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

was built. I should have visited it, had we not been far too tired for such a climb in
the evening after our arrival, as well as next morning.

On one of the *maui* walls of Kaze, I saw a fairly old votive tablet dating from the
time of the Ladakhi *régime* in Spiti. It was written in bad orthography and was in a
poor state of preservation. The "national anthem" was similar to that of the Guge
stones, but in the place where the Guge version has the Satluj (*gLang-chen-kha-bab*), here
we find the Indus (*Seng-ge'-kha-bab*). What interested me particularly, was the spelling
of the name Leh, the Ladakhi capital. We find it often spelled *sLel* in native docu-
ments, but the spelling *sLe* is also not infrequent. According to the ideas of the natives
of Ladakh, the correct spelling of the name is *sLes*. The word *sLes* (or *sLas* in Lower
Ladakh) signifies a walled enclosure, such as is set up by nomads. Leh is supposed to
have developed out of a Tibetan nomads' camp. The Kaze inscription confirms this
derivation, for here we find the name of the capital spelt *sLes*. I may add, that this
spelling is corroborated by the Tibetan geographical work 'aDzam-gling-ye-shes where
the same spelling is found.² The name of the capital of Spiti is spelt here *Drag-mkhar-
rtse* (against *Brang-mkhar* on other stones). A nobleman, Ga-ga Sod-nams, is mentioned
as having held the office of Resident at the castle, but the name of the king of Leh is
missing.

We reached the Ki (*dKyil*) monastery at noon on August the third. Here I met with
a messenger from Mr. Howell, Assistant Commissioner of Kulū; he handed me a letter
from that gentleman, asking me to make the monks of the Ki monastery acquainted with
the discovery of Buddha's bones at Peshāwar, and to suggest to them that they should make
an application to the Indian Government to let them have the relics. I gladly agreed
to Mr. Howell's proposal, in particular, because it gave me an opportunity to point out to
them the difference between Buddha and Christ, of whom no bones have ever been found.
But also for another reason I was anxious to visit the Ki monastery. In 1863 Mr. P.
Egerton, of the Civil Service, made a tour through Spiti, together with our missionary, Mr.
A. W. Heyde. A beautiful book illustrated with capital photographs, was the outcome of
this journey. In this book we find the statement that the Ki monastery of Spiti was pro-
bably founded by Brom-ston, the pupil of the famous teacher Atiśa, in the 11th century.
The travellers apparently heard a rumour of a connection between this monastery and
Brom-ston, and if they had simply stated this, they would not have been wrong.
But they went further. They found a note in Körös' Tibetan Grammar, to the effect
that Brom-ston had founded a monastery called Rareng (*Rva-sgreṅs*); and as a village
in the vicinity of Ki is called Rangrig, Mr. Egerton jumped to the conclusion that the Ki
monastery of Spiti was identical with the famous Rareng monastery of the 11th century.
But we know from the geographical work 'aDzam-gling-ye-shes, that the Rareng
monastery is situated in the Rong district near Lhasa. It is not to be wondered at, how-
ever, that no clear traditions about the origin of the Spiti monastery exist. We read in
Moorcroft and Trebeck's travels, 1820, that the Ki monastery was thoroughly ransacked