What is the correct order of the following mountain ranges from North to South ? A. Ladakh B. Shiwalik C. Karakoram D. Zaskar Codes :

Correct — option (3), C, A, D, B.

NCERT's Class XI India: Physical Environment says the Kashmir or North-western Himalayas comprise a series of ranges such as 'the Karakoram, Ladakh, Zaskar and Pir Panjal'. The sources below place the stem's four ranges from north to south.

C, Karakoram, is northernmost. Wikipedia says its southern boundary is formed by the Gilgit, Indus and Shyok rivers.

A, Ladakh, comes next. Wikipedia places the Ladakh Range between the Shyok and Indus valleys and calls it a southern extension of the Karakoram. Leh sits at its foot in the Indus valley.

D, Zaskar, lies south of the Indus. Wikipedia says the Zanskar Range runs parallel to and between the Great Himalayas to its south-west and the Ladakh Range to its north-east.

B, Shiwalik, is last. NCERT's Class IX text says 'The outer-most range of the Himalayas is called the Shiwaliks', and Class XI calls them the Outer Himalayas, next to the plains.

So the north-to-south order is C, A, D, B: option (3), C, A, D, B.

The idea to remember: Karakoram → Ladakh → Zaskar → (Great Himalaya → Pir Panjal) → Shiwalik.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  A, C, B, D — This order puts Ladakh north of the Karakoram and the Shiwalik north of the Zaskar.

  Wikipedia calls the Ladakh Range a southern extension of the Karakoram, so the Karakoram is the more northerly. The Shiwaliks are the outermost Himalayan range (NCERT), so they cannot lie north of the Zaskar.

• (2)
  D, C, A, B — This order makes the Zaskar the northernmost range. But the Zanskar Range lies between the Great Himalayas and the Ladakh Range, south of the Indus.

  The code gets the last three in the right relative order, Karakoram, Ladakh, Shiwalik, but starting with the Zaskar breaks the sequence.

• (4)
  C, B, A, D — This order starts correctly with the Karakoram but places the Shiwalik second. The Shiwaliks are the outer-most range of the Himalayas, next to the plains, so they come last from north to south.

  Ladakh and Zaskar, both north of the Great Himalayas, belong before the Shiwaliks.

The Himalayan system is a set of roughly parallel ranges. NCERT (Class XI) says that in north-western India they run from northwest to southeast, so crossing them means moving from north-east to south-west.

Rivers separate several of them. The Shyok valley lies between the Karakoram and the Ladakh Range, and the Indus valley between the Ladakh and Zanskar ranges.

NCERT's cross-section of the Himalayan complex, drawn from south to north, labels the Sindhu-Ganga plain, the Shiwalik or Outer Himalayas, the Mid Himalayas and the Greater Himalayas, with the Ladakh Range and the Tibet Plateau on the northern side.

Key facts

• NCERT (Class XI): the Kashmir or North-western Himalayas comprise ranges such as the Karakoram, Ladakh, Zaskar and Pir Panjal.
• Wikipedia: the Ladakh Range lies between the Indus and Shyok valleys and is regarded as a southern extension of the Karakoram.
• Wikipedia: the Zanskar Range lies between the Great Himalayas to the south-west and the Ladakh Range to the north-east.
• NCERT (Class IX): the outer-most range of the Himalayas is called the Shiwaliks.
• NCERT (Class XI): Zoji La is on the Great Himalayas, Banihal on the Pir Panjal, Photu La on the Zaskar and Khardung La on the Ladakh range.

Common traps

• Placing the Ladakh Range north of the Karakoram: Wikipedia calls it a southern extension of the Karakoram.
• Placing the Zaskar north of the Ladakh Range: the Zanskar lies between the Great Himalayas and the Ladakh Range.
• Forgetting that the Shiwalik is the outer range: it is the southernmost of the four, next to the plains.

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2023 and 2016 here once those papers are published on this site.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Photu La pass lies on which range, according to NCERT?

  • (a)Pir Panjal
  • (b)Zaskar
  • (c)Ladakh
  • (d)Great Himalayas
  Answer(2) — NCERT (Class XI) places Photu La on the Zaskar. Option (1) carries Banihal; option (3) carries Khardung La; option (4) carries Zoji La.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which river valley separates the Ladakh Range from the Zanskar Range?

  • (a)Shyok
  • (b)Indus
  • (c)Chenab
  • (d)Jhelum
  Answer(2) — Wikipedia says the Ladakh Range lies between the Indus and Shyok valleys, and the Zanskar Range separates the Zanskar valley from the Indus valley. Option (1) lies north of the Ladakh Range, towards the Karakoram; options (3) and (4) are Indus tributaries that NCERT lists as draining the Kashmir region, not this gap.