National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

(spelt *Phyi-dbang* ; map Phayang) is probably the most ancient town of Western
Tibet. Unfortunately, I had not then yet started my studies of the geographical
names contained in the account of gNya-khri-btsan-po's empire. Subsequent studies
have shown me that practically all the places mentioned in the Ladakhi account of
gNya-khribtsan-po's kingdom exist in Ladakh, and that the village of Phyi-dbang
is in all probability identical with Phyi-dbang-stag-rtse, the earliest capital of Tibet.¹

The Phyang (Phyi-dbang) monastery is a stately building of much later date. It was
erected by King bKra-shis-rnam-rgyal (c. 1500—1532 A.D.) and belongs to the 'aBri-
khung-pa sect of lamas. This monastery comes into view when the plain on the right
bank of the Phyang brook is reached. At this place King bKra-shis-rnam-rgyal raised
a long flagstaff on an elaborate pedestal. As we know from the chronicles, this flagstaff
was intended to serve as a place of refuge for all those who were guilty of a *crimen læsæ
majestatis*. It is quite possible that King bKra-shis thought of the crime committed by
himself, when he erected the flagstaff. Had he not plucked out his elder brother's eyes
and deprived him of his royal power? No doubt, bKra-shis himself had good reason to
embrace the flagstaff most cordially. The pedestal still remains and is generally known by
the name of *Thar-chen*, "great flag." From a note in Dr. Marx's "Three Documents"
we learn that the Phyi-dbang monastery contains a beautiful collection of ancient
armour.

A plain called La-dvags-gong-khai-thang stretches from the village of Phyi-dbang
to the village of Umla (Umbla ?) in the west. Halfway between the two is situated
the little village of Daru. The *maṇi* walls of Daru contain votive stones mentioning
King bDe-ldan-rnam-rgyal, c. 1630 A.D., and a minister Thse-dbang-don-grub (c. 1822
A.D.). These walls have little ruined houses built on one end which are known by
the name of *Man Khang* (*Maṇi Khang*). These huts were built by the people who
erected the *maṇi* walls, to serve as hospital stables for horses which had become
exhausted on the long march across the great plain.

We examined and photographed the rock with sculptures at Daru. Thanks to the
historical information contained in the Leh inscriptions of the rNam-rgyal-rtse-mo hill,
the sculptures and inscriptions on the Daru rock can nowadays be dated with more
certainty than it was possible a few years ago. I made a first attempt at dating
them in my article, "Archæology in West Tibet,"² when I tried to identify King
Lha-chen-kun-dgä-rnam-rgyal, whose name appears on the Daru rock, with Lha-rgyal
(c. 1250 A.D.) of the chronicles. But even then I had to assume that part of the
inscription was probably of later date, judging by the name of a lama which occurred
in it. Now, the rNam-rgyal-rtse-mo inscriptions give the name of a great minister,
Phyag-rdor-jo, who is also mentioned on the Daru rock. Phyag-rdor-jo of the rNam-
rgyal-rtse-mo inscriptions is plainly stated to have been a contemporary of King