The Zabarwan Range is a short (20 mi (32 km) long) sub-mountain range between

Pir Panjal The Pir Panjal Range (Kashmiri: ) is a group of mountains in the Lesser Himalayan region, running from east-southeast (ESE) to west-northwest (WNW) across the Indian territories of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir and then Pakistan's ...

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 The Lidder Valley or Liddar ValleyKaul, Manmohan N., ''Glacial and Fluvial Geomorphology of Western Himalaya,'' South Asia Books, 1990, p. 23, in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India, is a Himalayan sub-valley that forms the southe ...

on the north and south, and between the Zanskar Range and Jehlum Valley on the east and west, respectively. Specifically the range is known to be what overlooks the

Dal Lake Dal is a lake in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. It is an urban lake, the second largest lake in Jammu and Kashmir, and the most visited place in Srinagar by tourists and locals. It is integral to tourism and recreation in t ...

and holds the Mughal gardens of Srinagar. The north end of the range lies in

Ganderbal Ganderbal is a town and a municipality committee in Ganderbal district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters of Ganderbal district.It is in Central Kashmir, it has an average elevation of 1,619 metres (5,3 ...

, while the south end lies in

Pampore Pampore (), known as Pampar () or Panpar () in Kashmiri, is a historical town situated on the eastern side of the Jhelum River on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in the Pulwama district of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmi ...

. The

Shankaracharya Temple Shankaracharya Temple or Jyeshteshwara Temple is a Hindu temple situated on top of the Shankaracharya Hill on the Zabarwan Range in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The temple is at a height of above the val ...

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. These include

Chashma Shahi Chashme Shahi or Chashma i Shahi Or Cheshma Shahi ( translation: ''the royal spring''), also called Chashma Shahi or Cheshma Shahi, is one of the Mughal gardens built in 1632 AD around a spring by Ali Mardan Khan, a governor of Mughal emperor S ...

, Nishat Bagh and Shalimar Garden alongside the

Pari Mahal Pari Mahal or Peer Mahal, also known as The Palace of Fairies, is a seven-terraced garden located at the top of Zabarwan mountain range, overlooking the city of Srinagar and the south-west of Dal Lake in the Indian union territory of Jammu a ...

''(the fairy palace)''. The recently built

Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip garden, previously Model Floriculture Center, is a tulip garden in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is the largest tulip garden in Asia spread over an area of about . It is situated at the base of the Zabar ...

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, 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 Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

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 f ...

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, ...

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 The leopard cat (''Prionailurus bengalensis'') is a small wild cat native to continental South, Southeast, and East Asia. Since 2002 it has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List as it is widely distributed although threatened by hab ...

jungle cat The jungle cat (''Felis chaus''), also called reed cat, swamp cat and jungle lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to the Middle East, the Caucasus, South and Southeast Asia and southern China. It inhabits foremost wetlands like swamps, littoral ...

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 Jackals are medium-sized canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word "jackal" has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-backed ...

, Himalayan wolf,

serow The serows ( or ) are four species of medium-sized goat-like or antelope-like mammals of the genus ''Capricornis''. All four species of serow were until recently also classified under ''Naemorhedus'', which now only contains the gorals. Extant ...

, Himalayan yellow-throated marten,

long-tailed marmot The long-tailed marmot (''Marmota caudata'') or golden marmot is a marmot species in the family Sciuridae. It occurs in mountainous regions in the central parts of Asia where it lives in open or lightly wooded habitats, often among rocks where dw ...

Indian porcupine The Indian crested porcupine (''Hystrix indica'') is a hystricomorph rodent species native to southern Asia and the Middle East. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It belongs to the Old World porcupine family, Hystricidae. De ...

Himalayan mouse-hare Royle's pika (''Ochotona roylei''), also called the Himalayan mouse hare or hui shutu, is a species of pika. It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. Description The most common pika species in the Himalayas, it has a length ...

, 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 Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...

schists Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes o ...

and

phyllite Phyllite ( ) is a type of foliated metamorphic rock created from slate that is further metamorphosed so that very fine grained white mica achieves a preferred orientation.Stephen Marshak ''Essentials of Geology'', 3rd ed. It is primarily compo ...

s with embedded

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

, 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, especiall ...

, 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