Shyok
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Overview
The Shyok is a right-bank tributary of the Indus in Ladakh. Through the Nubra it collects water from the Siachen and Rimo glaciers. Other right-bank Indus tributaries include the Gilgit, Hunza, Kabul and Kurram.
It rises from the Rimo glacier area and flows south-east before turning sharply north-west, which is why it was called the river of death on old trade routes.
Its valley gives road access towards Daulat Beg Oldi via the Darbuk–Shyok–DBO road.
It joins the Indus in Gilgit-Baltistan, which is part of the Ladakh UT on India's official map.
Geography and key facts
- Right-bank Indus tributary
- Ladakh
- Fed by Siachen and Rimo glacier waters via the Nubra
- Rimo glacier
- Darbuk–Shyok–DBO road
- Joins Indus in Gilgit-Baltistan
Why it matters for UPSC
Asked in a 2006 north-to-south ordering question on rivers.
Note for UPSC
A right-bank Indus tributary in Ladakh, fed by the Siachen and Rimo glaciers through the Nubra.
Prelims asks about tributaries, the states a river flows through, its basin and the projects on it, so trace the course on the map.
Asked in PYQs
- UPSC Prelims 2006 · Q36From north towards south, which one of the following is the correct sequence of the given rivers in India?…
Questions from our Prelims bank whose text names Shyok.