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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

Schlagintweit.¹ I hope to find time to prepare a reliable version of this interesting
document. Although the Hemis monastery is not very ancient, yet it contains images
of a type which is found only in monasteries of the 10th or 11th century. When the
monks are asked to state the place of origin of such statues, they say that they were
brought here from Lhasa. I wonder if that can be true. It seems to me that a more
likely explanation is that these images were brought here from Meru, which is, as
already stated, the "mother" monastery of Hemis.

At Martselang we saw again many ancient mchod-rten of the Mon type, and all
along the road, from this place to Chushod, these mchod-rten were much in evidence.
I may add that it is very much the same on the other bank of the Indus, e.g., at
Khrigtse, Raṇbīrpur, and Sheh, where they are numerous. At Raṇbīrpur, I remember
having seen even several specimens of the ladder type in fair preservation. The con-
viction that we are travelling here on ancient Buddhist ground, grew very strong on
me. It is not impossible that the present village and monastery of Khrigtse are identi-
cal with the castle of Khri-btsegs-'abum-gdugs mentioned before Srong-btsan-sgam-po,
who was the first Buddhist king of Tibet, and with the monastery of Khri-rtse
mentioned under King Mes-ag thsoms (705—755 A.D). Local names in Sanskrit which
are found here and there in Ladakh, date from the times of this more Indian than
Tibetan form of Buddhism. The names of Meru, and Sakti (Skr. Śakti) have already
been mentioned. I may add the names of Muni and Kanika (= Kanishka ?) in
Zaṅgskar, and Tar (Skr. Tārā, on account of the Svayambhu Tārās at that place), Hari
rtse (Summit of Hari). The greater part of the Ladakhi local names are certainly
Tibetan, but not a few are of Dard origin. In connection with the latter statement let
me point to the many names which have the Dard word hem (Skr. hima) or hen
"snow," as one of their component parts, viz., Hembabs (Dras), Henasku, Hema la,
Hemis. Of other plainly Dard names like Hanu, Hunupatta, Garkunu, Chanegund,
Hibti, Esu, etc., I cannot yet explain the etymology. The name Raṇbīrpur is a modern
Ḍogrā name.² A few ancient Indian personal names also have been preserved in
folklore and inscriptions. Thus, the ruined castle opposite Stag-sna is called the castle
of king Surgamati (Skr. Sūry-amati, "Sun-mind") and among the old royal names on
inscriptions at Khalatse we find Shirima (Skr. Śrimān) and (probably) Satyamati
("Truth-mind"), besides several others.

When riding along the left bank of the Indus river, we could see the villages,
castles and monasteries on the right bank, a visit to many of which would amply
reward archæological research. The conical hill of the Khrigtse monastery always
looks picturesque, and so it is with the Stag-sna monastery which is built on a rock
between two arms of the Indus. The buildings of this monastery look almost like a
royal castle. It was built with the greater care, because it was the residence of several
members of the royal family who had taken orders in the 'aBrug-pa sect. The erection
of this monastery in its present shape is attributed to Ngag-dbang-rnam-rgyal, the step-