Book Title: Indian Antiquary Vol 35
Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Previous | Next

Page 261
________________ SEPTEMBER, 1906.) ARCHÆOLOGY IN WESTERN TIBET. 239 miles of bad road. The king of Leh, who made Khalatse into a Tibetan town, built a third bridge on the present site and saved the trying journey on the left bank altogether. The Balu-mkhar Bridge and the second bridge then lost their importance and decayed, but the castle of Balu-mkhar seems to have been kept up down to about the Balti invasion in 1600. (C) Inscription of king rGya-shin. On another boulder, in the near neighbourhood of the preceding inscriptions, is one of a similar type to that inscribed by king Shirima. It is written in dBu-med cheracters and very roughly executed. The lower part is illegible, as a more recent inscription has been carved straight across it. The first lines run thus: - Tibetan Text. Translation. 1. rgyalpo chenpo 1. The great king. 2. rgya shin[sk]a yzhon 2. Gya-shin-[sk]n-yzhon 3. Khalastse) .... 3. [of] Kbalatse] .... Notes, We have here possibly a record of another petty king of Khalatee of the line of Shirima. * This line has, perhaps, been ignored in looal history for having given offence to the suzerain kings of Leh. At any rate it seems to have disappeared about 1200 A. D. The last witnesses of its existence, besides the ruined castle on the banks of the Indus above-mentioned, are a number of stapas, partly in ruins, but still the highest in Khalatse. These stepas go to prove that, during its last days, the dynasty had become Lamaist, while traces of several graves close to the ruined castle go to prove that these kings, before they came into touch with the Leh Dynasty, were true Dards, whose custom it was to bury their dead. There is another Dard Castle on the brook of Khalatse, about a mile above the Indus. This castle seems to have escaped destruction from the Tibetans. It was deserted later on, when its inhabitants joined the Khalatse people and became Tibetanized. (D) The Lost Stone Inscription of King bDe-ldan-rnam-rgyal, c. 1650–1680 A. D. A little below the Brag-nag Castle at Khalatse, there used to be an inscribed stone, which was destroyed only a few years ago. As there are many people alive, who have seen and read it, and have a good reason for accurately handing down its contents, I give them as told to me. Tibetan Text. Chos rgyal chenpo bde Idan rnam rgyalgyis Khalatsepala ; sabon 'adebspai dus ni, lcangrinas Itaste, nyima bragkhungla nubna btabdgos; drongpa chu drenpai res ni, dangpo bsod rnams phelpa dang grong đponpa dang gongmapa ysum; yayispa gnumpa dang starapa dang dragcbospa ysum; sumpa ni sabipa dang sherabpa dang bedapa yum; bzhipa ni rkang chagpa dang khrollepa dang rallups youm; Ingapa ni dragchospa dang gadcanpa dang grambucanpa ysum; drugpa ni byabapa dang phanba dang bragcanpa yum; bdunpa ni rkyallapa dang skamburpa dang monpa ysummo, Translation, The religious king bDe-lden-rnam-rgyal (tells the people of Khalatso: This is the time for sowing: when the sun sets in the cavity in the rock, looking from the Willow Hill, you must sow. The order of watering the fields (irrigating) for the peasants is this : bSod-rnams-phelpa and Grong Besides the ancient Tibetan insoviptions, there are several ancient non-Tibetan inscriptions at Khalatse. One of them was reprodneod ante, Vol. XXXI. P. 401, Plate III., fig. 1, and Vol. XXXII. p. 351, Plate II., fig. 1. My colleotion of non-Tibetan inscriptions (mostly from Khalatse) numbers tea insoripion. Three of them were sent to Dr. Ph. Vogel, Arobmological Surveyor, Panjab, who pronounoed one of them to be Kharostht, and another Ancient Brahmt of the first oentury. Thus the theory of the presence of the ancient pre-Lamaiat Buddhism in Ladakh is becoming an established faet.

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434