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

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subdivision and

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in the

Leh district Leh district is a district in Indian-administered Ladakh in the Kashmir#Dispute, disputed Kashmir-region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the WP:T ...

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...

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.Leh subdivision-blocks
It is located in the Durbuk

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

, and falls between Chang La mountain pass and Tangste village on the way to Pangong Tso Lake. Darbok is a strategic location as the 255 km long Darbuk–Shyok–DBO Road in the north, connects it to the Shyok village village 16 km away and beyond to Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) military post on the China border.India completes vital Ladakh road
The Tribune, 23 April 2019.
Hindustan Times, 9 July 2020.

Geography

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 (; zh, s=班公错, p=Bān gōng cuò; ) 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 Nyak'', ...

region to the south. The trade routes to

Yarkand Yarkant County,, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also Shache County,, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also SASM/GNC ro ...

(via the Shyok Valley) as well as Rudok (via the Pangong Lake) passed through here. Durbuk lies in the valley of the Tangtse River, 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, 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 Chang La. In historical sources Durbuk is sometimes referred to as "Dumra" (''Ldum-ra'' or Nubra), 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 Major General Sir Alexander Cunningham (23 January 1814 – 28 November 1893) was a British Army engineer with the Bengal Sappers who later took an interest in the history and archaeology of India. In 1861, he was appointed to the newly crea ...

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 () is a city in Indian-administered Ladakh in the Kashmir#Kashmir_dispute, disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the WP:TE ...

and

Kargil Kargil or Kargyil is a City in Indian-administered Ladakh in the disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the WP:TERTIARY, tert ...

. Another southeast road connects it to the Pangong Tso and Chushul. A northwest road along the western branch of the Shyok River connects it to Diskit and Turtuk. The 235 km long Darbuk–Shyok–DBO Road 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 Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) military post on the China border. The stretch between Shyok and DBO is also called Sub-Sector North (SSN) by the Indian Military, and is off-limits to civilians.

Villages in Durbuk subdivision

* Kargyam * Man Pangong * Shachukul * Tangste * Chushul * Durbuk

Demographics

According to the 2011 census of India, 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