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

INTRODUCTION   5

2.  A MS. Dr. K. Marx says with regard to it, ` A MS. is a small book in

16mo, bound in leather and well kept. It contains, on 109 leaves, 1st, a cosmogony

and cosmology in outline ; 2nd, the genealogy of the Sákyas ; 3rd, a history of the

kings of Tibet (Yar-lung) ; 4th, a history of the kings of Ladakh down to King

Seri-ge-rnam-rgyal. Throughout it is most neatly written, with comparatively few

mistakes. As it was not originally written for an outsider, but for the private

use of its owner, its text may safely be supposed not to have been altered

on purpose. The history of the kings of Ladakh down to Sell-ge-rnam-rgyal

fills twenty leaves.' It forms the basis of the Tibetan text of K. Marx's ` first

document'.

3.  B MS. Dr. K. Marx says, ` B MS. is four loose leaves in folio, very

old-looking, very much worn at the edges and corners, and torn in some places.

It commences with the history of the second (Rnatn-rgyal) dynasty of Ladakh

kings, and gives a comparatively full account of the history of Ladakh down to

the Dogra invasion. This MS. is very badly written, so much so that even

Ladakhis find it difficult to read ; still, in point of evidence it ranks next to

A, and the information which it contains regarding the decline of the Ladakh

empire (since Bde-ldan-rnam-rgyal) is especially valuable.' When Dr. Marx died

in 1891, it appears that the owner of this MS. claimed his property, and took it

to his home. As Dr. Marx does not give any hints with regard to the owner's

personality, it was rather difficult to recover the MS. As already stated, Joseph

Tshe-brtan found it in the possession of Tsandan Munshi at Leh. He prepared

a copy of it, which he sent me.

4.  C MS. Dr. K. Marx says, ` C MS. consists of two parts. The first part

was specially prepared by command of the wazir of Ladakh. Consequently all the

vices inherent in such MSS., as hinted at above, are manifest in it. It consists of

twenty-three folio leaves. It is very carelessly written, and the text is very

incomplete. It is much inferior to either A or B. It is obvious in several

places that alterations were introduced on purpose, and the principle underlying

this practice can easily be discovered : it is to avoid, in the first place, the

miraculous ; secondly, anything that may be offensive to the Dogra reader ; and

thirdly, all that may throw an unfavourable light on the royal family. Still, there

are preserved in it a few passages that are new, and they will be found introduced

ill their proper places, and specially marked A and B. This MS. covers the

entire history of the kings of Tibet ( Yar-lung) and of Ladakh till close upon the

Dogra invasion. It also contains an interlinear translation into Urdu, but written

in Tibetan (dbu-med) characters.'

` The second part of C MS. was prepared for me, at my special request, by the

writer of the first part, who is the head of one of the ancient families that presided

over important functions under the old régime. As I am not an official personage,

I think I need not apprehend that he withheld the truth from me. In this

portion he relates almost exclusively the events of the Dogra wars and the fall