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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

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214   ANTIQUITIES OF WESTERN TIBET   [VoL.II

Rgyal-po and Blo-dros-skyid, both, and Nan(Nag)-dban-gro[1]-ma, the best of mothers, by these three, at the death-ceremony of Ha-ri, a Byan-chub mchod-rten (stūpa) was erected for his soul. And as a verbal record, this chronicle, called ` The golden mirror ', was written. [It is astonishing how much was gathered and given for the sake of religion. All hail ! The number of what was presented according to the word. . . .

And the others, who brought flesh and beer for the benefit of men, were . . . (c. 40 names) . . . like nectar of the gods.

May all the partakers in this sacrifice meet later on in Mnon-dgahi-zin (one of the heavens).

. . . the red colour of idols . .

. . . be blessed !]

[The chief of Ti-nan says that Gun-de is situated in Bir-Bangāl (Bard Bangāl, a province of Kula), and that his ancestors came from there.]

NOTES

1

As is plainly stated, the above chronicle was compiled at the death-ceremony of the Chief Ha-ri-ya, who was a contemporary of the Kulū king Bi-dhur-( = Bahādur) Singh. King Bahādur-Singh of Kulū reigned, according to Dr. Vogel's investigations, about the middle of the sixteenth century. This Kula king claims to have ruled over Lahul, and the chief Ha-ri-ya may have been his agent in the country. The very powerful Ladakhi king Tshedban-rnam-rgyal I, who reigned at about the same time, also claims to have conquered Kulū (including Lahul). Possibly one conquest followed the other.

The statement of the Ti-nan chiefs regarding their descent from a Gu-ge family is of great importance. It is in contrast to another statement, found in the chronicles of the chiefs of Ko-lon, in Lahul. The latter says that the Ti-nan chiefs came to Lahul from Bangāl (Chop, or Bard, Bangāl, now a province of Kulū). The clear statement of the Ti-nan chronicle, which was compiled three centuries before the Ko-lon chronicle, is, of course, the more trustworthy of the two. I believe that the family was of purely Tibetan origin. The name Phala (pāla) is possibly an Indianization of the Tibetan word dpal, glory, which is so often found in Tibetan names. The original name of the family, Hod-gsal, is of Bon-po origin. _Hod-gsal is the name of a Bon-po heaven ; see S. Ch. Das' Tibetan-English Dictionary, p. 1120. A place called Lcags-mkhar, ` iron castle,' I have not yet been able to trace on a map.

Not a single one of the names of the Ti-nan chiefs has as yet been found in inscriptions of Lahul. A certain inscription from Zug-mur, Lahul, mentions a Ha-yar-jo (No. 127 of my collection). But, as Ha-yar is mentioned in other documents as a place-name, the word Ha-yar-jo had better be translated by ` Chief of Ha-yar '. Otherwise I should have felt inclined to identify Ha-yar with Ha-ri-ya of Ti-nan. There is a somewhat indistinct inscription in kradā characters on a boulder about a mile below the present village of Ti-nan. Another Sāradā inscription on a stone idol in the Chos-hkhor (probably Stod-rgyal-mtshan-chos-hkhor) monastery near Si-su, which belongs to the Ti-nan district, contains nothing but mystic syllables. It was discovered by Mr. G. C. L. Howell and myself, and examined by Dr. Vogel. A Byan-chub mchod-rten is a mchod-rten with square steps between the upper bowl and the square lower part. It is a pity that the list of the forty guests was not copied ; for it contained, in all probability, the names of several contemporary chiefs of Lahul of those days. The Miion-dgahi-in is, according to S. Ch. Das' dictionary, a mythological garden, ` the world of joy in the East.' Ma-gar-sa is the name of the ancient capital of Kula. Bur-rgyal-bod probably stands for Spu-rgyal-bod, an ancient name of Tibet. Compare La-dvags-rgyal-rabs, part ii.

Later additions :—In the place of the name Gu-ge, which was plainly legible in Maiigal-cand's copy, Bzodpa-Bde-chen's copy contains the name Gun-de. I am fully convinced that this is due to a recent alteration of the original text. My conclusions, based on the old reading Gu-ge, were not welcomed by the present chief of Ko-lon,