Chorbat Valley ( ur, ,
Balti: ) is a section of the
Shyok
The Shyok River is a tributary of the Indus River that flows through northern Ladakh and enters Gilgit–Baltistan, spanning some .
The Shyok River originates at the Rimo Glacier, one of the tongues of Siachen Glacier. Its alignment is very ...
river valley divided between
Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan
Gilgit-Baltistan (; ), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory, and constituting the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region which has been the subject of a dispute bet ...
and
Indian-administered 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 ...
. The Pakistan-administered portion is in the
Khaplu
Khaplu (Urdu: ) and ( Balti: ཁཔ་ལུ།), also spelt Khapalu, is a city that serves as the administrative capital of the Ghanche District of Gilgit-Baltistan, in northern Pakistan. Lying east of the city of Skardu, it was the second-lar ...
tehsil
A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...
,
Ghanche District
The Ghanche District ( bft, ) is the easternmost district of the 14 districts of Pakistan-administered territory of Gilgit-Baltistan. Pakistan Army's brigade headquarters is located at Goma, Ghanche district. Pakistan Army's Gayari Sector Battal ...
of
Gilgit–Baltistan
Gilgit-Baltistan (; ), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory, and constituting the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region which has been the subject of a dispute be ...
and the Indian-administered portion is in the
Nubra tehsil
Nubra, also called Dumra, is a historical region of Ladakh, India that is currently administered as a subdivision and a tehsil in the Leh district. Its inhabited areas form a tri-armed valley cut by the Nubra and Shyok rivers. Its Tibetan name ...
,
Leh district
Leh district is a district in the union territory of Ladakh, India. With an area of 45,110 ''km'2'', it is the second largest district in the country smaller only to Kutch. It is bounded on the north by Gilgit-Baltistan's Kharmang and Gha ...
of
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 ...
. Chorbat stretches from the edge of Khaplu to the
Chalunka
Chalunka (also known as Chalunkha or Chulungkha) is a small mountainous village in the Chorbat area of the Shyok River valley in Ladakh, India. At the end of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, it was on the cease-fire line agreed between the Ind ...
village of Nubra.
The Khan of Chorbat moved his capital from
Siksa (originally called "Chorbat") to
Turtuk
Turtuk ཏུར་ཏུཀ་ is a village and the headquarters of an eponymous community development block in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. It is a small village sandwiched between Karakorum Range and Himalayas. and one of the northe ...
in the 18th century. These two villages (now in Pakistan and India respectively) are the largest villages of the Chorbat region.
Geography
![View of Shyok Valley from Turtuk Village, Ladakh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/View_of_Shyok_Valley_from_Turtuk_Village%2C_Ladakh.JPG)
Chorbat is an indistinct region
[: "The precise dividing point from where the Chorbat area can be demarcated is at present not possible. The Chorbat area, during the last three centuries, continuously changed hands between the rulers of Khapalu and Ladakh."] at the border between
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 ...
and
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 ...
near the course of the
Shyok River
The Shyok River is a tributary of the Indus River that flows through northern Ladakh and enters Gilgit–Baltistan, spanning some .
The Shyok River originates at the Rimo Glacier, one of the tongues of Siachen Glacier. Its alignment is very ...
. It is marked by
* the Chorbat La pass, the traditional border between Baltistan and Ladakh,
[: "The Chorbat Pass is the boundary of Baltistan in this direction; by this road also used to come Balti raiders, as the remains of a fort at Yogma Hanū prove, which the people of the valley had put up against them."]
* the Chorbat village in Baltistan, now called
Siksa, and
* the town of
Turtuk
Turtuk ཏུར་ཏུཀ་ is a village and the headquarters of an eponymous community development block in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. It is a small village sandwiched between Karakorum Range and Himalayas. and one of the northe ...
, presently in
Nubra
Nubra, also called Dumra, is a historical region of Ladakh, India that is currently administered as a subdivision and a tehsil in the Leh district. Its inhabited areas form a tri-armed valley cut by the Nubra and Shyok rivers. Its Tibetan name ...
, which is considered its traditional capital.
[Nandini Mehta]
Turtuk Diary
''Outlook'', 8 August 2011. Quote: "The Khan of Turtuk, Mohammad Khan Kacho of the Yabgo Dynasty of Chorbat Khaplu, to give him his title in full. His ancestors derived their power and wealth (now sadly reduced) from Turtuk's strategic location on a feeder road of the Silk Route going on to Central Asia via Skardu and Yarkand."
In the early decades of the
Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to:
* Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent
* Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory
* Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...
princely state, there was a Chorbat (subdistrict) in the Baltistan (district). It stretched along the Shyok River valley from a village called Dou-U (Dawou
[) in the west to ]Chalunka
Chalunka (also known as Chalunkha or Chulungkha) is a small mountainous village in the Chorbat area of the Shyok River valley in Ladakh, India. At the end of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, it was on the cease-fire line agreed between the Ind ...
in the east.
Between the Chorbat village and the Chorbat La pass lies the Chorbat Lungpa valley. To the south of the Chorbat La pass, the Hanu valley carries a stream that flows down to join 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, ...
near the village of Dah. The Chorbat Lungpa and Hanu valleys constituted the main route from Baltistan to Ladakh in the past.[ The villages in the Hanu valley as well as Dah are fortified, indicating that they experienced raids from Baltistan in the past.][ Being the main travel route between Baltistan and Leh, the route carried part of the ]Silk Road
The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...
traffic, which enriched the people of Chorbat.[Archita Suryanarayanan]
In Ladakh’s Turtuk village, life goes on as it has since the 15th century
The Hindu, 13 October 2018.
The main populated areas in Chorbat are in the Shyok River valley, comprising some 13 villages in present-day Baltistan, and 5 villages in Indian-administered Ladakh.[Chorbat Valley Baltistan]
VisitPakistanOnline.com, retrieved 28 July 2019. The area is said to have been originally settled by people from Ladakh. At present, the people display a mix of Ladakhi and Balti influences.
Geographically, the wide valley of the Shyok river in "Lower Nubra" narrows to a mountain gorge near the Yagulung village (). The Shyok flows through the gorge until Khaplu
Khaplu (Urdu: ) and ( Balti: ཁཔ་ལུ།), also spelt Khapalu, is a city that serves as the administrative capital of the Ghanche District of Gilgit-Baltistan, in northern Pakistan. Lying east of the city of Skardu, it was the second-lar ...
, where the valley widens again. A string of villages dot this gorge, wherever possible along the banks of the river: Bogdang
Bogdang (Bukdang, Beyoqdan, Biagdangdo, ) is a village in the Leh district of Ladakh, India. It is located in Nubra tehsil.
Location
Bogdang is located in the Shyok River valley after it narrows near Yagulung, the portion sometimes called the C ...
, Chalunka
Chalunka (also known as Chalunkha or Chulungkha) is a small mountainous village in the Chorbat area of the Shyok River valley in Ladakh, India. At the end of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, it was on the cease-fire line agreed between the Ind ...
, Turtuk
Turtuk ཏུར་ཏུཀ་ is a village and the headquarters of an eponymous community development block in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. It is a small village sandwiched between Karakorum Range and Himalayas. and one of the northe ...
, Tyakshi
Takshi, also known as Tyakshi or Taqsi, is a remote village in Nubra valley,located on the banks of the Shayok River in the Leh district of UT Ladakh, India. It lies in the historical Chorbat Valley of the Baltistan region, which was divided bet ...
, and Thang on the Indian side of the Line of Control
The Line of Control (LoC) is a military control line between the Indian and Pakistanicontrolled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir—a line which does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary, but serve ...
; Franu, Siari, Piun, Siksa, Hassanabad, Marcha, Lunkha, and Dawou on the Pakistani side. The folklore includes all these villages in Chorbat.[
The valley is surrounded by high rising peaks of the ]Karakoram
The Karakoram is a mountain range in Kashmir region spanning the borders of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwest extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range falls under the ...
mountain range and the bank the Shyok River
The Shyok River is a tributary of the Indus River that flows through northern Ladakh and enters Gilgit–Baltistan, spanning some .
The Shyok River originates at the Rimo Glacier, one of the tongues of Siachen Glacier. Its alignment is very ...
. The climate is hard with little rain and extremely cold winters due to proximity to Siachen Glacier
The Siachen Glacier is a glacier located in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalayas at about , just northeast of the point NJ9842 where the Line of Control between India and Pakistan ends. At long, it is the longest glacier in the Kar ...
and other peaks and glaciers.
Chorbat occupies .
History
According to scholar Rohit Vohra, the original settlers of the area were Brog-pa Dards
The Dardic languages (also Dardu or Pisaca) or Hindu-Kush Indo-Aryan languages, are a group of several Indo-Aryan languages spoken in northern Pakistan, northwestern India and parts of northeastern Afghanistan.
The term "Dardic" is stated to b ...
. Above the present day Turtuk stand the ruins of a large fortress built by them. The tradition holds that the Brog-pa Dards were Buddhist and lived under a constant danger of attack from the north, until two warriors from the 'west' called Chulli and Yandrung overran them. The Brog-pas are said to have fled and settled in the Hanu valley. The present day residents of Turtuk are divided into 'Chulli-pa' and 'Yandrung-pa', claiming descent from Chulli and Yandrung.
At some later date (16th–17th centuries), Islamic missionaries came to the area. The traditions narrate the visits of 'Amir Kabir' (possibly Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani
Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani ( fa, میر سید علی همدانی; CE) was a Persian scholar, poet and a Sufi Muslim saint of the Kubrawiya order. He was born in Hamadan, Iran and preached Islam in Central Asia and Kashmir as he travelled to pr ...
) and Sayyid Nur Baksh, who defeated the Buddhist lamas in debate and converted the people to Islam.
A Yabghu
Yabghu ( otk, 𐰖𐰉𐰍𐰆, yabγu,Entrabγu">"𐰖𐰉𐰍𐰆_[yabγuйабғұ"in_"Ethno-Cultural_Dictionary"_''Türik_Bitig''_),_also_rendered_as_Jabgu,_Djabgu_or_Yabgu,_was_a_state_office_in_the_early_Turkic_peoples.html" ;"title="abγuй ...
(Tibetan spelling: Yagbo) family was in control of Khaplu
Khaplu (Urdu: ) and ( Balti: ཁཔ་ལུ།), also spelt Khapalu, is a city that serves as the administrative capital of the Ghanche District of Gilgit-Baltistan, in northern Pakistan. Lying east of the city of Skardu, it was the second-lar ...
from some uncertain date ( according to tradition). In the 18th century, the Chorbat area was given by the ruler Yabgo Yahya Khan of Khaplu
Khaplu (Urdu: ) and ( Balti: ཁཔ་ལུ།), also spelt Khapalu, is a city that serves as the administrative capital of the Ghanche District of Gilgit-Baltistan, in northern Pakistan. Lying east of the city of Skardu, it was the second-lar ...
to his son Yagbo Nasir Khan, who came to live in Turtuk. The present headman of Turtuk traces his descent to him.
Modern history
During the last three centuries, the Chorbat area alternatively came under the control of Khaplu and Ladakh. Between 1834–1840, the Dogra general Zorawar Singh Kahluria, Zorawar Singh conquered both Ladakh and Baltistan and made them part of the Sikh Empire. Under the Treaty of Amritsar (1846), Treaty of Amritsar, the areas were transferred to Maharaja Gulab Singh
Gulab Singh Jamwal (1792–1857) was the founder of Dogra dynasty and the first Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, the largest princely state under the British Raj, which was created after the defeat of the Sikh Empire in t ...
to form part of a new princely state of Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to:
* Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent
* Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory
* Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...
under the suzerainty of the British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
. Baltistan was at first administered as a with 15 , Chorbat being one of them. Later, Ladakh and Baltistan formed a joint whose capital alternated between 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 Skardu
, nickname =
, motto =
, image_skyline =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Gilgit Baltistan#Pakistan
, pushpin_label_position ...
for six months each year.
India–Pakistan conflicts
In 1947, after the independence of 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 ...
and Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, Pakistan launched a tribal invasion of Jammu and Kashmir, which provoked the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir to join India. The Gilgit Agency
The Gilgit Agency ( ur, ) was an agency of the British Indian Empire consisting of the subsidiary states of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir at its northern periphery, mainly with the objective of strengthening these territories agains ...
to the north rebelled and overthrew the Maharaja's administration. The Gilgit Scouts
The Gilgit Scouts constituted a paramilitary force of the Gilgit Agency in northern Jammu and Kashmir. They were raised by the government of British India in 1913, on behalf of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, to police the northern front ...
and the Muslim members of the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces
Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of , ...
stationed in the area organised themselves under the command of Colonel Aslam Khan, and launched an invasion on the Ladakh . By July–August 1948, the Gilgit Scouts overran Kargil, Skardu and the Zoji La
Zoji La (sometimes Zojila Pass) is a high List of mountain passes#India, mountain pass in the Himalayas. It is in the Government of India, Indian Union territory of Ladakh, Kargil district, Kashmir. Located in the Dras, Drass, the pass connec ...
pass that connects Ladakh to the Kashmir Valley, reaching the vicinity of Leh.
But Leh held, reinforced by air and a tortuous mountain caravan from Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...
. The Indian Army raised a local militia called Nubra Guards
The Nubra Guards was an Indian paramilitary force formed during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948 to provide security in the Nubra Tehsil, in particular the Nubra and Shyok river valleys. Diskit, the headquarters of Nubra, is about 150 ...
under the command of 17-year old Chewang Rinchen
Colonel Chewang Rinchen MVC & Bar, SM (Kalon Tsewang Rigdzin, 1931 – 1997) was a highly decorated officer in the Indian Army from the Union territory of Ladakh. He was the youngest ever recipient of the Maha Vir Chakra, the second highes ...
, which reportedly blocked various passage routes to Leh.
The Gilgit Scouts were progressively pushed back beyond the line connecting the Chorbat La pass and Chalunka
Chalunka (also known as Chalunkha or Chulungkha) is a small mountainous village in the Chorbat area of the Shyok River valley in Ladakh, India. At the end of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, it was on the cease-fire line agreed between the Ind ...
. The ceasefire line was established through these two points at the end of 1948. The entire Chorbat came under the control of Pakistan. (Bogdang
Bogdang (Bukdang, Beyoqdan, Biagdangdo, ) is a village in the Leh district of Ladakh, India. It is located in Nubra tehsil.
Location
Bogdang is located in the Shyok River valley after it narrows near Yagulung, the portion sometimes called the C ...
, never a part of the , remained under Indian control.)
Under Pakistani control, Gilgit dominated Baltistan, and both the regions were administered as a non-descript "Northern Areas" by the Federal government of Pakistan. Chorbat was merged into the Khaplu during this period.
Two further wars were fought by India and Pakistan over Kashmir. In the 1965 war
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 or the Second Kashmir War was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was d ...
, the region saw some action, but the two countries returned to status quo after the war. However, the Khan of Turtuk, Yagbo Mohammad Khan Kacho, was apparently looted by the Pakistani Army of his throne and all other valuables.[
In the war of 1971, Rinchen's Nubra Guards, now part of ]Ladakh Scouts
The Ladakh Scouts is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army, nicknamed the "Snow Warriors" or "Snow Leopards". The regiment specialises in mountain warfare, and its primary role is to guard India's borders in the high altitudes of the Union ...
, proceeded to capture further areas of Chorbat. They first captured a peak at 18,620 feet overlooking Chalunka. Then the two companies of Karakoram Scouts defending Chalunka were overpowered, leading them to flee to Turtuk. Turtuk was then taken in four days, followed by Tyakshi and Thang. The villagers were frightened at first, but Rinchen put them at ease.
Division between India and Pakistan
After the 1971 war, India and Pakistan reached the Simla Agreement
The Simla Agreement, also spelled Shimla Agreement, was a peace treaty signed between India and Pakistan on 2 July 1972 in Shimla, the capital city of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It followed the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, which ...
, whereby the ceasefire line of the war became the new Line of Control
The Line of Control (LoC) is a military control line between the Indian and Pakistanicontrolled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir—a line which does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary, but serve ...
, permanently dividing Chorbat between India and Pakistan. The Baltis allege that the Pakistani prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth ...
did not care about the Balti villages captured by India and neglected to negotiate their return.
The villagers belonging to these villages changed their citizenship from Pakistan to India overnight. Reports indicate that India treated the villagers well and integrated them into the national mainstream. The Indian Army gets special praise in this regard. However, the villagers that had gone to other parts of Pakistan before the war for trade, study or travel remained on the Pakistani side, never allowed to return to their homes. One member of a divided family reports going to the border carrying a white flag and a letter from the Indian Army, wanting to bring back his family. But he was detained by the Pakistani Army and refused return to home.
Balti scholar Senge Sering states that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence
The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI; ur, , bayn khadamatiy mukhabarati) is the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant ...
(ISI) has attempted to introduce jihad into this area. The local people are confused about their loyalties because they lived under both Pakistani and Indian control, some of them having served in the Pakistan Army before India's take-over. Many of them also have relatives living across the Line of Control who are subject to intimidation by the ISI. During the Kargil infiltration by Pakistan, some of the local people were suspected to have assisted the infiltrators. The Indian Army took some of them into custody, but later released all of them. The local people are said to be grateful for the consideration shown by the Army and currently support the Army's initiatives such as the Operation Sadbhavana.
Alleged Indian intrusions
Pakistani sources allege that, in 1972, shortly after the signing of the Shimla Agreement
The Simla Agreement, also spelled Shimla Agreement, was a peace treaty signed between India and Pakistan on 2 July 1972 in Shimla, the capital city of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It followed the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, which ...
, the Indian troops crossed the Line of Control
The Line of Control (LoC) is a military control line between the Indian and Pakistanicontrolled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir—a line which does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary, but serve ...
(LoC) in the Chorbat La sector and seized about 4 square miles of Pakistani territory. In 1988, India again crossed the LoC and seized four Pakistani posts in the Qamar sector, which lies between the Chorbat Valley and NJ9842
NJ9842, also called NJ 980420 (in full: NJ 38 98000, 13 42000, yard based Indian Grid Coordinates), is the northernmost demarcated point of the India-Pakistan cease fire line in Kashmir known as the Line of Control (LoC). The India–Pakistan ...
.[
]
Resources
The natural resources of the valley include agriculture, horticultural resources, the shyok River, mountains and peaks.
The agriculture in the Valley is only summer based due to extreme cold in the winter where temperature goes to minus 10. The crops include some beans, maize and other food crops however communities have experimented less with the agriculture due to the natural limiting factors i.e. extreme cold.
Chorbat valley consists of more than 13 villages in Pakistan and 5 villages in India. In Pakistan, the villages are Dawou, Marcha, Kuwas, Hassanabad
Hassanabad ( hi, हसनाबाद) is a Shia dominated area of Srinagar district, Kashmir, India. It is located on the western banks of the Dal Lake. The population is approximately 4000.
It has one of the oldest Shia mosque
A mosq ...
, Partuk, Piun, Siksa, Kalaan, Sukhmos, Chhowar, Thongmus, Siari, & Franu, and in India, they are Doethang, Tyaqsi, Turtuk
Turtuk ཏུར་ཏུཀ་ is a village and the headquarters of an eponymous community development block in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. It is a small village sandwiched between Karakorum Range and Himalayas. and one of the northe ...
, Chalunka
Chalunka (also known as Chalunkha or Chulungkha) is a small mountainous village in the Chorbat area of the Shyok River valley in Ladakh, India. At the end of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, it was on the cease-fire line agreed between the Ind ...
, and Beyoqdan.
Surroundings
The mountains and surrounding have generally no forests however there are some shrubs and herbs available which are generally used by the local communities as medicinal herbs, there is also a human-made forest of saplings which is the largest forest in the whole district.
The Shyok River
The Shyok River is a tributary of the Indus River that flows through northern Ladakh and enters Gilgit–Baltistan, spanning some .
The Shyok River originates at the Rimo Glacier, one of the tongues of Siachen Glacier. Its alignment is very ...
passing nearby the valley is one of the important resources of the area, irrigating the whole land. However the same river sometime creates havoc during summer through its unpredictable floods.
References
Bibliography
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{{Leh district
Baltistan
Populated places in Ghanche District
Valleys of Gilgit-Baltistan
Valleys of Ladakh