The Zabarwan Range is a short (20 mi (32 km) long) sub-mountain range between Pir Panjal and Great Himalayan Range in the central part of the

Kashmir Valley The Kashmir Valley, also known as the ''Vale of Kashmir'', is an intermontane valley concentrated in the Kashmir Division of the Indian- union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The valley is bounded on the southwest by the Pir Panjal Range and ...

in the Union Territory 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 ...

in India.

Geography

India - Srinagar - 023 - Nishat Bagh Mughal Gardens

The Zabarwan Range borders the central part of the Kashmir Valley in the east. Literally it is the mountain range between Sind Valley and Lidder Valley on the north and south, and between the Zanskar Range and

Jehlum Valley The Kashmir Valley, also known as the ''Vale of Kashmir'', is an intermontane valley concentrated in the Kashmir Division of the Indian- union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The valley is bounded on the southwest by the Pir Panjal Range and ...

on the east and west, respectively. Specifically the range is known to be what overlooks the Dal Lake and holds the Mughal gardens of Srinagar. The north end of the range lies in Ganderbal, while the south end lies in Pampore. The Shankaracharya Temple is built on the edge of the central part of the Zabarwan Range. The highest peak of this range is

Mahadev Peak Mahadev Peak is a mountain peak in the vicinity of New Theed in Srinagar District of Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir. It is part of the Zabarwan Range. It is visible in most parts of Srinagar city. It is also known as the peak of Srinag ...

at , which forms the distant background of the eastern mountain wall. On the northern slopes of the central part of the range there are three Mughal gardens built by

Emperor Shah Jahan Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugha ...

. These include Chashma Shahi, Nishat Bagh and Shalimar Garden alongside the Pari Mahal ''(the fairy palace)''. The recently built Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden in the lap of the Zabarwans is considered the largest tulip garden of Asia spread over 12 hectares of land.

Wildlife

The Zabarwan mountain range possesses great Himalayan features with rich wildlife. The

Dachigam National Park Dachigam National Park is a national park located, from Srinagar city in Srinagar district of Jammu and Kashmir, India on the east side of Dal Lake. It covers an area of 161, 62.16(updated recently) by hgtian student SIJ. The name of the park ...

, spread over 141 km², is the main feature of the range. The Dachigam National Park holds the last viable population of Kashmir stag (''Hangul'') and the largest population of black bear in Asia. The range is also home to

musk deer Musk deer can refer to any one, or all seven, of the species that make up ''Moschus'', the only extant genus of the family Moschidae. Despite being commonly called deer, they are not true deer belonging to the family Cervidae, but rather their fa ...

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

Himalayan brown bear The Himalayan brown bear (''Ursus arctos isabellinus''), also known as the Himalayan red bear, isabelline bear or Dzu-Teh, is a subspecies of the brown bear and is known from northern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, northern India, west China an ...

, leopard cat, jungle cat,

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the Order (biology), order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe ...

, jackal, Himalayan wolf, serow, Himalayan yellow-throated marten, long-tailed marmot, Indian porcupine, Himalayan mouse-hare, langur and

Himalayan weasel The Siberian weasel or kolonok (''Mustela sibirica''), is a medium-sized weasel native to Asia, where it is widely distributed and inhabits various forest habitats and open areas. It is therefore listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Desc ...

Climate

The climate of the Zabarwans can be summed up from the climate of Dachigam. It is a sub-Mediterranean type, with two spells of dryness from April to June and September to November. The range has irregular weather conditions with a considerable variation in the amount of precipitation. Snow is the main source of precipitation, and in some parts melts till June. The annual minimum and maximum rainfall of the Zabarwans ranges between 32 mm to 546 mm.

Geology

The crystalline axis of the Himalayan system contains the oldest rocks, and in the northern flank of this crystalline axis are found fossiliferous sediments of marine origin. The Zabarwan Range has crystalline rocks such as granite, schists and phyllites with embedded limestone, which form the core of its parent range. The western region from Khanmoh to the east of Mahadev consists of

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

, calcareous slates and blue limestone. The sediments composing this range have been laid from Cambrian to Tertiary. The soil depth in Dachigam on the slope from lower to middle reaches is less than 25 cm, and hence falls under the category of very shallow soils.

References

{{reflist Landforms of Jammu and Kashmir Mountain ranges of India