Batalik is a town in

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu and ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, located on the upper reaches of the

Indus river The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

. It was a focal point in the

Kargil War The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referr ...

because of its strategic location between

Kargil Kargil ( lbj, ) is a city and a joint capital of the union territory of Ladakh, India. It is also the headquarters of the Kargil district. It is the second-largest city in Ladakh after Leh. Kargil is located to the east of Srinagar in Ja ...

Leh Leh () ( lbj, ) is the joint capital and largest city of Ladakh, a union territory of India. Leh, located in the Leh district, was also the historical capital of the Kingdom of Ladakh, the seat of which was in the Leh Palace, the former res ...

and

Baltistan Baltistan ( ur, ; bft, སྦལ་ཏི་སྟཱན, script=Tibt), also known as Baltiyul or Little Tibet ( bft, སྦལ་ཏི་ཡུལ་།, script=Tibt), is a mountainous region in the Pakistani-administered territory of Gilg ...

. In 1999, the

Kargil war The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referr ...

was fought in this region. Batalik is 56 km from Kargil and is known for its five

Brokpa The Brokpa (), sometimes referred to as Minaro, are a small ethnic group mostly found in the union territory of Ladakh, India around the villages of Dha and Hanu. Some of the community are also located across the Line of Control in Baltista ...

villages: Dah,

Hanu The Hanwoo ( ko, 한우), also Hanu or Korean Native, is a breed of small cattle native to Korea. It was formerly used as a draught animal, but this use has almost disappeared. It is now raised mainly for meat. It is one of four indigenous Korea ...

Garkon Garkon is a Headquartor of a panchayat village in the Aryan valley region located in Kargil block of Kargil district, in a rural region in the Indian union territory of Ladakh.It has six hamlets: Changra, Fantola, Haroo, Rama, Sirchangarh ...

Chulichan Chulichan ( lbj, ) is a village panchayat in the Kargil district of Ladakh, India. It consists of five hamlets: Groung Rkhil,Groung Stod-I,Groung Stod-II,Sharchey and Grongjuk .It is one of the 66 villages of Kargil tehsil. These village i ...

and

Darchik Darchik is a village in the Aryan valley region, located in Kargil tehsil of Kargil district of Ladakh. The Darchik village includes hamlets named Gund (Barjay), Hordass and Sanachay. It is populated by Buddhist Brokpa people. Darchik is one o ...

. Most of the valley is made up of nominally

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

Brokpas who practice

animism Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, Soul, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct Spirituality, spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—Animal, animals, Plant, plants, Ro ...

, but a few communities have converted to

Shia Islam Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, m ...

and intermarried with Muslim ethnic groups as a result.

Transport

Road

Batalik is connected by road to other places in Ladakh and India by the

Srinagar-Leh Highway National Highway 1 (NH 1) in India runs between the States and territories of India, union territories of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. It comprises parts of old National Highway 1A (India, old numbering ...

or the NH 1.

Rail

The nearest major railway stations to Batalik are

Sopore railway station Sopore railway station is situated in the outskirts of Sopore town. It lies on Northern Railway Network Zone of Indian Railways. It is one of the northernmost station of Indian Railways. Location The station is located at Amargrah about 2 km f ...

and

Srinagar railway station Srinagar railway station is a railway station of the city of Srinagar in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The station is part of the Jammu–Baramulla line and lies in Firozpur division, which once completed, will connect the c ...

located at a distance of 271 kilometres and 277 kilometres respectively.

Air

The nearest airport is at

located at a distance of 60 kilometres but it is currently non-operational. The next nearest major airport is

Leh Airport Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport is a domestic airport serving Leh, the capital of Ladakh, India. It is the 23rd highest commercial airport in the world at above mean sea level. The airport is named after 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche, an Ind ...

located at a distance of 205 kilometres. Batalik mountains

References

Cities and towns in Kargil district Ladakh Kargil War {{Ladakh-geo-stub

Transport

Road

Rail

Air

See also

References