It is marked by In the early decades of the Jammu and Kashmir princely state, there was a Chorbat ilaqa (subdistrict) in the Baltistan wazarat (district).

It stretched along the Shyok River valley from a village called Dou-U (Dawou[5]) in the west to Chalunka in the east.

[7][8] To the south of the Chorbat La pass, the Hanu valley carries a stream that flows down to join the Indus River near the village of Dah.

[12] Geographically, the wide valley of the Shyok river in "Lower Nubra" narrows to a mountain gorge near the Yagulung village (34°46′N 77°08′E / 34.77°N 77.14°E / 34.77; 77.14).

[5][10] The valley is surrounded by high rising peaks of the Karakoram mountain range and the bank the Shyok River.

Tradition holds that the Brog-pa Dards were Buddhist and lived under a constant danger of attack from the north, until two warriors from the 'west' called Chulli and Yandrung overran them.

Under the Treaty of Amritsar, the areas were transferred to Maharaja Gulab Singh to form part of the new princely state of Jammu and Kashmir under the suzerainty of the British.

[17] Later, Ladakh and Baltistan formed a joint wazarat whose capital alternated between Leh and Skardu for six months each year.

The Gilgit Scouts and Muslim members of Jammu and Kashmir State Forces stationed in the area organised themselves under the command of Colonel Aslam Khan, and launched an invasion on the Ladakh wazarat.

By July–August 1948, the Gilgit Scouts had overrun Kargil, Skardu and the Zoji La pass that connects Ladakh to the Kashmir Valley, reaching the vicinity of Leh.

The Indian Army raised a local militia called the Nubra Guards under the command of 17-year old Chewang Rinchen, which reportedly blocked various passage routes to Leh.

Under Pakistani control, Gilgit dominated Baltistan, and both regions were administered as non-descript "Northern Areas" by the Federal government of Pakistan.

[25] However, villagers who had gone to other parts of Pakistan before the war, for trade, study or travel, remained on the Pakistani side, never allowed to return home.

[27] Balti scholar Senge Sering states that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) attempted to introduce jihad into this area.

Local people were confused about their loyalties because they had lived under both Pakistani and Indian control, and some served in the Pakistan Army before India's take-over.

Agriculture is only possible in the Valley is summer due to extremely cold winters, where the temperature drops to minus 10.

In Pakistan, the villages are Dawou, Marcha, Kuwas, Hassanabad, Partuk, Piun, Siksa, Kalaan, Sukhmos, Chhowar, Thongmus, Siari, and Franu.