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

from his grandfather to the Raja, and which proved to be an edition of the Old and New
Testament from the Papal press, dated in the year 1598. It was bound in Morocco, with
the initials I. H. S. surmounted by a cross, stamped on each side of the cover. How it
had come there no person could inform me, but it might possibly have been given to the
former Raja by Desideri, who visited Ladakh, although it is very doubtful if he reached
Lé. The Khalun and Khaga Tan zin made, at my request, very particular inquiry
regarding any evidence of a European having been at Lé before us, and no proof nor
tradition of such an occurrence could be traced." I feel confident that a critical edition
of Desideri's diary will establish beyond doubt the fact that Desideri actually visited
Leh.

But although Moorcroft was the second instead of the first visitor to Leh, his de-
scription of his visit is of the greatest importance in historical as well as geographical
respects. Moorcroft visited Ladakh fourteen years before the kingdom lost its indepen-
dence. He spent two years at Leh, and as he was a very keen and intelligent observer,
his description of the kingdom is of unique interest. Trebeck, Moorcroft's travelling
companion, who was a clever draftsman, made a pencil sketch of Leh, which was repro-
duced in the account of their travels, and this picture of Leh, the oldest known to exist,
no archeologist would willingly lose. The reason why Moorcroft spent such a long time
at Leh was his attempt to arrange for the king of Ladakh's tendering his allegiance
to the East India Company. It took him a long time to win the confidence of the
Ladakhí king, Tuntuk namgial (Dong-rub-rnam-rgyał) and his Prime Minister, Tsiva
Tandu (Thse-dbang-dong-rub). But when they were ready to tender their allegiance,
their offer was declined by the East India Company. How different the fate of Ladakh
would have been, had it been accepted. Moorcroft had no doubts then, that Ladakh
would soon be swallowed up by Russia, for the Prime Minister showed him a letter from
the Emperor of Russia to the king of Ladakh which had been brought there by a Jew,
six years before. Moorcroft and Trebeck became eye-witnesses of some little warfare
between the Ladakhis and Baltis, and between the Ladakhis and the Kulú State; they
also saw the seditious placard at Leh, in which the unsatisfactory rule of the king
was contrasted with the excellent rule of his predecessor, his brother, who had died
young. There is simply no end of most interesting information in Moorcroft's account,
and I hope to be spared to edit the Ladakhí portion of his journal with notes from the
Tibetan point of view.

Let me now quote Moorcroft's description of Leh, in 1820, and contrast it with the
Leh of the present day. He writes : ¹ "Lé, the capital of Ladakh, is situated in a
narrow valley, formed by the course of the Sinh-kha-bab[Sengge kha-bab, i e., the Indus],
and bounded on the northern and southern sides by a double chain of mountains running
east and west, the highest of which are from eighteen hundred to two thousand feet above
the plain. It is built at the foot and on the slope of some low hills, forming the northern
boundary of the valley, and separated by a sandy plain about two miles broad from the river