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

the rock also makes it impossible to take impressions of it. I believe, however, that I
have succeeded this time in getting a more correct reading of a certain passage. What
had been read Sku-med 'aJam-yang, seems to be in reality Sku-mkhar mkhar-bu, and thus
the name of King 'aJam-dbyang-rnam-rgyal does not occur in it after all. But there are
several more passages, the reading of which is still very doubtful. This much we may,
however, safely infer from the inscription, viz., that the old town of Kharbu was still in-
habited in King Seng-ge-rnam-rgyal's days. On the western end of the old town, there
is a solid round tower with a staircase inside. These stairs lead down to a spring which
used to provide the town with fresh water, even when it was besieged.

On the elevated plateau between the old town and the present village, there are a
number of old mchod-rten and mani walls. But there are also many ancient graves, the
origin of which is not known to the present inhabitants. They may be either of Dard,
or of Muhammadan origin. For, when the town of Kharbu was in the hands of the Khri
Sultans of dKar-rtse, the inhabitants were probably compelled to embrace Islâm together
with the other subjects of the Sultans in the Saru valley. Possibly they date from the
Mughal war.

A very remarkable ruin in the Kharbu valley is the castle of Stag-rtse (map
Takhcha), on the opposite bank of the brook. It was built on a very steep rock, appa-
rently also very difficult of access, and once formed part of the possessions of the chiefs
of Chigtan. It was probably destroyed by bDe-ldan-rnam-rgyal of Ladakh at the same
time as Kharbu.

In the Kharbu valley, between Kharbu and Stag-rtse, are the ruins of a large
temple called Mun-dig-lha-khang, 'the dark temple.' It is 20 paces long and 16 paces
broad. This temple had apparently two doors, one in the eastern, and one in the
western wall, and there were separate doorways at some distance from the temple.
In the vicinity, I noticed the ruined remains of at least two rows of one hundred
and eight mchod-rten. A native whom we met, told us the following tale regarding
this ruin: "It was built by two lamas after the model of the Chigtan temple. One
of them went to Lhasa, and the other to Kashmir, to buy colours for painting
frescoes. Both died in those distant countries, and the temple was never completed."
There were no traces of any frescoes or raised medallions to be seen. But that is not
to be wondered at, as the ruin was roofless.

On the 2nd October, we went to Chigtan, situated in a side valley, on a tributary
of the Indus. The old castle of the chiefs of Chigtan, the Purig Sultans, is very
picturesquely situated on a steep cliff (Plate XLII, a). Below the castle are the ruins of
the old town. The greater part of the rooms of the former are no longer accessible,
owing to the dilapidated state of the whole building. A great number of the doors, and
also several windows, were adorned with very artistic wood carvings in Tibetan style
(Plate XLIII, a). Two of those in the inner court of the castle were said to be the por-
traits of the two architects, father and son. In one of the rooms we found a large wooden
board on which is carved the figure of a Nāga-devouring Garuḍa. (Plate XLI, b)
Although no document recording the erection of this castle has yet been found, the
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