Taghdumbash Pamir (Chinese: 塔顿巴什帕米尔; pinyin: Tǎdùnbāshí or 塔德八士帕米尔; pinyin: Tǎdébāshì Pàmǐ'ěr) is a pamir or high valley[1] in the south west of Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China. It lies to the west of the Karakoram Highway. It is inhabited by Wakhi, Kirghiz and Tajik animal herders, who graze yaks and other animals on the grasslands of the pamir.[2]
The name Taghdumbash Pamir is also sometimes applied to the mountain ranges surrounding the pamir, on the borders of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan, straddling the Pamir Mountains along the Sarikol Range, the Hindu Kush, the Mustagh mountains, and the Wakhan. The range divides Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan, Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in Tajikistan, and the Pakistan-administered Kashmir in Pakistan.
During the Qing Dynasty the Chinese claimed suzerainty over the Taghdumbash Pamir but permitted the Mir of Hunza to administer the region in return for a tribute. Until 1937 the inhabitants paid tribute to the Mir of Hunza, who exercised control over the pastures.[2]