided.<ref name="Guruswamy"/>{{unreliable source?|date=October 2019|reason=See [[Talk:Sino-Indian War#Sources]]}} By 1892, China had erected boundary markers at [[Karakoram Pass]].<ref name="Calvin">{{cite web|last=Calvin|first=James Barnard|date=April 1984|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1984/CJB.htm|title=The China-India Border War|publisher=Marine Corps Command and Staff College|access-date=|archive-url=|archive-date=|url-status=}}</ref>

In 1897, a British military officer, [[John Charles Ardagh|Sir John Ardagh]], proposed a boundary line along the crest of the [[Kun Lun Mountains]] north of the [[Yarkand River]].{{sfn|Woodman|1969|pp=101, 360ff}} At that time, Britain was concerned about the danger of Russian expansion as China weakened, and Ardagh argued that his line was more defensible. The Ardagh line was effectively a modification of the Johnson line, and became known as the "Johnson-Ardagh Line".