Tsosib Sumkyil () or Churup Sumkhel () is the westernmost township of the

Zanda County __NOTOC__ Zanda County () or Tsamda County () is a county in the Ngari Prefecture to the extreme west of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Its seat of power is at Tholing, the former capital of the Guge kingdom. Zanda or Tsamda is said to me ...

in the

Ngari Prefecture Ngari Prefecture () or Ali Prefecture () is a prefecture of China's Tibet Autonomous Region covering Western Tibet, whose traditional name is Ngari Khorsum. Its administrative centre and largest settlement is the town of Shiquanhe. History Ngar ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

region of China. It borders India's

Spiti Spiti (pronounced as Piti in Bhoti language) is a high-altitude region of the Himalayas, located in the north-eastern part of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The name "Spiti" means "The middle land", i.e. the land between Tibe ...

region in

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 ...

as well as

Rupshu Rupshu is a high elevation plateau and valley and an eponymous Community development block in India, community development block in southeast Ladakh. Description Frederic Drew describes the Rupshu valley as follows: Drew states that the valle ...

region 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 ...

. The region is watered by the

Pare Chu The Parang River (), also called Para River () and Pare Chu () is an upstream tributary of the Sutlej River, that originates in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh and ends in Himachal Pradesh again, but flows through Ladakh and Tibet before do ...

river, a tributary of the

Spiti River Spiti (pronounced as Piti in Bhoti language) is a high-altitude region of the Himalayas, located in the north-eastern part of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The name "Spiti" means "The middle land", i.e. the land between Tibe ...

and an upstream tributary of the

Sutlej The Sutlej or Satluj River () is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. The Sutlej River is also known as ''Satadru''. It is the easternmost tributary of the Ind ...

river. China has ongoing border disputes with India for the southwestern border of the region near

Kaurik Kaurik () and (Hindi: कौरिक) is village in the Lahul and Spiti district, in Himachal Pradesh, India. It is in the valley of the Parang River, Parang or Pare Chu river before its confluence with the Spiti River. Kaurik is close to the bor ...

and the northern border near

Chumar Chumar or Chumur () is a village and the centre of nomadic grazing region located in south-eastern Ladakh, India. It is in Rupshu block, south of the Tso Moriri lake, on the bank of the Parang River (or ''Pare Chu''), close to Ladakh's border wit ...

Name

The township is named after two villages, both of which appear to have two native names. Tsosib (, also spelt ''Tsosip'', ''Cosib'' and ''Cosip'') or Churup (, also spelt Tsurup) is a border village on the bank of

just before the river enters the Indian

district (). Sumkyil or Sumkhel ( or , also spelt ''Sumkyi'', ''Sumgyi'', Somgyi and ''Sonjie'') is a farming village on a tributary of Pare Chu called Sumkyil Chu. (). The Sumkyil Chu stream flows through a wide enough valley to support several farming villages along its course, including Manja (), Tuntun () and Azire (). The reference to Sumkyil in the name of the township could be also to the entire Sumkyil valley. The historical name of the region was Tsotso, or Tocho.

Geography

The region of the Tsosib Sumkyil Township is entirely mountainous, with the western parts belonging to the

Zanskar Range Zanskar, Zahar (locally) or Zangskar, is a tehsil of Kargil district, in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. The administrative centre is Padum (former Capital of Zanskar). Zanskar, together with the neighboring region of Ladakh, was brief ...

and the eastern parts belonging to the

Ladakh Range The Ladakh Range is a mountain range in central Ladakh in India with its northern tip extending into Baltistan in Pakistan. It lies between the Indus and Shyok river valleys, stretching to 230 miles (370 km). Leh, the capital city of Lad ...

. The Pare Chu river flows between the two, entering the region from

in the north. Several tributaries drain into the river from both the sides, with the Sumkyil Chu being one of the last. The Sumkyil Chu valley is well-populated with several farming villages dotting the valley. After the junction with Sumkyil Chu, the Pare Chu river flows southwest and enters Indian territory between Tsosib and Kaurik.

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* * {{Ngari Prefecture Ngari Prefecture Populated places in Tibet

Name

Geography

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography