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174    ANTIQUITIES OF WESTERN TIBET

[VOL. II

Then Ltsan-mkhan-Malig arrived at a place called Kug-so. As he perceived that there also was water and a beautiful site, he planted a dry stick of birch, and prayed:—

If a town should come into existence in this place, And if I should become a lord over all men, May buds grow out of this birch [stick].

Thus saying he went to sleep. When he awoke and looked about, there were buds growing out of the birch [stick]. He then remained there also and founded a town. There he built three castles. One of them he called Kra-kra castle, another one Kro-kro castle, and the third Pa-kro castle. There his subjects increased, and he remained there for many years.

One day he arrived at the site of Cig-tan, and, looking about, perceived that the whole place was beautiful. As he also perceived that it was a beautiful site to build a castle, he brought men from Dar-go and Kug-so. At Chor-bad were two carpenters called Tsan-hdas-pa, father and son. He sent to call them, and brought them [there] to build the castle. [Thus] he built the castle of Cig-tan and called it Ro-zi-mkh ar. Then, in course of time, a town came there into existence.

Whilst the forefather, Lord Ltsan-mkhan-Malig, resided at the castle, and governed the whole country, a son, Tshe-rir -Malig, was born to him. To Tshe-rinMalig 'A-hdam-Malig was born ; to 'A-hdam-Malig 'Am-zed was born ; to 'Am-zed 'Am-rod was born ; to 'Am-rod 'A-zid-tham was born ; to 'A-zid-tham 'A-li-bag-so was born ; to 'A-li-bag-so 'A-ha-dam was born ; to 'A-ha-dam 'A-dam-Malig was born ; to 'A-dam-Malig 'A-dam-mkhan was born ; from his time [they] were made to adhere to Muhammadanism. Then to 'A-dam-mkhan Hor-jo-mkhan was born ; to Hor-jomkhan Ha-bib-mkhan was born ; to Ha-bib-mkhan Ha-ni-pha-mkhan was born ; to Ha-ni-pha-mkhán Ma-li-ya-mkhan was born ; - to Ma-li-ya-mkhan Hu-sen-mkhan was born ; to Hu-sen-mkhan Ga-bzan-phar was born.

NOTES

The Cig-tan chronicle reminds us for two reasons of the Balti chronicles. In the first place, like the Balti chronicles, it ignores the early Lamaist members among its chiefs, and in the second place it speaks of a faqir as the original ancestor of its line of chiefs.

If the chronicles were the only documents referring to the principality that had survived the ravages of time, we should be led to the conclusion that the family of chieftains was Muhammadan from the time of its emigration from Gilgit down to the present time. Fortunately, an inscription by several Lamaist chiefs of Cig-tan has been preserved in the ruined monastery. It records the renovation of this convent and gives Ltsan-mkhanbkra-sis as the name of the principal chief of those times. Ltsan-mkhan means ` beggar ' or ` faqir ', and the name Ltsaii-mkhan may have been used as a dynastic name among this line of chiefs.

Thus the chronicles fall into two unequal parts. The first part contains the legends of the origin of the race of chiefs and the principal towns, and the second part the names of the Muhammadan chiefs of Cig-tan, beginning with Tshe-rin-Malig, who embraced Islam in the sixteenth century. The first ancestor's name was probably originally only Ltsan-mkhan. When the present chronicle was compiled, the word Malig was added to this name

simply to give it a somewhat Muhammadan sound.   .

As regards the legend of the dry stick which begins to bud in answer to a prayer, it is told also at 0,2_.951, in Lahul.1 The ancestor is stated to have emigrated from Bru-sad in Gyi-lid. Gyi-lid is the ordinary Tibetan

1 Compare my collection, Die iistorischen und rynythologischen Erinnerungen der Lah9uler, tale No. 12.