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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mo ...

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

meets the

Nubra River The Nubra River is a river in the Nubra Valley of Ladakh in India. It is a tributary of the Shyok River (a part of the Indus River system) and originates from the Siachen Glacier, the second-longest non-polar glacier in the world. In earlier Ti ...

(or Siachan River) to form a large valley that separates the

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 Karakoram Ranges. The Shyok river is a tributary of the Indus river. The average altitude of the valley is more than above the sea level. The common way to access this valley is to travel over the

Khardung La Khardung La () or Khardung Pass is a mountain pass in the Leh district of the Indian union territory of Ladakh. The pass is on the Ladakh Range, north of Leh, and connects the Indus river valley and the Shyok river valley. It also forms the ...

pass from Leh. Foreign nationals are required to get a Protected area permit to visit Nubra. Since 1 April 2017 Indian citizens are also required to get an Inner Line Permit to visit it.

Name

Nubra () means "western" in Ladakhi, thus referring to the "western valley", perhaps distinguishing it from the eastern Shyok river valley, which is thinly populated. The traditional name of the region is Dumra (), meaning the "valley of flowers".

Geography

Alexander Cunningham listed Nubra as one of the five natural and historical divisions of Ladakh. Nubra occupies the northeastern portion of Ladakh, bordering Baltistan and

Chinese Turkestan Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

in the north, and the

Aksai Chin Aksai Chin is a region administered by China as part of Hotan County, Hotan Prefecture, Xinjiang and Rutog County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet. It is claimed by India to be a part of its Leh District, Ladakh Union Territory. It is a part of t ...

plateau and Tibet in the east. In Cunningham's conception, Nubra includes all the region drained by the

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 ...

and

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 ...

rivers. it is 128 miles long and 72 miles wide, making up an area of 9,200 square miles. It extends south till 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 ...

. In modern nomenclature, the Nubra region is divided into " Diskit Nubra" in the north and the " Darbuk region" in the south, both of which are regarded as tehsils and subdivisions of 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 ...

. The Diskit Nubra region includes the

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 ...

block populated by Balti people, which became a part of Indian-administered Kashmir after the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...

, and the unpopulated

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 ...

region. The populated part of Nubra is often described as a "tri-armed valley", the three arms being: * the Nubra River Valley (divided into three sections called ''Yarma'', ''Tśurka'' and ''Farka''), * ''Gyen'', the upper Shyok valley from its southern bend till the confluence with the Nubra River, and * ''Shama'', the lower Shyok valley from the confluence till the

Chorbat Chorbat Valley ( ur, , Balti: ) is a section of the Shyok river valley divided between Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan and Indian-administered Ladakh. The Pakistan-administered portion is in the Khaplu tehsil, Ghanche District of Gilgit ...

area. The eastern Shyok valley is mostly unpopulated, even though it has numerous camping sites that have been used by trade caravans.

Murgo Murgo is a small hilly village which lies on the border of Leh district in the union territory of Ladakh in India, close to Chinese-controlled Aksai Chin. It is one of the northernmost villages of India. Name The name "Murgo" means "gatewa ...

is a village on the tributary called Murgo Nala.

Topography

Like the rest of the

Tibetan Plateau The Tibetan Plateau (, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or the Qing–Zang Plateau () or as the Himalayan Plateau in India, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central, South and East Asia covering most of the ...

, Nubra is a high altitude cold desert with rare precipitation and scant vegetation except along river beds. The villages are irrigated and fertile, producing wheat, barley, peas, mustard and a variety of fruits and nuts, including blood apples, walnuts, apricots and even a few almond trees. Most of Nubra is inhabited by Nubra dialect or Nubra Skat speakers. The majority are Buddhists. In the western or lowest altitude end of Nubra near the Line of Control i.e. the Indo-Pak border, along 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 inhabitants 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 north ...

are Balti of Gilgit-Baltistan, who speak Balti, and are

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...

and

Sufia Nurbakhshia Noorbakhshia is a school of Islamic jurisprudence that emphasizes the Muslim Unity. Its very foundations rests on the belief in Allah, Angels, Prophets, Day of Judgement, the Quran and other Islamic Scriptures revealed upon previous Prophets. W ...

Muslims.

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 ...

lies to the north of the valley. The

Sasser Pass Saser Pass, Saser La, or Sasser Pass (el. ) is a high mountain pass in Ladakh and India on the ancient summer caravan route from Leh in Ladakh to Yarkand in the Tarim Basin. It leads from the head of the Nubra Valley into the upper Shyok valley ...

and the famous

Karakoram Pass The Karakoram Pass () is a mountain pass between India and China in the Karakoram Range. It is the highest pass on the ancient caravan route between Leh in Ladakh and Yarkand in the Tarim Basin. 'Karakoram' literally means 'Black Gravel' ...

lie to the northwest of the valley and connect Nubra with Uyghur (Mandarin :

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

). Previously much trade passed through the area towards western China's

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

and Central Asia. The people of Baltistan also used the Nubra valley for passage to Tibet.Senge H. Sering,
“Reclaiming Nubra” – Locals Shunning Pakistani Influences
, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, Delhi, 17 August 2009.

Places

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

Panamik Panamic or Panamik is a village in the Leh district of Ladakh in India. It is located in the Nubra tehsil. Hot sulphur springs are found in the village. Panamik is a contraction of སྤང་ན་ཆུ་མིག་ 'Spang na Chumik', ...

,

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 ...

and many others.

Travel routes

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

The main road access to Nubra is over

Khardung La Khardung La () or Khardung Pass is a mountain pass in the Leh district of the Indian union territory of Ladakh. The pass is on the Ladakh Range, north of Leh, and connects the Indus river valley and the Shyok river valley. It also forms the ...

pass which is open throughout the year. The highest elevation of Khardung La is 5,359 m (17,582 ft), its status as the highest motorable road in the world is no longer accepted by most authorities. An alternative route, opened in 2008, crosses the Wari La from Sakti, to the east of Khardung La, connecting to the main Nubra road system via Agham and Khalsar along 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 ...

. There are also trekkable passes over the Ladakh Range from the Indus Valley at various points. Routes from Nubra to Baltistan and Yarkand, though historically important, have been closed since 1947 and 1950 respectively.

Tourism

The Nubra valley was open for tourists up to

Hunder Hundar is a village in the Leh district of Ladakh, India famous for Sand dunes, Bactrian camels. It is located in the Nubra tehsil, on the banks of the Shyok River. The Hunder Monastery is located here. Hundar was once the capital of the fo ...

(the land of sand dunes) until 2010. The region beyond Hunder gives way to a greener region of Ladakh because of its lower altitude. The village 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 north ...

which was unseen by tourists till 2010 is a virgin destination for people who seek peace and an interaction with a tribal community of Ladakh. The local Balti people follow their age old customs in their lifestyle and speak a language which oral and not yet written. For tourists Turtuk offers serene camping sites with environment friendly infrastructure.

Panamik Panamic or Panamik is a village in the Leh district of Ladakh in India. It is located in the Nubra tehsil. Hot sulphur springs are found in the village. Panamik is a contraction of སྤང་ན་ཆུ་མིག་ 'Spang na Chumik', ...

is noted for its hot springs. Between Hundar and Diskit lie seven kilometres of sand dunes, and (two-humped)

Bactrian camel The Bactrian camel (''Camelus bactrianus''), also known as the Mongolian camel or domestic Bactrian camel, is a large even-toed ungulate native to the steppes of Central Asia. It has two humps on its back, in contrast to the single-humped dro ...

s graze in the neighbouring "forests" of

seabuckthorn ''Hippophae'' is the genus of sea buckthorns, deciduous shrubs in the family Elaeagnaceae. The name sea buckthorn may be hyphenated to avoid confusion with the unrelated true buckthorns (''Rhamnus'', family Rhamnaceae). It is also referred to as ...

. Non-locals are not allowed below Hundar village into the Balti area, as it is a border area.

Monasteries

The 32-metre Maitreya Buddha statue is the landmark of Nubra and is maintained by the

Diskit Monastery Diskit Monastery also known as Deskit Gompa or Diskit Gompa is the oldest and largest Buddhist monastery (gompa) in Diskit, in the Nubra Valley in the Leh district of Ladakh, India. It belongs to the Gelugpa (Yellow Hat) sect of Tibetan Budd ...

. On the Shyok River, the main village, Diskit, is home to the dramatically positioned Diskit Monastery which was built in 14th century. Hundar was the capital of the erstwhile Nubra kingdom in the 17th century, and is home to the Chamba Gompa. Samstanling Monastery is between Kyagar and Sumoor villages. Across the Nubra or Siachan River at Panamik, is the isolated Ensa Gompa .

Flora and fauna

The valley is famous for its forest of

Hippophae ''Hippophae'' is the genus of sea buckthorns, deciduous shrubs in the family Elaeagnaceae. The name sea buckthorn may be hyphenated to avoid confusion with the unrelated true buckthorns (''Rhamnus'', family Rhamnaceae). It is also referred to ...

shrub, popularly known as Leh Berry. It is within this shrub forest that one can spot the white-browed tit-warbler. One can also spot the

Tibetan lark The Tibetan lark (''Melanocorypha maxima'') is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae found on the Tibetan plateau The Tibetan Plateau (, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or the Qing–Zang Plateau () or as the Himalayan Plateau ...

, Hume's short-toed lark, and Hume's whitethroat. The various water birds like ruddy shelduck,

garganey The garganey (''Spatula querquedula'') is a small dabbling duck. It breeds in much of Europe and across the Palearctic, but is strictly migratory, with the entire population moving to southern Africa, India (in particular Santragachi), Banglades ...

,

northern pintail The pintail or northern pintail (''Anas acuta'') is a duck species with wide geographic distribution that breeds in the northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and North America. It is migratory and winters south of its breeding ...

, and mallard can be observed on several small water bodies scattered along the route. Besides these, waders like black-tailed godwit,

common sandpiper The common sandpiper (''Actitis hypoleucos'') is a small Palearctic wader. This bird and its American sister species, the spotted sandpiper (''A. macularia''), make up the genus ''Actitis''. They are parapatric and replace each other geographic ...

,

common greenshank The common greenshank (''Tringa nebularia'') is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae, the typical waders. The genus name ''Tringa'' is the New Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based on Ancient Greek ''trungas'' ...

,

common redshank The common redshank or simply redshank (''Tringa totanus'') is a Eurasian wader in the large family Scolopacidae. Taxonomy The common redshank was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ...

,

green sandpiper The green sandpiper (''Tringa ochropus'') is a small wader (shorebird) of the Old World. The green sandpiper represents an ancient lineage of the genus ''Tringa''; its only close living relative is the solitary sandpiper (''T. solitaria''). They ...

, and ruff can be spotted in Nubra.

Education

The valley has been secluded as has been most of the exterior parts of Ladakh. Almost all of the region has been facing problems to get good quality education. There have been initiatives in the past by the government but extreme weather conditions and vicinity to the borders have been a major hurdle in implementing a solid education base. There is also migration of the population that gets exposed to the big cities of India and hence the people do not get benefitted out of their local learned population. There are very few Non-Government organizations active in Nubra region.

Gallery

Image:Nubra_pano.jpg, A panoramic view over the Nubra File:Diskit gompa nubra1.jpg,

Diskit Monastery Diskit Monastery also known as Deskit Gompa or Diskit Gompa is the oldest and largest Buddhist monastery (gompa) in Diskit, in the Nubra Valley in the Leh district of Ladakh, India. It belongs to the Gelugpa (Yellow Hat) sect of Tibetan Budd ...

Image:Shoyok and Nubra Valley map.jpg, Local map with North towards down Image:Nubra valley Diskit 2001.jpg, View from Diskit gompa on Nubra Valley File:Seabuckthorn berries, Nubra valley, Ladakh.jpg, Seabuckthorn berries, Nubra valley, Ladakh File:Bactrian camels - Nubra.jpg, Bactrian camels File:Silhouette at Nubra Valley.JPG, Silhoutte taken at Nubra Valley File:Nubra valley hunder.jpg, This is enroute town called

Hunder Hundar is a village in the Leh district of Ladakh, India famous for Sand dunes, Bactrian camels. It is located in the Nubra tehsil, on the banks of the Shyok River. The Hunder Monastery is located here. Hundar was once the capital of the fo ...

in Nubra. File:Nubra Valley 2.jpg, Nubra Valley with Diskit Gompa and town immediately below and

Hunder Hundar is a village in the Leh district of Ladakh, India famous for Sand dunes, Bactrian camels. It is located in the Nubra tehsil, on the banks of the Shyok River. The Hunder Monastery is located here. Hundar was once the capital of the fo ...

in the distance File:Resort Guest House in nubra valley Leh Ladakh02.jpg, Resort in Nubra Valley

Name

Geography

Topography

Places

Travel routes

Tourism

Monasteries

Flora and fauna

Education

Gallery

See also