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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

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reminded me of the pre-Buddhist religion of Western Tibet, viz., a svastika and a yöni, and several ibex ; a little later on, we also found a sun symbol among the carvings at Chanigund.1

On the road from Chanigund to Shimsha Kharbu, at a place called Vougga, there is a boulder which is covered with many carving. (Plate XLIV.) The older ones are of a yellowish colour, the modern ones are white. Here we actually found carved representations of stűpas, one of the cross type. Most of the more recent carvings represent ibex, but not scenes of ibex hunting. As I have already pointed out in other articles, the ibex is a symbol of fertility according to the pre-Buddhist religion, similar to the ram of Lahul. The pre-Buddhist divinities, Kesar, 'aBrug uma, etc., are invoked to grant children. When one is born, the neighbours make presents of " flour ibex " to the happy family. I am inclined to think that the many figures of ibex carved on the rocks of Ladakh, represent thank-offerings for the birth of children.

On another boulder at the same site, I found carvings, representing war-like scenes, viz., the capture and slaughter of prisoners. They do not look very old and may refer to the D6grá war.

There is an extensive ruin of a castle at Shimsha Kharbu, above the bungalow.

When I asked the inhabitants, if they knew who built it, they said that it had been the property of the Khri Sultans of Sod (near Kargil). The word Khri is not pronounced Thi at Shimsha Kharbu, but Kiwi. The Dard women here, as well as at Dras, wear high caps. We tried to induce one of them to allow herself to be photographed, but were not 'successful. After the long desert journey from Leh to Purig, we hailed with delight the first appearance of occasional trees on the road side, during this day's march. The mountain sides also ceased to be entirely bare, and showed occasional patches of green pasture.

On the 7th October, we marched from Shimsha Kharbu to Dras, or Hembabs. When

Moorcroft visited Dras in 1820, he found it to be the joint property of the king of Ladakh and a Kashmir Malik, both of whom extracted one rupee annually from every household in the Dras valley.' He does not mention the ancient Buddhist stone sculptures of Dras at all. They were, however, discovered by Vigne, twenty years later. Cunningham says that the images represent females, and that they are called Joino,

nuns." Both statements are wrong. The sculptures represent B6dhisattvas and are called Chamba (Byams-pa, i.e., Maitréya). Cunningham made a copy of one of the inscriptions and gives his reading of it. We managed to take Násik paper impressions 'of all three inscriptions found on the sculptures, and also photos of the stones. The sculptures may be described as follows :-

(1) The first stone which is the smallest, shows a man on horseback, his right hand on the bridle, and his left hand above his head, probably wielding a sword. This rider represents a Rand (Skr. räjánaka), and has nothing to do with sati, as was supposed by This stone has a very clear Säradd, inscription on the reverse. It is the

I Cf. my artieie Historische Dokumente von Khalatse, Z. D. M. G., Vol. LXI, p. 583.

2 Moorcroft, Travels, Vol. II, p. 41.

s Cf. J. Ph. Vogel, The Rinis of the Panjdb Hills, J. R. Á. S'., 1908, p. 539.

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