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

regular sacrifices, no sacrificial lamps, no annual support, no salaries of 12 Rs. for each
monk annually, no food and drink for the water-carriers and goat-herds, and, moreover,
p. 57. no more tilling of the ground !' Such and other petitions were offered before the
highest authority, [who replied], 'From the taxes of the country in general one or two
annas in every rupee [may be] remitted ; as regards the monasteries, one half of the
new taxes [may be] remitted ; the other half will be paid !' As they could not agree
even on that, the great man became angry, and, using oaths, he said, 'I will not
decide !' The government blamed its own servants, and the proverb of 'God and the
hungry man' was being fulfilled. The wāzīr and the people of the country could not
agree in their speech, and the old proverb

When the falcon and the little bird wrestle,
The ground becomes covered with feathers !

was being fulfilled. Whilst Lekhman-Dās, the Nawāb of Kha-chul, was investigating
the case of the Ladakhi petitioners, who had come to Kha-chul from above (La-dvags),
a letter was actually issued, and a Si-pa and an order were sent to the Ladakhi nobility,
who were assembled at Jammu, commanding them to start at once [for Kha-chul].
They were not even allowed to wait for their house-mates ; and the nobility, after they
had spent two or three nights on the [open] ground, all huddled together, arrived in
Kha-chul. There they met with the [ordinary] people of La-dvags. But at that time
the relatives, near or distant, or people who lived in the same house, would not look
at one another. The Dewān made a drawing and gave orders that any petitions were
to be in writing, commanding the two Ladakhi kings, the warden of He-mi, and ten
leaders (chiefs ?) to write a petition [of their own], and the ordinary people of the country
to write separately. Thus the Ladakhis, being pressed on three sides, had no more
consideration for near or far (neighbours or relations). They wrote that there were
various estates in the country, that there were sites [which had been seized] by beating,
bribing, or favouring a certain party ; [and they wrote] many bad things about the
wāzīr, which ought never to have been said. In his decision the Dewān [said], 'The
Kings of Tog and Maṅ-spro both shall retain the jāgīrs given to them by the government.
For it was right,' he said, 'that a king should have power to impose taxes.' But the
42 [Rs.] annually which they had taken in addition [to what was due to them] they were
admonished to return to the people. To the descendants of Golām-Khān of Chu-śod,
(viz.) Salām-Khatun and Golām was given a jāgīr, [which has remained in their hands]
down to the present day. Through the intercession of Ser-Siṅ, who had formerly been
in La-dvags as wāzīr, the Dewān said to the kings, the Kardārs, and the ordinary people,
'Tell me how much has been added to the taxes of the subjects in La-dvags in the
former year 1941 (A.D. 1884) beyond what had been imposed by wāzīr Rādhā-
Kṛiśna ?' Thus he said. Then the nobility [of Ladakh] and the ordinary people
with one accord [answered], 'Formerly Maṅgal-Siṅ fixed the taxes in proportion to the
property [of the taxed] ; but, since the survey was undertaken, through excessive partiality
things have not gone straight. The rich people having paid bribes, some of their former