Adaptive Capacity among Himalayan Agro-Foresters: The Hyolmo of Nepal Tor Halfdan Aase The paper is about a Tibetan-speaking people in Nepal, the Hyolmo, and their capacity to adapt to climate change. The Hyolmo practice an Agro-Forestry type of farming where forest and fields are interconnected through livestock. Hyolmo practice a pure organic agriculture and cultivation is dependent upon manure which is produced by boffalos and goats. Foliage collected from forest (lopping) is a vital animal fodder, thus being a constituent part of the farming system. Hyolmo villages are situated on mountain ridges and used to be marginal and rather poor in comparison with Hindu communities in the valley floors. Buddhist Hyolmo’s have used to barter barley and potatoes for rice through symbolic kinship ties (mithe) with Hindus in the valley bottom. Since Hyolmo communities have recently been connected to road networks, their terms of trade vis-à- vis Hindus have improved threefold. Today, the Hyolmo emerge a dynamic and enterprising community with innovative farming in the villages, and businesses in Kathmandu. They have been able to exploit external changes to their own benefit through an enterprising mind-set and a high degree of social cohesion. The question is if they can keep on making progress during projected future climate change. On the one hand, they can most probably benefit from longer growing seasons; but on the other hand, they may face water scarcity. Farming is also hampered by a cultural trait. The establishment of Langtang National Park on their doorstep has caused a substantial increase of wild animals, which are presently the main obstacle to productivity in agriculture. Being pious Buddhists, Hyolmo’s are not allowed to kill predators which are presently proliferating, especially wild boar and deer. Another threat is inherent in climate policy. If the UN administered Reduced Emission from Decreased Deforestation (REDD+) implies that utilization of forest resources becomes more restricted, the present agro-forestry farming system is put under severe pressure. Today, even human ‘night soil’ is applied to fields, which is quite unique on the southern slopes of the Himalayas. The paper will look into Hyolmo’s adaptive capacity in general and in relation to climate change in particular. The IATS seminar is a welcome opportunity for me to receive comments from scholars who have intimate knowledge of farming practices in Tibet proper. The deep prehistory of the Mustang-Kali Gandaki corridor Mark S. Aldenderfer Although the trade route up the Kali Gandaki valley in Mustang is well known from the historical record, its deep prehistory is, in contrast, poorly understood. Archaeological research conducted over the past two decades offers clear evidence of the movement of people and goods along the route from the Indian subcontinent to the Tibetan plateau that begins at least as early as 2500 years ago. By 1500 years ago, the route appears to have become a spur or secondary path to the Silk Road, thus connecting the subcontinent to both the west and east. The evidence for these claims and their significance is discussed in depth in this presentation. The East TiBetan Manuscript Editions of the rNying ma rgyud ʼBum: Independent Line(s) of Transmission? Orna Almogi Historical sources report on various rNying ma rgyud ʼbum edition that were produced in East Tibet. However, until recently only the Derge xylographic edition was accessible, but, as is well known, this edition reflects a Central Tibetan line of transmission rather than an Eastern Tibetan one. Recently, new material started to surface from East Tibet, e.g., the 39-volumes edition from gZhu chen dgon, Kardze. During a visit to Chengdu in the fall of 2013, I have been able to obtain digital images of (another?) edition consisting of 34 volumes, which reportedly stems from the same area. A preliminary assessment of the images suggests that this edition is unique in terms of its organisation and content. Moreover, the set includes texts found in both the Tibetan-Nepalese Borderlands and Central Bhutanese groups, along with texts that are only found in the Central Bhutanese group. However, its organisation does not resemble any of these groups, and its relation to them is yet to be determined. In my talk, I shall attempt to give a general overview of the compilatory activities in East Tibet regarding the rNying ma rgyud ʼbum on the basis of historical sources and the manuscript edition(s) that have surfaced recently, and address the question of whether there had been an independent Eastern Tibetan line of transmission of the collection. Possible futures for traditional architecture and conservation in Bhutan? Ingun Bruskeland Amundsen The changes that took place in Bhutan until the 1960s can best be described as adjustments; slow processes of transition within the framework of the traditional society. Today the rate of change has speeded up extensively, and this represents a potential threat of deformation to the historical buildings, the sacred landscapes and the sense of place. More than ever, people in Bhutan are exposed to the world at large, and these influences may prove to be more powerful than the cultural momentum from within. How to promote the inner cultural dynamics which permit traditional architecture and settlements to evolve in the future too? The core goals of Gross National Happiness are to integrate equitable economic development with environmental and cultural conservation. Today´s focus on sustainable development is an important argument in favour of traditional architecture and heritage buildings. Sustainable, green design has a lot to learn from principles of traditional building. These buildings are commonly composed of a few natural materials with little embodied energy, small ecological footprints and limited health hazards. How to support traditional skills and methods? How may traditional architecture be adapted to new needs and requirements? Conservation of cultural heritage is being addressed in Bhutan and a Heritage Sites Bill has been forwarded to the parliament. However, conservation in a culture like the Bhutanese raises important questions, some of which are highly relevant to international discourses on concepts of authenticity and established charters for conservation. This paper will discuss how preservation of the past may avoid becoming an antithesis of progress in Bhutan. Negotiating TiBetan National Identity in the Face of Chinese Colonisation and Displacement Dibyesh Anand Tibetan stateless but national identity today is a product of negotiations between different dynamics including the colonisation of Tibetan homeland by China, creation of a diaspora after displacement of more than hundred thousand Tibetans, and transnational solidarity movement. How do these dynamics engender and shape Tibetan nationalism? Why has there been a reluctance to categorise and name Chinese control over Tibet as a colonisation? Has the West and India's focus on cultural and religious rights and reluctance to see Tibetans as a people deserving right to self-determination been a factor in limiting Tibetan nationalism and refusal to name colonisation as such? Is the Dalai Lama's focus on Middle Way a pragmatic response and making virtue out of necessity? These are some of the questions that would be covered in the paper. Outside Lhasa Looking In: Painted images of the city from the 18–20th centuries Brid Arthur Tibet’s pilgrimage and holy sites formed a popular subject for traditional paintings, particularly in the 19th and early 20th century, likely for use and collection by Tibetan pilgrims and Tibetan Buddhist devotees. However, there is some evidence that such paintings were also of great interest and use to outsiders, collectors, statesmen and scholars who were neither Tibetan nor Buddhist. Who were these outsider collectors and what drew them to these paintings? What sort of meaning(s) did such images hold for people outside of the Tibetan sphere? Images of Lhasa, by far the most prevalent variety in this genre, seem to have been of particular import and enthusiastically collected by scholars, collectors and specialists from many countries and many ethnicities as early as the 18th century and continuing into the 19th century. This paper examines several specific instances in which traditional images of Lhasa were not only collected but were actively utilized by outsiders, including Russians, Americans, and others, to create, explore and promote specific views and understandings of Tibet’s capital city. Unravelling the history and use of these images allows for a new way to investigate the question of how Lhasa, and thus Tibet, was seen and understood outside its borders over a century ago. The Dzungar Invasion of TiBet According to the AutoBiography of Lelung Zhepe Dorje Cameron Bailey The 1717-1720 Dzungar Mongol invasion and occupation of central Tibet was one of the most turbulent and important periods for Tibetan, Mongolian, and Qing relations in the eighteenth century. Before the occupation was broken by a combination of Tibetan resistance forces aided by Qing armies, the Dzungars had caused significant damage to central Tibet. In particular, they targeted Nyingma institutions for destruction and Nyingma lamas for execution, perhaps most notably the centrally important Nyingma monastery of Mindroling. At the front lines of the conflict, both physically and metaphysically speaking, was the Geluk-Nyingma Tulku, and student of Mindroling, the Fifth Lelung, Zhepe Dorje (1697-1740). This paper will examine parts of Lelung's report of the invasion in his autobiography, written a few years after the Dzungar occupation ended. In particular I will examine passages discussing Lelung's visit to a Dzungar encampment, and his meeting of the Qoshot Mongol king of Tibet, Lajang Khan (d. 1717) just before he was overthrown and killed by Dzungar forces. I will also examine some of the metaphysical ramifications the invasion had on Lelung's spiritual life, including dreams and portents he experienced during the troubled period, and his effort to repel the invading armies through the propitiation of various protector deities.