________________
MARCH, 1906.]
THE ROCK INSCRIPTIONS AT MULBE.
81
With reference to that part of text which is given in brackets, I may say that in the minds of certain people the list of the nobiltty was not considered complete, and that for this reason the first two additions were made. The notice about the man-khang (mchod-rten) had probably nothing to do with the rest of the inscription.
INSCRIPTION No. V. Position: To the left of Inscriptions Nos. II. and IV.
Text in Roman Transliteration, blonbo husen ali skyabs ['a]phelle
'oma cig di yum shuwapa yin briskhan 'onpo dang
dgon 'abyong yin
bkris.
Text in Classical Orthography, blonpo husen, ali, skyabs 'aphelle
'oma ycig 'adi youm shubapa yin brismkhan 'on po dang
dkon 'abyong yin.
Okrashis.
Translation. Minister Husen, Ali [and] Skyabs—’aphelle,
[who are all of] one mother, these three are the petitioners. The writers of the inscription] are the astrologer
and Kon—'abyong. Happiness!
Notes on the Tibetan Text 'aphelle may either represent an original name 'aphel-los, or it may be the word 'aphel furnished with the termination of respect.
'oma rcig, originally means 'one milk.' It expresses the ides that the three drank from one mother's breast.
zhuwapa, instead of shubapa, comes near to the actual pronunciaton of the word.
dgon, instead of dkcm, can only be explained as an orthographical mistake, which shows once more how uncertain the people are about the actual phonetical value of tenuis and media.
bloris is another well-known abbreviation of the word Okrashis.
Notes on the English Translation. What the petition of the three men was will probably always remain obecare. The Tibetans have always been very fond of making petitions. The occurrence of Muhammadan names in it seems to show that it was carved after 1600 A. D., i.e., after the conquest of Ladakh by the Baltis,