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

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TSANGBO CHÛ—TS0M0 GNALARÎ.

Tsangbocha, or Dihông, the principal river

in Eastern Tibet    9âZ,'

,a   '   gtsang-bo-chhu. Tib.

"The pure (sacred) water." Gtsang-bo, the pure; chhu, water. In its upper course it is also often combined with Yarn = Yaru Tsangbochû; yarn meaning upper.

The Ts a n g b o c hû river is the principal affluent of the Brahmapûtra, and the same which with the Indians in Assam bears the name of Dihông; it was long mistaken for the Iravädi (Klaproth, Mémoires relatifs à l'Asie, Vol. III., p. 370), and is even still very often erroneously considered to be the Brahmapûtra, though the direction as well as the quantity of water unmistakably define the principal river as such.

T sang bochû also occurs in Balti as the name chiefly used by the natives for the Shayôk river.

T s â n g b o, or Ts â n g p o seems to be repeated not unfrequently even for smaller rivers, either alone or in composition; as an instance I mention the Shung Tsa,ngpo, near Khargya,l, in Balti.

T Seth ân g, in Bhutan, Lat. 27°, Long. 92°    ! 8~ rtse-thang. Tib.

"The flat top." Rtse, top, point; thang, plain, open flat.

Both component parts are frequently met with in Tibetan names.

VC

Tso Gam, in Rûpchu, Lat. 33°, Long. 78°    Res'   mts`ho-skam. Tib.

"Dry lake." Mt s` h o , lake; skam, dry. I should have written, as generally, k for the Tibetan letter here used, if I had not heard it distinctly pronounced g; probably a provincial modification so frequently met with in every language, particularly in mountainous countries.'.

Tso G y a g â r, in Rûpchu, Lat. 33°, Long. 78° VeS' T ' ZT1Z, mts` ho-rgya-gar. Tib.

"Lake with ate white plain." For details, compare Gyaga,r. The sandy shores of this salt-lake are well characterized by its name.

vc

Tso Kar, in Rûpchu, Lat. 33°, Long. 77°     Ve'7►jXmts`ho-dkar. Tib.

"White lake." Mts`ho, lake; kar, white.   II

The name white in this case probably refers to the thin layers of salt along_ its shores.

T s o m o g n a l a r i, a lake in Pangkông, Lat. 33°, Long. 78°.

ReS V   ~ f~' mts` ho-mo-ningar-la-ri. Tib.

"The fresh (water) lake in the mountains." Mts`ho-mo, the lake; mngar, sweet, fresh; la is the sign of the locative; ri, mountain.

1 The lake is not dry,' properly speaking, but it is one of those which have become unusually salt in consequence of the great evaporation they have suffered; its surface is now considerably reduced.

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