Shaksgam River
{{Short description|River in China and Pakistan}}
{{coord|36|05|N|76|39|E|display=title}}
{{Infobox river
| name = Saksham River
| image =
| image_size =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| map =
| map_size =
| map_alt =
| map_caption =
| pushpin_map = China Xinjiang Southern
| pushpin_map_caption= The junction of the Shaksam River with the Yarkand River
| pushpin_map_relief = 1
| source1 = Karakoram range
| source1_location = Gasherbrum Glaciers
| source1_elevation =
| source1_coordinates= {{coord|35.6084|N|77.33|E}}
| mouth = Yarkand River
| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|36.626697|N|76.202991|E}}
| mouth_elevation =
| progression = {{RYarkand}}
| tributaries_left = Shimshal Braldu river, Oprang river
| tributaries_right =
| basin_landmarks =
| location =
| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = China (disputed by India )
| subdivision_type2 = Province
| subdivision_name2 = Xinjiang
| length =
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The Shaksgam River ({{zh|c=沙克思干河|p=Shakesigan He}}, {{langx|hi|शक्सगाम नदी|translit=Shaksgām Nadi}}, {{langx|ur|دریائے شکسگام|translit=Daryá-e-Shaksgám}}) is a left tributary of the Yarkand River. The river is also known as the Kelechin River ({{lang-zh|克勒青河}}) and Muztagh River ({{lang-zh|穆斯塔格河}}).[http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS085.pdf US Bureau of Intelligence and Research International Boundary Study No. 85 (1968)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211132925/http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS085.pdf |date=2012-02-11 }} It rises in the Gasherbrum, Urdok, Staghar, Singhi and Kyagar Glaciers in the Karakoram.[http://www.itia.ntua.gr/hsj/redbooks/138/iahs_138_0259.pdf Hewitt, K. (1982) Natural dams and outburst floods of the Karakoram Himalaya] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721082835/http://itia.ntua.gr/hsj/redbooks/138/iahs_138_0259.pdf |date=2011-07-21 }} It then flows in a general northwestern direction parallel to the Karakoram ridge line in the Shaksgam Valley. It receives the waters of the Shimshal Braldu river and the Oprang river from the Pakistan-administered Hunza District before turning east and joining the Yarkand River. The stretch of the river's course between Shimshal Braldu and Oprang is used as the Pakistan–China border.[https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/2713757#map=9/36.1819/76.8127 Shaksgam river basin], OpenStreetMap, retrieved 13 September 2019.
Administratively, the Chinese part of the valley is within the southernmost portions of Yarkand County (the source) and the Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County (lower course). India claims the entire valley as part of its Jammu and Kashmir state, now part of Ladakh.[https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/340291900 Boundary of the Trans-Kakarakoram Tract], OpenStreetMap, retrieved 13 September 2019. Saksham Singh river
History
The river valley was explored in 1889 by Francis Younghusband (who referred to the Shaksgam as the Oprang),{{Cite book
| last = Younghusband
| first = Francis
| author-link = Francis Younghusband
| title = The Heart of a Continent
| year = 1896
| pages = 200ff
| publisher = Asian Educational Services
| isbn = 9788120608504
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Avk88OI8bQkC
}} and again in 1926 by Kenneth Mason, who confirmed the sources of the river.{{Cite book
| last = Mason
| first = Kenneth
| author-link = Kenneth Mason (geographer)
| title = Exploration of the Shaksgam Valley and Aghil ranges, 1926
| year = 1928
| pages = 62ff
| publisher = Asian Educational Services
| isbn = 9788120617940
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LrbVqD06aXYC
}}
Geography
The upper river valley is used by climbers approaching the north face of K2. The approach requires a crossing of the river, which is hazardous. Between its confluence with the Shimshal Braldu River and its confluence with the Oprang River, the Shaksgam river forms the border between China and Pakistan administered Kashmir. The area is used as winter pastures by yak herdsmen from the village of Shimshal.[http://www.mockandoneil.com/stg-rpt.htm 2000 Mock & O'Neil Oprang Expedition Report] Historically, the bed of the Yarkand river where the Shaksgam joins it, was used for cultivation by farmers from the state of Hunza. The rulers of Hunza are said to have obtained these "territorial rights to Shaksgam" in the distant past.{{citation |first=Ahmad Hasan |last=Dani |author-link=Ahmad Hasan Dani |chapter=The Western Himalayan States |editor1=M. S. Asimov |editor2=C. E. Bosworth |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol. IV, Part 1 — The age of achievement: A.D. 750 to the end of the fifteenth century — The historical, social and economic setting |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=18eABeokpjEC&pg=PA215 |date=1998 |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=978-92-3-103467-1 |pages=215–225}}{{citation |last=Mehra |first=Parshotam |title=An "agreed" frontier: Ladakh and India's northernmost borders, 1846-1947 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mIduAAAAMAAJ |year=1992 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=95–97|isbn=978-0-19-562758-9 }}
It is not rare for the average annual temperature in the region to fall below freezing during the winter months.{{According to whom|date=July 2024}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- The Shaksgam river marked on the OpenStreetMap, Upper course: [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/680452629#map=8/36.356/76.487 1], [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/680452628#map=8/36.356/76.487 2], [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/680452622#map=8/36.356/76.487 3], [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/680452619#map=8/36.356/76.487 4], [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/680452610#map=8/36.356/76.487 5], [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/681230415#map=8/36.356/76.487 6], [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/681230402#map=8/36.356/76.487 7]; Lower course: [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/28779324#map=8/36.356/76.487 1], [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/28779277#map=8/36.356/76.487 2] [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/202062118#map=8/36.356/76.487 3], [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/28779190#map=8/36.356/76.487 4], [https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/202062119#map=8/36.356/76.487 5]
{{Waters of Pakistan}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County
Category:Rivers of Gilgit-Baltistan