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XXII. Notes on those Vassal States of which no Chronicles remain

1. The Khri-Sultāns of Dkar-rtse

The principality of Dkar-rtse comprised the valleys of the Su-ru and Dras rivers ;
but the chiefs of Dras may at times have been independent. The capital of the State
was Dkar-rtse in the Su-ru valley, and the towns of Su-ru, Dkar-kyil, Pas-kyum, at
times even Mul-hbye, Wan-la, Sim-śa-mkhar-bu, and Hem-babs (Dras) were subject
to these chiefs. The population was for the greater part of Dard origin, and the Dard
language is still spoken in its western villages. The religion of the state was originally
Buddhism ; but in the fifteenth or sixteenth century this was exchanged for
Muhammadanism. Raṅ-hdum in the upper Su-ru valley is the only place in the
district which has remained Buddhist.

Inscriptions :—At Dras there are several sculptured stones with inscriptions in
Śāradā, one even in Tibetan. They go back to the times of the early chiefs of Hem-babs.
'A-la or Dram-'A-la seems to have been the name of one of those chiefs. The huge sculp-
ture of Maitreya at Mul-hbye is probably the work of one of the earlier chiefs of Dkar-
rtse. It is now stated to be the work of the eight minor sons of Ñe-ba, viz. the eight
spiritual sons of Buddha (see S. Ch. Das' dictionary). Similar sculptures near Dkar-rtse
are said to be furnished with Tibetan inscriptions, which have, however, not yet been
examined. A sculpture at Sin-go is pictured in Drew's book (The Northern Barrier of
India, p. 270). A Tibetan inscription mentioning one of those chiefs by his dynastic
name Khri-rgyal (later on changed to Khri-Sultān), is found in my collection of
historical inscriptions under No. 42.—King Ḥod-den, mentioned in a votive
inscription at Mul-hbye, may be one of the Muhammadan chiefs (Khri-Sultāns) of
Dkar-rtse.—An inscription from Wan-la is of the greatest importance with regard to
the history of these chieftains. It seems to be the only Tibetan record of the Kashmir
expeditions against Ladakh in the fifteenth century. It is found on one of the walls
of the Bcu-gcig-źal monastery at Wan-la. There the chiefs are called Khri-dpon
(a synonym of Khri-rgyal). Their dominions are said to have included Wa-kha,
Kan-ji, Su-ru, En-sa-ali, and Maṅ-rgyu. The Chief Ḥbhag-dar-skyabs became a
vassal of the Kashmir king, and apparently in his service conquered (or assisted
in the conquest of) Sbal-ti, Ḥbrog-pa (district of Mdah), Gu-ge, Pu-hraṅs, and
Mṅaḥ-ris-skor-gsum. At that time began the introduction of Muhammadanism into
Pu-rig ; for names like Khātūn and 'Alī appear in the record by the side of perfectly
Tibetan names.

Other records :—In the Ta'rīkh-i-Rashīdī (c. 1532 A.D., pp. 462 sqq.) we read of several
expeditions of the Turkomans under Mirzā Haidar against Su-ru. Apparently they were
not crowned with much success. From the Ladakhi chronicles we learn that two
chiefs of Pu-rig were fighting with one another (c. 1550–80 A.D.). One of them was the
chief of Cig-tan, and the other in all probability the chief of Dkar-rtse.—Then in the
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