国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

14   ANTIQUITIES OF INDIAN TIBET   [VOL. II

Leh, under Ni-ma-rnam-rgyal, 1715 A.D. ; Moorcroft's visit to Leh, under Tshedpal-rnam-rgyal, 1820 A.D. ; Dogra wars, 1834-42 A.D. The intervening periods are

filled up by assigning about thirty years to each reign.

The most important foreign works which are of particular value for a history

of Western Tibet are (1) the Ráj atarangini (chronicles of Kashmir), by Kalhana,

for the Chinese and Kashmiri expeditions to Western Tibet in the eighth century ;

(2) the Annals of the Chinese Thang dynasty, for the same period ; (3) the

Rájatarangini (chronicles of Kashmir), by Jona-raja, for the career of Prince

Rin-chen in the beginning of the fourteenth century and the Kashmiri expeditions

to Ladakh in the fifteenth century ; (4) the Ta'rikh-i-Rashidi, for the Turkoman

expedition to Ladakh in the sixteenth century ; (5) Roman Catholic accounts .of

d'Andrada's mission to Tsaparang in Gu-ge in the seventeenth century ; (6) Desideri's

account of his journey to Lhasa and Leh, 1715 ; (7) the account of the Mughal

historian, Mir-Izzet-Ullah, for details about the siege of Bab-sgo, c. 1650 A.D. ;

(8) Bernier's travels (Kashmir), for the relations of the Mughal emperors to Western

Tibet in the seventeenth century ; (9) Moorcroft's travels, for the times of the last

independent king of Ladakh ; (10) Central Tibetan and Mongolian works are of

the greatest importance for the history of Western Tibet down to the tenth century.

After that time they contain only casual notes on Western Tibet, as, for instance,

on the bensus of Ladakh under Kublai-Khan.

Together with the chronicles of Ladakh I am publishing the chronicles and

genealogical trees of several West Tibetan vassal chiefs and three short accounts

of important events in Ladakhi history. They are found under ` Minor Chronicles'.

The chronicles relate to the following provinees : Zans-dkar, Bzan-la, Gu-ge, Bu-rig

(Cig-gtan, Sod, Mkhar-bu), Baltistan, Ko-lon of Lahul. Ti-nan of Lahul, and

Bar-bog of Lahul. And the brief accounts tell the tale of the Dogra war (two

versions) and • of the trade between Ladakh and Kula and narrate the services of

several ministers and generals.

Besides the chronicles and genealogical trees, the following historical documents

are also of great importance :—(1) Inscriptions on stone, etc. They will be treated

in a special part. (2) Decrees on paper issued by certain kings. Up to the present

I have discovered the following :—two decrees by Ni-ma-rnam-rgyal, one by Tshe-

dban-rnam-rgyal II, one by Tshe-dpal-rnam-rgyal, and one by Biddhi Singh of Kula.

As regards Kula kings, a great number of letters by them in Takri, addressed to

various chiefs of Lahul, have been collected by Mr. G. C. L. Howell, Assistant-

Commissioner of Kula. But it would not be difficult to collect similar documents

in Ladakh. They are all of the greatest historical interest. (3) The Mczhátmyas

of monasteries. I have succeeded in seeing the following :—the Chags-yig of the

Gyuri-drun (Lamayuru) monastery of Ladakh, and of the Gandhola and Trilokanátha

monasteries of Lahul. The Chags-yig of the Likir monastery is contained in an

inscription on a wall of the monastery. The Máhátmyas do not contain much

historical, but a great deal of legendary matter.