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

Pir Panjal The Pir Panjal Range ( ; ) is a range of mountains in the Lower Himalayan region located in the Western Himalayas of northern Indian subcontinent. It runs southeast to northwest between the Beas and Neelam/Kishanganga rivers, in the Indi ...

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 in northern Jammu and Kashmir, a region in Indian-administered Kashmir.(a) (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcont ...

in the Union Territory of

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

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 The Sind Valley is a Himalayan sub-valley of the Kashmir Valley in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The entrance of the Sind Valley lies northeast of Srinagar the capital of Jammu and Kashmir. It is a long gorge valley wit ...

and

Lidder Valley The Lidder Valley or Liddar ValleyKaul, Manmohan N., ''Glacial and Fluvial Geomorphology of Western Himalaya,'' South Asia Books, 1990, p. 23, is a Himalayan sub-valley that forms the southeastern corner of Anantnag district in Indian-administ ...

on the north and south, and between the

Zanskar Range The Zanskar Range is a mountain range in the union territory of Ladakh that separates the Zanskar valley from Indus valley at Leh. The range lies between and runs parallel to the Great Himalayas to the southwest and the Ladakh Range to the nort ...

and

Jehlum Valley The Kashmir Valley, also known as the Vale of Kashmir, is an intermontane valley in northern Jammu and Kashmir, a region in Indian-administered Kashmir.(a) (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcontine ...

on the east and west, respectively. Specifically the range is known to be what overlooks the Dal Lake and holds the

Mughal gardens A Mughal garden is a type of garden built by the Mughal Empire, Mughals. This style was influenced by the Persian gardens particularly the Charbagh structure, which is intended to create a representation of an earthly utopia in which humans c ...

of Srinagar. The north end of the range lies in

Ganderbal Ganderbal ( ; ) is a city and the headquarters of Ganderbal district in the Indian-administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, in disputed Kashmir region. Ganderbal, renowned for its natural beauty and picturesque scenery, has popular ...

, while the south end lies in

Pampore Pampore (), known as Pampar () or Panpar () in Kashmiri language, Kashmiri, is a Town, historical town located in Pulwama district in the Union territory, Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. It is si ...

. 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 state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is part of the Zabarwan Range. It is visible in most parts of Srinagar Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-adminis ...

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, 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 ...

Nishat Bagh Nishat Bagh is a terraced Mughal garden built on the eastern side of the Dal Lake, close to Srinagar in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is the second-largest Mughal garden in the Kashmir Valley. Nishat Bagh is also loca ...

and Shalimar Garden alongside the

Pari Mahal Pari Mahal () is a seven-terraced Mughal garden built on the top of the Zabarwan mountain range. It overlooks the city of Srinagar and the south-west of Dal Lake in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. This garden is a fine examp ...

''(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, in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the largest tulip garden in Asia spread over an area of about . It is situated ...

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 in Kashmir on the east side of Dal Lake. It covers an area of about . The name of the park means "ten villages", in memory of the ten villages that were ...

, spread over 141 km², is the main feature of the range. The Dachigam National Park holds the last viable population of

Kashmir stag The Kashmir stag, also called hangul (), is a subspecies of Central Asian red deer endemic to Kashmir and surrounding areas. It is found in dense riverine forests in the valleys and mountains of Jammu and Kashmir and northern Himachal Pradesh. ...

(''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 eight, of the species that make up ''Moschus'', the only extant genus of the family (biology), family Moschidae. Despite being commonly called deer, they are not true deer belonging to the family Cervidae, b ...

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

Himalayan brown bear The Himalayan brown bear (''Ursus arctos isabellinus''), also known as the Himalayan red bear or isabelline bear, is a subspecies of the brown bear occurring in the western Himalayas. It is the largest mammal in the region, males reaching up to ...

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

jungle cat The jungle cat (''Felis chaus''), also called reed cat and swamp cat, is a medium-sized cat native from the Eastern Mediterranean region and the Caucasus to parts of Central, South and Southeast Asia. It inhabits foremost wetlands like swamps, ...

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 Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...

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

Himalayan wolf The Himalayan wolf (''Canis lupus chanco'') is a Canis, canine of debated taxonomy. It is distinguished by its genetic markers, with mitochondrial DNA indicating that it is genetically Basal (phylogenetics), basal to the Holarctic Wolf, grey wolf ...

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

, 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,

langur The Colobinae or leaf-eating monkeys are a subfamily of the Old World monkey family that includes 61 species in 11 genera, including the black-and-white colobus, the large-nosed proboscis monkey, and the gray langurs. Some classifications split ...

and Himalayan weasel.

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 (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, 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 coo ...

schists Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a ...

and

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

s with embedded

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, 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 mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...

, 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