Indian Antiquary Vol 35

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 88

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[MARCH, 1906.
Translation, Om, happiness be to you! During their] holy reign may the progeny of the king of the lotus-family and of the noble queen Mir Khatan become many! May the minister Husen Mir and the fulfiller of the meaning of religion, the sacrificer, 'aGaripa, the seal-smith, and the architect Mahmad bSod-rnams, prosper! May happiness spread over this assembly of lords !
In brackets : (apparently later additions) the five priests, the five turquoise-sons of the teacher; the wife of the Khan, Bis-'ajoms; the mani-house is in the middle.
Notes on the Tibetan Text. vad broyud, the lotus-family. This is the name of the ancient Buddhist family of the Ladakhi Kings. The proper name of the particular king was 'aJam-dbyangs, who, after being defeated by the Baltis, was compelled to marry a Musulman lady, the doghter of Ali Mir.
00. instead of jo, either shows the influence of the Lhassa dialect, or it is an ordinary orthographical mistake.
'Mir 'akhadum ig a case of not fully grasping a foreign name.
chab-srid, does not mean government' in Western Tibet, but progeny, as I am informed. But I must add that since I read the Mulbe inscriptions, I have found other inscriptions in which the word chab-srid has to be translated by Government.'
Thonpo, instead of blonpo, is due to mispronunciation. The h after the l is due to such spellings as lha and lho, instead of the more correct hla and hlo.
the gar, is said to be a particular kind of smith. I believe of those who make seals (thetse). The compound formed of thetse and wgarba would be the-mgar.
guru, teacher. This is the first time that I have met with this Sanskrit word in the colloquia: language of Ladakh.
rbon instead of dpon. The d prefix became an r prefix, as is often the case, and the b instead of p is an ordinary orthographical mistake.
Mama So-rnams. Mama is still the ordinary Ladakhi pronunciation of the name Mahmad. So-rnamas is apparently the ancient careless pronunciation of the Tibetan name 6Sod-rnums. It is remarkable that the same personality possesses both Musalman names and Buddhist names.
khanmo, a daughter or wife of a Khan. Bis 'ajoms. This name is said to ocour still. man khang, house of mani-[stones). This is a kind of mchod-rten. ytso bcas," assembly of Lords," or "the Lords together," may also be translated by "aristocracy." kris for Okrashis, is a well-known abbreviation,
Notes on the English Translation, The date of this inscription can be fixed with some certainty. The inscription contains in its first part a wedding congratulation, which was probably carved on the rock on the occasion of King aJam-dbyangs' marriage to Ali Mir's daughter rGyal-Khatun. Wo find similar wishes expressed in Ladakhi Songs Nos. XVIII. and XIX., ante, 1902. The LadAkbîs were defeated by the Baltis, and Ali Mir, the Balti general, compelled the Ladakhi king to marry his daughter. The wedding took place about in 1600 A. D. The name of the queen, Mir Khatun, represents a combination of the father's and the daughter's names. I am told by the natives, it is a general custom in Purig to add the father's name, or part of it, to the names of the children. In Ladakh proper, ingtead of the father's name, the name of the house is added.