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166   ANTIQUITIES OF WESTERN TIBET   [VoL. II

NOTES

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The genealogical tree of the Bzan-la kings, which was drawn up according to the above account, contains two generations whose dates may be approximately fixed. The first generation is that of Dpal-mgon and Bde-gtsug-mgon, the sons of the famous Ladakhi king, Ni-ma-mgon. They lived in the tenth century. The other generation is that of Ye-ses-don-y od-dpal-lde and Ye-Ses-phun-tshogs-dpal-lde, who are said to have died two years after the conquest of Zans-dkar by the Dogra general Zorawar. Their death may have taken place in 1843 A.D. The above pedigree contains only fourteen generations between these two fixed points. This is not sufficient to cover a period of about nine centuries. Going by the example of the genealogical rolls of the chiefs of Cig-tan and those of Sod, I presume that in the present case also we may agree that the predigee is coherent between the second member and the last, and that a good number of missing links have to be silently added between the first and second member. Or, in other words, the chiefs of Bzan-la started a genealogical roll of their own, when they began their career as separate chiefs of Zans-dkar. As, however, they had not forgotten that they as well as the principal line of Zans-dkar chiefs, viz. the chiefs of Dpah-gtum, were descended from I\Ti-ma-mgon's famous son, Lde-gtsug-mgon, they put the name of the latter prince at the head of the line. To furnish the Bzan-la genealogy with approximate dates we have to assign about thirty years to each generation and work upwards, beginning with the year 1800 A.D., the approximate year of the birth of Ye-ses-don-yod-dpal-lde and his brother. Then king Sen-ge-lde would have the years 1440-70 A.D. as the approximate time of his reign. It was he who divided the kingdom of Zans-dkar between his two sons, and thus created the Bzan-la principality. This principality may have been of very small size during its first years ; but in later times it included He-na-sku, as asserted by Bakula, and we may be not far wrong if we suppose that several other intervening villages, for instance, Karaji, may have formed part of the principality.

Of some interest are also the titles of the royal lamas, viz. Drun-pa-rgyal-tshab, Drun-pa-phug-pa, and 'Labs-drun. Although the word 'Labs-drun is generally translated by ` secretary ', we know that Zabs-drun-rin-

po-che, ` the precious secretary,' is the title of the spiritual ruler of Bhutan.   And it is not impossible that a
reincarnation of the spiritual ruler of Bhutan was once discovered in the royal family of Bzan-la ; for there were relations of a religious, as well as political, character between Ladakh and Bhutan, as we know from the Ladakhi chronicles. Drun-pa is generally translated by ` servant '. Here it is a title of a lama, similar to Zabs-d run ; rgyal-tshab is something like ` vice-gerent ' ; and phug-pa means ` cave-dweller '. The Dkar-sa (probably = Dkar-rgya) monastery is one of the principal Dge-lug-pa monasteries of Zans-dkar.

As regards the title Sku-g?;og, ` incarnation,' the spelling is not quite certain. S. Ch. Das gives sku-cogs. It is used as the title of the incarnation of the principal lama of a monastery, who is supposed to have descended in Khubilganic manner from the founder, or from a still more ancient personage. As has already been pointed out, Bakula derives his descent from the sthavira Vakula, who lived almost 2,000 years ago. The Ri-rdzon monastery (Dge-lug-pa) is situated in a side valley between Sa-spo-la and Shun-la.

The short note regarding the assistance lent to Zorawar, the Dogra general, by two of the Bzan-la kings was probably added to the pedigree with the view to impressing the Kashmir government. The petitioners may have hoped to be treated more favourably by that government, if they proved their descent from a helper of the conqueror. That they actually assisted the Dogras may have been due to a hostility which probably existed between the Dpal-ldum and Bzan-la kings of Zans-dkar.

As is shown by Joseph Tshe-brtan in his last note, the dynasty of Bzan-la boasts of the dynastical name Lde. This name it shares with the other Zans-dkar dynasty, and with the Gu-ge dynasty. All these lines of kings are descended from Bde-gtsug-mgon. In this name the spelling of the first syllable is given as here Bde, whereas in other documents we find the spelling Lde. This is another argument in favour of my view that Lde is only a dialectical form of the word Bde, ` blessing, happiness.'

As the above pedigree shows, the male line of the Bzan-la vassal-kings came to an end in 1843 A.D. At present we find only descendants in the female line.

As we learn from the Ladakhi chronicles, some of the Ladakhi queens came from Bzan-la.

Inscriptions referring to the Bzan-la kings have not yet been discovered. Bakula is mentioned in an inscription at Dpe-thub, and the name Tshul-khrims-í.i-ma is found on one of the walls of the cave temples of Sa-spo-la. But here the inscription may refer to a more ancient personage of the same name.

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