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

It is enclosed by a wall, furnished at intervals with conical and square towers, and extending
on either side to the summit of the hills. It is approached by a double line of the
sacred structures or manis, frequently noticed in the journal, and houses are scattered over
the plain without the walls, on either hand. The streets are disposed without any order,
and form a most intricate labyrinth, and the houses are built contiguously, and run into
each other so strangely, that from without it is difficult to determine the extent of each
mansion. The number, it is said, is about a thousand ; but I should think they scarcely
exceeded five hundred. They vary from one to two or three stories in height, and some
are loftier. The walls are in a few instances wholly, or in part of stone, but in general
they are built with large unburnt bricks : they are whitened outside with lime, but
remain of their original colour inside. They are usually furnished with light wooden
balconies ; the roofs are flat, and are formed of small trunks of poplar trees, above which
a layer of willow shoots is laid, which is covered by a coating of straw, and that again
by a bed of earth."

From this description we learn that in 1820, although the general character of the
houses was the same as it is nowadays, yet the ground plan of the old town must have
been very different from that of the present town. It is true that even then some
houses existed outside the walls, but the town proper was enclosed by a fortified wall.
The two large bazaars which form such a conspicuous feature of the present town of
Leh were not yet in existence. As popular tradition asserts, the large bazaar of Leh
was laid out by the Dogras after the war of 1834-1842, and the new bazaar was made in
1897 by Captain Trench, British Joint Commissioner. I have been told, the Schlagint-
weits give a very minute description of Leh as it was in 1856, when the large bazaar
was already in existence. Where this description is to be found, I have not been able
to trace. A few remains of the walls of Leh are found right in the middle of the present
town, where there is also one of the ancient crooked gates. This gate, which is a little
north-east of the great mosque at the end of the bazaar, marks the extent of the former
town towards the south. All those houses which are found between the rNam-rgyal
rtse-mo Hill and this gate, belong to the old town of Leh, of Moorcroft's time. He makes
special mention only of three conspicuous buildings, viz., the royal palace, the Chamba
(Byams-pa, i.e., Maitrêya) and the Chenresi (sPyan-ras-gzigs, i.e., Avalokitéśvara)
Monasteries. These three buildings are still in existence, and will be referred to in due
course. The following conspicuous buildings of the old town must also have been in
existence in Moorcroft's time, although he does not make any reference to them.
The house Blon-po ("Minister") is situated directly below the castle, on the south-west
corner ; the dGon-pa-so-ma, (New Monastery) is situated on the south-eastern corner of the
same castle. It is the scene of the devil-dances which were witnessed by Moorcroft.
Both these buildings can be distinguished on Trebeck's picture of Leh. Below the
dGon-pa-so-ma and the Byams-pa monasteries, is situated the mKhar-chung (" the little
Palace"), and exactly below the latter the ruined site of the house bKâ-blon ("Prime
Minister "), possibly the very same house in which Moorcroft was received in audience by
the then Prime Minister. West of the house bKñ-blon we see the house To-go-che. The