Tibetan History

The present study examines "prayer" as a distinctive act that arises within religious experience, and seeks to clarify its essential nature in the thought and contemplative rituals of Tibetan Buddhism. Particular attention is given to the Dge lugs tradition's widely recited liturgy, the Dga' ldan lha brgya ma, and the Dmigs brtse ma verse incorporated within it. The analysis demonstrates that, within contemplative ritual, prayer is ultimately directed toward the transcendence of dualistic cognition, culminating in a mystical union with the lama as absolute being.
While the Tibetan expression for prayer, gsol ba 'debs ("I beseech"), has the basic meaning of supplication, the prayer in the Dga' ldan lha brgya ma encompasses seven dimensions: supplication, prostration, offering, confession of sins, rejoicing, request for the turning of the Dharma wheel, and dedication. Within this framework, the Dmigs brtse ma may at first be understood as a form of supplication, yet it ultimately points toward a mystical union with the absolute, transcending the framework of giver and receiver that defines ordinary petition. Through the repeated recitation of the Dmigs brtse ma, the practitioner continually invokes the name of Tsong kha pa---regarded as inseparable from the triad of tutelary deities---and aspires toward visionary union with the lama. At the highest level of prayer, the distinction between one who prays and the one prayed to dissolves, as does the expectation of obtaining a particular object of supplication. This is because, within meditation, the practitioner becomes identical with Tsong kha pa himself.
The absence of an explicit request in the Dmigs brtse ma is significant. While commentators may supply specific objects of supplication, the ultimate aim of this prayer is not the acquisition of something external but the realization that one is already inseparable from the tutelary deities through Tsong kha pa as mediator. Just as ancient Japanese called upon and prayed (inoru) to the names of their gods, the practitioner invokes the name of Tsong kha pa. The function of this invocation, however, is not to articulate requests but to transcend the dualistic structure of thought through meditative absorption.

Since its emergence in the fifteenth century, the \textit{Dmigs brtse ma} has become deeply rooted in the hearts of the Tibetan people, providing them with strength to overcome hardships. At its core lies a form of prayer that transcends mundane petition, grounded instead in profound religious insight of non-duality. Such prayer has shaped the depths of the Tibetan spiritual imagination and can be seen as possessing a universal value resonant with other religious traditions.

The research paper examines the patterns of coexistence between Buddhist and Muslim communities in Ladakh from the sixteenth century onwards. Employing a historical and analytical approach, it explores the socio-cultural, economic, and religious interactions that shaped inter-community relations in the region. The study highlights the shared cultural practices, mutual exchanges, and everyday interactions that fostered communal harmony despite differences in religious beliefs. It further investigates the ways in which communities negotiated common spaces and developed a sense of regional belonging while maintaining distinct religious identities. By tracing the traditions of coexistence, the paper seeks to provide a nuanced understanding of Ladakh's pluralistic social order. In doing so, it contributes to broader discussions on interfaith relations, cultural accommodation, and peaceful coexistence in historically diverse societies.

This article presents a comparative material history of two foundational pre-paper writing surfaces: Egyptian papyrus, produced from Cyperus papyrus , and the South Asian palm-leaf manuscript, known in Sri Lanka as puskolapotha. Though separated by geography, ecology, and script traditions, both technologies represent sophisticated, plant-based solutions to the problem of durable textual transmission. Drawing on classical accounts, archaeological evidence, and recent conservation science, the study examines their respective origins, manufacturing sequences, and scribal practices. Papyrus, dominant in the Mediterranean from circa 3000 BCE to the tenth century CE, enabled the roll format and ink-based cursive writing, while palm-leaf, used in South Asia for over two millennia, fostered an incised, codex-like format bound with cord. Both media became central to religious preservationthe Egyptian Book of the Dead and the Sri Lankan Pali Canon at Aluvihare exemplify this role. The analysis concludes by evaluating contemporary preservation challenges, including climate-induced degradation and insect activity, and highlights digitization efforts by institutions such as the British Library's Endangered Archives Programme. The comparison underscores parallel ingenuity and the continuing relevance of intangible craft knowledge for global heritage conservation.

The main objective of this study is to define and explain the concept of 'Orientalism' (1978) developed and practised by Edward Said, a pioneer postcolonial theorist. According to him, the concept of Orientalism refers to the western views about the Orient or the East. The current study focuses on the 'Introduction to Orientalism' in Said's book 'Orientalism'. The study aims to provide a detailed critical exposition of the 'Introduction to Orientalism'.

This paper explores the development of new primary monastic textbooks by Jamyang Shepa (’jam dbyangs bzhad pa, 1648–1721/22) at Gomang Monastic College in Drepung Monastery from the seventeenth to the early twentieth century. It highlights Gomang College’s method of preserving tradition by transitioning old textbooks to supplementary status as new ones were adopted. Jamyang Shepa’s three-decade effort in composing these textbooks is detailed, with a comparison between the Gomang and Labrang editions. The Gomang edition, engraved in 1804, integrates both early and later works of Jamyang Shepa, facilitated by economic efficiency and reliance on oral tradition. Through the textual comparison of eight chapters from Jamyang Shepa’s Decisive Analysis of (Maitreya’s) Ornaments for Clear Realization across the two editions, it reports that the seventh chapter was lost during the Qing military campaign in Amdo around 1724, rewritten by his disciple Ngawang Tashi (ngag dbang bkra shis, 1678–1738) afterward, and added to the Gomang edition in 1944. It suggests that Gomang College continued to teach the Perfection of Wisdom class without the seventh chapter until 1944 by using other resources related to the topic of the chapter. Furthermore, the paper posits that Jamyang Shepa’s Decisive Analysis of the Interpretable and the Definitive, which borrowed heavily from Gungru Chöjung’s (gung ru chos kyi ’byung gnas, 16th–17th c.) earlier textbook, should not be considered plagiarism. Instead, it should be seen as a hypertext built upon Chöjung’s work, maintaining the unbroken lineage of the Gomang Tradition. This approach underscores the continuity and evolution of monastic education and scholarship at Gomang College.

This paper analyses immortality through the hagiographies of the Tibetan
master lHa btsun Rin chen rNam rgyal (1473-1557). His autobiography with songs (vol. 657/5) recounts the extraordinary bond of Rin chen rNam rgyal with his main master, gTsang smyon Heruka (1452-1507), who continued to teach his heart-son after his death, passing his legacy to him and becoming ‘immortal’ through his teachings, songs, works and relics. Rin chen rNam rgyal’s biography (vol. 657/6) describes instead this master’s funerary rituals, when different kind of relics appeared in the gdung khang and were distributed among people and sacred places to be worn in amulets, placed in temples and shrines, mixed with inks and pigments to be used for statues, paintings or books. In Tibetan culture, amulets—besides protecting people—encapsulate the memory of deceased masters. Equally, ashes and
corporal fluids empower and sanctify statues, paintings and books and, by emboding religious masters and their teachings, make them immortal.

This atlas presents a comprehensive cartographic reconstruction of the historical geography of Kham (Eastern Tibet) circa 1950, immediately prior to the major political, social, and institutional transformations of the second half of the twentieth century. Drawing upon a geospatial database of more than 1,500 Buddhist monasteries, temples, hermitages, and Bonpo religious establishments, it maps monastic distributions, sectarian affiliations, language regions, trade routes, and regional systems across eastern Tibet. Using historical GIS methods, reconstructed monastic population estimates, and terrain-adjusted spatial modeling, the atlas identifies the monastic cities, towns, corridors, and peripheral zones that structured social, economic, and religious life throughout Kham. Designed as an open-access scholarly resource, it serves as a cartographic companion to the Kham Regional Systems Dataset and the broader reconstruction of eastern Tibet's historical regional systems.

Buddhist conceptions of the body are multilayered, encompassing both the transcendent and material dimensions of existence. This study addresses the following research question: how does the concept of the Buddha's body develop from the early twobody model to the ideas of three, four, and five bodies, and how does this multidimensional framework inform the understanding of philosophical and religious practices in Tibetan Buddhism? The analysis begins with the early Buddhist two-body model and traces its transformation into the three-body doctrine as presented in the Ārya trikāya nāma mahā yānasutra ('phags pa sku gsum zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo), preserved in the first section of the Tibetan canon. The study also examines the further expansion of this concept to four and five bodies, as well as Vajrayāna notions such as the "vajra body" (rdo rje'i sku, rdo rje'i lus) and the "rainbow body" ('ja' lus). The research is based on a textual analysis of Mahāyāna sūtras (mdo) and Tibetan terma texts (gter ma), including a classification of key Buddhist concepts and a translation of the primary source from Tibetan. In this way, the multilayered approach to the Buddha's body exerts a significant influence on the interpretation of Tibetan philosophical and religious practices, emphasising both their theoretical complexity and the ritualistic and mystical multidimensionality of Buddhist practice.

Nineteenth century was one of the most important periods in the history of Ladakh. It was the period when centuries old political status of Ladakh was transformed with the region losing its independence and becoming a part of the Dogra state of Jammu and Kashmir.Following this period of political transition, ‘Ladakh wazarat’ emerged as one of the most important peripheral districts of the Dogra empire, which now came to acquire commercial and strategic importance as well. This period of changed political undercurrents in Ladakh was also concomitant with the emergence of another external influence in the form of colonial intervention. The colonial policy of expansion in the western Himalayas coalesced with the rise of the Dogras as their ally. And the greatest fallout of the British-Dogra alliance was the foundation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir with treaty of Amritsar in 1846. Taking leverage of this alliance, there was a progression in colonial interference in the affairs of the Dogra state, a phenomenon which is commonly witnessed in the princely states, and has been a theme widely studied by the scholars.
Through this essay, I have attempted to study the nuances of colonial intervention in the ‘Ladakh wazarat’, as part of the Dogra empire. Such epochal state of transition and intervention, endangered new conditions and circumstances which needs deliberations to understand socio-political mechanisms adopted by the external forces in establishing their control and influence in the peripheral ‘wazarat’ of Jammu and Kashmir. The administrative and political contingencies that were created in Ladakh under such conditions forms the theme of this paper, based on which this study investigates the stages of confrontations and conformity that took place between the Dogras and the British authorities, while administrating and controlling Ladakh.

Nineteenth century was one of the most important periods in the history of Ladakh. It was the period when centuries old political status of Ladakh was transformed with the region losing its independence and becoming a part of the Dogra state of Jammu and Kashmir.Following this period of political transition, ‘Ladakh wazarat’ emerged as one of the most important peripheral districts of the Dogra empire, which now came to acquire commercial and strategic importance as well. This period of changed political undercurrents in Ladakh was also concomitant with the emergence of another external influence in the form of colonial intervention. The colonial policy of expansion in the western Himalayas coalesced with the rise of the Dogras as their ally. And the greatest fallout of the British-Dogra alliance was the foundation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir with treaty of Amritsar in 1846. Taking leverage of this alliance, there was a progression in colonial interference in the affairs of the Dogra state, a phenomenon which is commonly witnessed in the princely states, and has been a theme widely studied by the scholars.
Through this essay, I have attempted to study the nuances of colonial intervention in the ‘Ladakh wazarat’, as part of the Dogra empire. Such epochal state of transition and intervention, endangered new conditions and circumstances which needs deliberations to understand socio-political mechanisms adopted by the external forces in establishing their control and influence in the peripheral ‘wazarat’ of Jammu and Kashmir. The administrative and political contingencies that were created in Ladakh under such conditions forms the theme of this paper, based on which this study investigates the stages of confrontations and conformity that took place between the Dogras and the British authorities, while administrating and controlling Ladakh.

The nineteenth century was one of the most important periods in the history of Ladakh. It was the period when centuries old political status of Ladakh was transformed with the region losing its independence and becoming a part of the Dogra state of Jammu and Kashmir. Following this period of political transition, 'Ladakh wazarat' emerged as one of the most important peripheral districts of the Dogra empire, which now came to acquire an enhanced commercial and strategic importance as well. This period of changed political undercurrents in Ladakh was also concomitant with the emergence of another external influence in the form of colonial intervention. The colonial policy of expansion in the western Himalayas coalesced with the rise of the Dogras as their ally. And the greatest fallout of the British-Dogra alliance was the foundation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir with the treaty of Amritsar in 1846. Taking leverage of this alliance, there was a progression in colonial interference in the affairs of the Dogra state, a phenomenon which is commonly witnessed in the princely states, and has been a theme widely studied by the scholars. Through this essay, I have attempted to study the nuances of colonial intervention in the 'Ladakh wazarat', as part of the Dogra empire. Such epochal state of transition and intervention, endangered new conditions and circumstances which need deliberations to understand socio-political mechanisms adopted by the external forces in establishing their control and influence in the peripheral 'wazarat' of Jammu and Kashmir. The administrative and political contingencies that were created in Ladakh under such conditions forms the theme of this paper, based on which this study investigates the stages of confrontations and conformity that took place between the Dogras and the British authorities, while administrating and controlling Ladakh.

The nineteenth century was one of the most important periods in the history of Ladakh. It was the period when centuries old political status of Ladakh was transformed with the region losing its independence and becoming a part of the Dogra state of Jammu and Kashmir. Following this period of political transition, 'Ladakh wazarat' emerged as one of the most important peripheral districts of the Dogra empire, which now came to acquire an enhanced commercial and strategic importance as well. This period of changed political undercurrents in Ladakh was also concomitant with the emergence of another external influence in the form of colonial intervention. The colonial policy of expansion in the western Himalayas coalesced with the rise of the Dogras as their ally. And the greatest fallout of the British-Dogra alliance was the foundation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir with the treaty of Amritsar in 1846. Taking leverage of this alliance, there was a progression in colonial interference in the affairs of the Dogra state, a phenomenon which is commonly witnessed in the princely states, and has been a theme widely studied by the scholars. Through this essay, I have attempted to study the nuances of colonial intervention in the 'Ladakh wazarat', as part of the Dogra empire. Such epochal state of transition and intervention, endangered new conditions and circumstances which need deliberations to understand socio-political mechanisms adopted by the external forces in establishing their control and influence in the peripheral 'wazarat' of Jammu and Kashmir. The administrative and political contingencies that were created in Ladakh under such conditions forms the theme of this paper, based on which this study investigates the stages of confrontations and conformity that took place between the Dogras and the British authorities, while administrating and controlling Ladakh.

A tibeti narratív hagyomány filozófiai alapjai
A tibeti buddhista kultúra narratív hagyománya a világ egyik legösszetettebb és legintenzívebb szóbeli átörökítési rendszerének tekinthető. A tanmesék – kolostori példázatok, népi anekdoták és indiai eredetű tanító történetek tibeti adaptációi – nem önálló irodalmi alkotásokként születtek, hanem pedagógiai eszközként a tudat formálására. A történetek a hallgató számára egyszerre kínálnak erkölcsi, kognitív és gyakorlati reflexiót, a mester szava révén válva élő tapasztalattá. (...)

A jelen kiadvány célja nem a történetek kanonikus hűségének dokumentálása; a hangsúly a példázatok filozófiai és kulturális jelentésrétegeinek feltárásán van, valamint a hallgató saját reflexióinak ösztönzésén. Minden történethez értelmező jegyzet kapcsolódik, amelyekben a narratív szerkezet, a történeti háttér és a filozófiai tanulságok integrált elemzése olvasható...

In this article, the date of Rigdzin Gödem's death (1408/1409) is questioned. The confusion stems from ambiguity in Nyima Zangpo's biography of Gödem. Based on another 15th-century document not previously cited by scholars, the authors of this article attempted to establish that Gödem probably died in either 1401 or 1402.

In all cultures it has entered, Buddhism has coexisted with other religions and cosmological systems. The Buddha also did not exclude practices of deities not directly linked to his teachings. Buddhism is therefore not an exclusivist religion and has the capacity of being accretive, parallel, and syncretic at the same time and to varying degrees depending on context and locality. This talk illustrates how such processes work in practice in East Tibet, a place of high importance of mountain and ancestor deities that can epitomise local environmental cosmologies. Like Buddhism, these cosmologies explain people’s origins and the questions of life and death and wellbeing and misery. Unlike Buddhism, they are not soteriological; hence, they do not postulate a path to or the need for salvation. Rather, they focus on actual life and mundane benefits and are preoccupied with vitality, various forces of life and good fortune, ancestry, and land. The case study comes from the historical region of Golok (present southern Qinghai Province) and is based on historical sources, recent textual sources, and recent ethnography.

In the context of the actual search for the philosophical aspect of
Buddhist tantric teachings, we considered to study tantra as a text to
change the hermeneutic approach of the text interpretation to a
deconstructive one. While we relied on a comparative translation of
Tibetan and Sanskrit primary sources. The validity of such a
deconstructive strategy is built on the recommendations of the
traditional Buddhist tantra exegesis, which clearly demonstrates the
transformation of sutra hermeneutics like the neyārtha-nītārtha method
into the rather complex system of deconceptualization of the tantric
narrative itself – that, in our opinion, indicates the deconstructive turn
taken place within the traditional Buddhist exegesis in due time. The
evidence for the existence of such a turn is not only the specific
language of tantric teachings (sandhyābhāṣa), but also the level of
metadiscourse to which the tantric text reaches, going beyond the discourse of the sutras in the means of expressions. Thus, becoming the
interpretive strategy of the comparative translation, the deconstruction
of tantric texts can demonstrate not only the philosophical aspect of
Buddhist tantra, but how Buddhist philosophy uses deconstruction as
the traditional epistemic tool.

According to what has become the standard narrative, the Sherpa people were a distinct group from far eastern Tibet that migrated together to western Tibet, perhaps in the 15th century. Then, in around 1533, they were pushed out of Tibet by Turkic invaders, settling in the Solu-Khumbu region of Nepal. The present article challenges this account, arguing that there was no such group migration.  Sherpa origins were more diffuse, their constitution as a distinct group emerging not in Tibet, but in Solu-Khumbu itself.

This paper attempts to describe Buddhism from what has been learnt in the different religions in different sessions. It presents an introduction to the Buddhist spiritual head, major departments under Kashag and institutional departments of the Buddhist government in exile in India. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the head of state and the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. On 10 December, 1989, His Holiness was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Furthermore, it will discuss the spread of Buddhism and the diverse sects that developed in South and East Asia, including some of their core beliefs and practices. The discourse will then jump to Buddhism present in the Western world, specifically in the United States. The Kashag (Cabinet) is the apex executive organ of the Central Tibetan Administration, and its members are ministers of the CTA. The Charter of the Tibetans in Exile stipulates that the Kashag should have a maximum of eight members.

This chapter is part of a monograph dedicated to René Nebesky(-Wojkowitz), a native of Czechoslovakia who later became an Austrian citizen, whose work continues to resonate in Tibetan studies to this day. It focuses on the still enigmatic Tibetan "war deities" (dgra lha/bla), whose cult remains alive throughout Tibet to this day. René Nebesky devoted a chapter to them in his still widely cited book "Oracles and Demons of Tibet". However, in that work he drew upon numerous Tibetan manuscripts from Buddhist sects. Given that the cult of the 'war deities' conflicts with the central tenets of Buddhism, this chapter examines textual traditions that lie either outside the direct influence of Buddhism or on its periphery. It begins with isolated references found in the divination texts from Dunhuang, where their name is consistently written as 'dgra bla'. Given the high status of beings whose names include the syllable 'bla' in ancient Tibet, it is likely that they were regarded, alongside the 'sku bla' beings, as highly significant entities generally associated with enmity and war, hence the working translation 'supreme enmity'. In the second part, the chapter focuses on manuals of rope divination (juthig), in which they are again consistently written as 'dgra bla', but a number of other beings of a similar nature suddenly appear, called werma, shugön, and cangseng. Their central role in divination is reflected today in the classifications of divination methods within the Bön tradition, which in some references considers them the principal deities of divination. In its final section, the chapter focuses on a number of texts from the lay ritual tradition of northeastern Tibet known as "le'u." The cult of "war deities" is abundantly represented therein. However, it has already been shown in the texts of rope divination that these gradually merge with the cult of other, "fierce spirits" known as gnyan. In the leu tradition, a ritual called "bya rdang" (bird perches), dedicated to war deities, was often performed. In this particular locality, however, birds are the primary representatives of the gnyan spirits. A ritual text dedicated to "artemisia birds," which were individual offerings to the gnyan spirits, reveals this merging quite clearly. Other beings called shugön are domestic animals sacrificed to the gnyan spirits, which then serve as intermediaries between them and humans (bshug ma).