Durbuk or Darbuk, is a village and the headquarters of the

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

subdivision and

block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...

in the

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 G ...

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 ...

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 ...

.Leh subdivision-blocks
It is located in the Durbuk

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 administ ...

, and falls between

Chang La Chang La is a high mountain pass in Ladakh at an elevation of in the Ladakh Range between Leh and the Shyok River valley. The Chang La, on Leh to Pangong Lake road, lies on the Leh-Karu, Ladakh, Karu-Sakti, Ladakh, Sakti-Zingral-Chang L ...

mountain pass and

Tangste Tangtse or Drangtse () is a village in the Leh district of Ladakh, India. It is located in the Durbuk tehsil. Traditionally, it was regarded as the border between the Nubra region to the north and the Pangong region to the south. It was a k ...

village on the way to

Pangong Tso Pangong Tso or Pangong Lake (; ; hi, text=पैंगोंग झील) is an endorheic lake spanning eastern Ladakh and West Tibet situated at an elevation of . It is long and divided into five sublakes, called ''Pangong Tso'', ''Tso N ...

Lake. Darbok is a strategic location as the 255 km long

Darbuk–Shyok–DBO Road The Darbuk–Shyok–DBO Road (DS-DBO Road/DSDBO Road), also called the Sub-Sector North Road, is a strategic all-weather road in eastern Ladakh in India, close to the Line of Actual Control with China. It connects Ladakh's capital city Leh, via ...

in the north, connects it to the Shyok village village 16 km away and beyond to

Daulat Beg Oldi Daulat Beg Oldi (also Oldie, DBO) is a traditional campsite and current military base located in the midst of the Karakoram Range in northern Ladakh, India. It is on the historic trade route between Ladakh and Central Asia, forming the last ca ...

(DBO) military post on the China border.India completes vital Ladakh road
The Tribune, 23 April 2019.
Hindustan Times, 9 July 2020.

Geography

Map of Tibet and Pangong Lake in 1873 from Hindutagh-pass-aksai-chin-center2-1873 (cropped)

Durbuk is at a key location between the Indus Valley to the west, the Shyok Valley to the east and the

Pangong Lake Pangong Tso or Pangong Lake (; ; hi, text=पैंगोंग झील) is an endorheic lake spanning eastern Ladakh and West Tibet situated at an elevation of . It is long and divided into five sublakes, called ''Pangong Tso'', ''Tso N ...

region to the south. The trade routes to Yarkand (via the Shyok Valley) as well as

Rudok Rudok, also spelt Rutok and Rutog, more properly Rudok Dzong (), is a town that served as the historical capital of the Rudok area in Western Tibet on the frontier with Ladakh. In the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, it is described as being "pict ...

(via the Pangong Lake) passed through here. Durbuk lies in the valley of the

Tangtse River Tangtse or Drangtse () is a village in the Leh district of Ladakh, India. It is located in the Durbuk tehsil. Traditionally, it was regarded as the border between the Nubra region to the north and the Pangong region to the south. It was a k ...

, which is described as "well-cultivated" in the British sources. The river is also said to be swarming with fish. Godwin-Austen believed that the valley must have been the bed of a lake at some point in the past. The Tangtse River originates in the Loi Yogma valley to the southwest of

Tangtse Tangtse or Drangtse () is a village in the Leh district of Ladakh, India. It is located in the Durbuk tehsil. Traditionally, it was regarded as the border between the Nubra region to the north and the Pangong region to the south. It was a k ...

, and flows past the Tangtse and Durbuk villages to join the Shyok River. After Durbuk, the river bends sharply to the right and flows in a 400–500 m. gorge for 12 km. At Durbuk, it also receives on the left a small stream that originates below the

. In historical sources Durbuk is sometimes referred to as "Dumra" (''Ldum-ra'' or

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 really the name of the Shyok River valley. It is possible that Durbuk might have been part of the Nubra chieftaincies in the past. Alexander Cunningham includes Durbuk within Nubra.

Transportation

In the preset time, Durbuk is connected to all parts of Ladakh by road. A southwest road to Karu connects it to the Indus river valley, thence to

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

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 Jam ...

. Another southeast road connects it to the

and

Chushul Chushul is a village in the Leh district of Ladakh, India. It is located in the Durbuk tehsil, in the area known as "Chushul Valley", south of the Pangong Lake and west of the Spanggur Lake. The Line of Actual Control with China runs about 5 m ...

. A northwest road along the western branch of the Shyok River connects it to

Diskit Diskit is a village and headquarter of the Nubra tehsil and the Nubra subdivision in the Leh district of Ladakh, India.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 north ...

. The 235 km long

in the north, connects it to places on the eastern branch of the Shyok River, including the Shyok village 16 km to the north and further north to

(DBO) military post on the China border. The stretch between Shyok and DBO is also called Sub-Sector North (SSN) by the

Indian Military The Indian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Armed Forces are supported by th ...

, and is off-limits to civilians.

Villages in Durbuk subdivision

* Kargyam * Man Pangong * Shachukul *

* Durbuk

Demographics

According to the

2011 census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...

, Durbuk has 160 households. The effective literacy rate (i.e. the literacy rate of population excluding children aged 6 and below) is 66.62%.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{Leh district Villages in Durbuk tehsil