The Spiti Valley Recovering the Past & Exploring the Present OXFORD
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Border Trade: Reopening the Tibet Border Claude Arpi the First Part of This Paper Concluded with This Question: Can the Borders
Border Trade: Reopening the Tibet Border Claude Arpi The first part of this paper concluded with this question: can the borders be softened again? Can the age-old relation between the Tibetans and the Himalayans be revived? The process has started, though it is slow. This paper will look at the gains acquired from the reopening of the three land ports, but also at the difficulties to return to the booming trade which existed between Tibet and India before the invasion of Tibet in 1950 and to a certain extent till the Indo-China war of 1962. It will also examine the possibility to reopen more land ports in the future, mainly in Ladakh (Demchok) and Arunachal Pradesh. Tibet’s Economic Figures for 2012 According to a Chinese official website, the Tibetan Autonomous Region is economically doing extremely well. Here are some ‘official’ figures: • Tibet's GDP reached 11.3 billion US $ in 2012, an increase of 12 % compared to the previous year (Tibet's GDP was 9.75 billion US $ in 2011 and 8.75 billion US $ in 2010). • Tibet's economy has maintained double-digit growth for 20 consecutive years. • Fixed asset investment have increased by 20.1 % • The tax revenues reached 2.26 billion US $ (fiscal revenue grew by 46%) • And Tibet received over 11 million domestic and foreign tourists earning 2.13 billion US $ Tibet’s Foreign Trade Figures for 2012 The foreign trade is doing particularly well. On January 23, 2013, Xinhua announced that Tibet has registered new records in foreign trade. A Chinese government agency reported that the foreign trade of the Tibetan Autonomous Region reached more than 3 billion U.S. -
Vocabulary of Shingnyag Tibetan: a Dialect of Amdo Tibetan Spoken in Lhagang, Khams Minyag
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Prometheus-Academic Collections Asian and African Languages and Linguistics No.11, 2017 Vocabulary of Shingnyag Tibetan: A Dialect of Amdo Tibetan Spoken in Lhagang, Khams Minyag Suzuki, Hiroyuki IKOS, Universitetet i Oslo / National Museum of Ethnology Sonam Wangmo IKOS, Universitetet i Oslo Lhagang Town, located in Kangding Municipality, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China, is inhabited by many Tibetan pastoralists speaking varieties which are similar to Amdo Tibetan even though it is located at the Minyag Rabgang region of Khams, based on the Tibetan traditional geography. Among the multiple varieties spoken by inhabitants living in Lhagang Town, the Shingyag dialect is spoken in the south-western part of the town. It is somewhat different from other Amdo varieties spoken in Lhagang Town in the phonetic and phonological aspects. This article provides a word list with ca. 1500 words of Shingnyag Tibetan. Keywords: Amdo Tibetan, Minyag Rabgang, dialectology, migration pattern 1. Introduction 2. Phonological overview of Shingnyag Tibetan 3. Principal phonological features of Shingnyag Tibetan 1. Introduction This article aims to provide a word list (including ca. 1500 entries) with a phonological sketch of Shingnyag Tibetan, spoken in Xiya [Shing-nyag]1 Hamlet, located in the south-western part of Tagong [lHa-sgang] Town (henceforth Lhagang Town), Kangding [Dar-mdo] Municipality, Ganzi [dKar-mdzes] Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China (see Figure 1). Lhagang Town is in the easternmost part of Khams based on the traditional Tibetan geography, however, it is inhabited by many Tibetans whose mother tongue is Amdo Tibetan.2 Referring to Qu and Jin (1981), we can see that it is already known that Amdo-speaking Tibetans live in Suzuki, Hiroyuki and Sonam Wangmo. -
Pilgrimage to Drakar Dreldzong
Pilgrimage to Drakar Dreldzong The Written Tradition and Contemporary Practices among Amdo Tibetans ,#-7--a};-1 Zhuoma ( |) Thesis Submitted for the Degree of M. Phil in Tibetan Studies Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages University of Oslo Spring 2008 1 Summary This thesis focuses on pilgrimage (gnas skor) to Drakar Dreldzong, a Buddhist holy mountain (gnas ri) in a remote area of Amdo, Tibet, in the present day Qinghai Province in the western part of China. The mountain had long been a solitude hermitage and still is a popular pilgrimage site for Tibetan lamas and nearby laymen. Pilgrimage to holy mountains was, and still is, significant for the religious, cultural and literary life of Tibet, and even for today’s economic climate in Tibet. This thesis presents the traditional perceptions of the site reflected both in written texts, namely pilgrimage guides (gnas bshad), and in the contemporary practices of pilgrimage to Drakar Dreldzong. It specifically talks about an early pilgrimage guide (Guide A) written by a tantric practitioner in the early 17th century, and newly developed guides (Guides B, C and D), based on the 17th century one, edited and composed by contemporary Tibetan lay intellectuals and monks from Dreldzong Monastery. This monastery, which follows the Gelukba tradition, was established in 1923 at the foot of the mountain. The section about the early guide mainly introduces the historical framework of pilgrimage guides and provides an impression of the situation of the mountain in from the 17th to the 21st century. In particular, it translates the text and gives comments and analysis on the content. -
SEEK a SNOW LEOPARD; SPITI, HIMACHAL PRADESH Feb 9- 21, 2014 12 Nights 13 Days
SEEK A SNOW LEOPARD; SPITI, HIMACHAL PRADESH Feb 9- 21, 2014 12 nights 13 days Photo from thewildlifeofindia.com Known throughout the world for its beautiful fur and shy, elusive behavior, the endangered snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is found in the rugged mountains of Central Asia. Snow leopards are perfectly adapted to the cold, barren landscape of their high-altitude home, but human threats have created an uncertain future for the cats. Despite a range of over 2 million km2, there are only between 4,000 and 6,500 snow leopards left in the wild. On this trip we search for a snow leopard in the highlands of Spiti valley. Rudyard Kipling describes Spiti in "Kim" in these words: "At last they entered a world within a world - a valley of leagues where the high hills were fashioned of the mere rubble and refuse from off the knees of the mountains... Surely the Gods live here. The valleys of Kullu and Lahaul bound Spiti, locally pronounced “Piti”, on its south and west; the region of Ladakh lies to the north and the Kalpa valley lies to the southeast. Geologically and archaeologically, Spiti is a living museum. The mountains are devoid of any vegetation and erosion by wind, sun and snow over thousands of years has laid bare the rocks. The rugged and rocky mountain slopes sweep down to the riverbeds giving the landscape a moon-like appearance. From Chandigarh, we go via Shimla and Rampur to Kaza- headquarters of Spiti. From here we head out to Kibber, and then into the back-of-the beyond wilder parts of the Spitian Himalayas where we track Snow Leopards. -
VEIL of KASHMIR Poetry of Travel and Travail in Zhangzhungpa’S 15Th-Century Kāvya Reworking of the Biography of the Great Translator Rinchen Zangpo (958- 1055 CE)
VEIL OF KASHMIR Poetry of Travel and Travail in Zhangzhungpa’s 15th-Century Kāvya Reworking of the Biography of the Great Translator Rinchen Zangpo (958- 1055 CE) by Dan Martin n November of 1987, I visited Samten G. Karmay at his office, then on Rue du Président Wilson in Paris. With over twenty I years’ distance, and indeed that many years older, it is difficult to recall exactly what words were spoken during that meeting. As you get older you tend to look back on your past and identify particular turning points, discerning paths both taken and not taken. You are forced to become a historian of your own life. Suspended as I was in a veritable bardo between the incipient stages of that dreaded academic disease known as dissertationitis at a North American university and my second and longest sojourn in South Asia, I do not believe I was aware at the time just how important this meeting would be for setting me steadily on a course of research into 11th- and 12th-century Tibetan history, and especially the history of the Bon religion. In a word, it was inspirational. In 1996, the last week of June, I attended a conference in the Spiti valley, quite near the border with Tibet, in Himachal Pradesh. It was a very long and tiring but eventful three-day bus trip from Delhi via Simla and Kinnaur. This conference was intended as a millennial cele- bration for Tabo Monastery’s founding by Rinchen Zangpo in 996 CE. So needless to say, many of the papers were devoted to the Great Translator. -
Review of Evidential Systems of Tibetan Languages
Zurich Open Repository and Archive University of Zurich Main Library Strickhofstrasse 39 CH-8057 Zurich www.zora.uzh.ch Year: 2017 Review of Lauren Gawne Nathan W. Hill (eds.). 2016. Evidential systems of Tibetan languages. Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 40(2), 285–303 Widmer, Manuel DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/ltba.00002.wid Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-168681 Journal Article Accepted Version Originally published at: Widmer, Manuel (2017). Review of Lauren Gawne Nathan W. Hill (eds.). 2016. Evidential systems of Tibetan languages. Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 40(2), 285–303. Linguistics of the Tibeto- Burman Area, 40(2):285-303. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/ltba.00002.wid Review of Evidential systems of Tibetan languages Gawne, Lauren & Nathan W. Hill (eds.). 2016. Evidential systems of Tibetan languages. de Gruyter: Berlin. vi + 472 pp. ISBN 978-3-11-047374-2 Reviewed by Manuel Widmer 1 Tibetan evidentiality systems and their relevance for the typology of evidentiality The evidentiality1 systems of Tibetan languages rank among the most complex in the world. According to Tournadre & Dorje (2003: 110), the evidentiality systeM of Lhasa Tibetan (LT) distinguishes no less than four “evidential Moods”: (i) egophoric, (ii) testiMonial, (iii) inferential, and (iv) assertive. If one also takes into account the hearsay Marker, which is cOMMonly considered as an evidential category in typological survey studies (e.g. Aikhenvald 2004; Hengeveld & Dall’Aglio Hattnher 2015; inter alia), LT displays a five-fold evidential distinction. The LT systeM, however, is clearly not the Most cOMplex of its kind within the Tibetan linguistic area. -
Researching and Documenting Early Buddhist Architecture in Spiti
Measure for Measure: Researching and Documenting Early Buddhist Architecture in Spiti Carmen Elisabeth Auer (Graz University of Technology) Introduction he architectural research presented in this article offers T insights for other scientific disciplines such as Art History and Buddhist Studies. Since literary descriptions and visual documentation are often rare, the buildings themselves remain the most reliable sources of information. Edifices dating to the early stage of Buddhist architecture are, however, increasingly exposed to alterations, or, in the worst case, are under threat from factors such as tourism, social changes, improper restoration work, natural disasters, and climate change. Due to these pressing forces, the architectural study of sacred buildings must take place in situ during extensive fieldwork. Once in the field, it is crucial to collect sufficient empirical data about different types of buildings. Developing a typology of Buddhist monuments requires taking into account the greatest number of examples, using the most accurate measuring methods and techniques. Ultimately, an exhaustive documentation allows an analysis of these edifices as well as their evolution over time. For the last 15 years, Holger Neuwirth has conducted several research projects on the Buddhist Architecture of the Western Himalayas with different teams from the Graz University of Technology, thanks to the financial support of the Austrian Science Fund. These projects focused on edifices belonging to the Kingdom of Purang-Guge, which once extended over much of West Tibet, Ladakh, and parts of today’s Himachal Pradesh, between the tenth and seventeenth centuries. The number of buildings that have so far been documented exceeds fifty-seven at eighteen different locations. -
A Guide to the Syuba (Kagate) Language Documentation Corpus
Vol. 12 (2018), pp. 204–234 http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/ldc http://hdl.handle.net/10125/24768 Revised Version Received: 17 Jan 2018 A Guide to the Syuba (Kagate) Language Documentation Corpus Lauren Gawne SOAS University of London La Trobe University This article provides an overview of the collection “Kagate (Syuba)”, archived with both the Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC) and the Endangered Language Archive (ELAR). It pro- vides an overview of the materials that have been archived, as well as details of the workflow, conventions used, and structure of the collection. It also provides context for the content of the collection, including an overview of the language context, and some of the motivations behind the documentation project. This article thus provides an entry point to the collection. The future plans for the collection – from the perspectives of both the researcher and Syuba speakers – are also outlined, but with the overwhelming majority of items in the collection available to others, it is hoped that this article will encourage use of the materials by other researchers. 1. Introduction Language documentation involves the development of corpora of materials from which descriptions of grammar and language use can be developed, alongside other uses of the materials by both speakers of the language and researchers. Himmelmann (1998) argues that language documentation and description are two distinct, but interrelated, activities. In reality, the majority of basic linguistic descrip- tion based on primary data is undertaken by the same person who collected the data. Very little of this descriptive work makes clear the nature of the data on which it is built; in a survey of 50 published grammars and 50 PhD dissertations, Gawne et al. -
The Tibetan Translation of the Indian Buddhist Epistemological Corpus
187 The Tibetan Translation of the Indian Buddhist Epistemological Corpus Pascale Hugon* As Buddhism was transmitted to Tibet, a huge number of texts were translated from Sanskrit, Chinese and other Asian languages into Tibetan. Epistemological treatises composed by In dian Buddhist scholars – works focusing on the nature of »valid cognition« and exploring peripheral issues of philosophy of mind, logic, and language – were, from the very beginning, part of the translated corpus, and had a profound impact on Tibetan intellectual history. This paper looks into the progression of the translation of such works in the two phases of the diffusion of Buddhism to Tibet – the early phase in the seventh to the ninth centuries and the later phase starting in the late tenth century – on the basis of lists of translated works in various catalogues compiled in these two phases and the contents of the section »epistemo logy« of canonical collections (Tenjur). The paper inquires into the prerogatives that directed the choice of works that were translated, the broader or narrower diffusion of existing trans lations, and also highlights preferences regarding which works were studied in particular contexts. I consider in particular the contribution of the famous »Great translator«, Ngok Loden Shérap (rngog blo ldan shes rab, 10591109), who was also a pioneer exegete, and discuss some of the practicalities and methodology in the translation process, touching on the question of terminology and translation style. The paper also reflects on the status of translated works as authentic sources by proxy, and correlatively, on the impact of mistaken translations and the strategies developed to avoid them. -
High Altitude Survival
High altitude survival Conflicts between pastoralism andwildlif e in the Trans-Himalaya Charudutt Mishra CENTRALE LANDBOUWCATALOGUS 0000 0873 6775 Promotor Prof.Dr .H .H .T .Prin s Hoogleraar inhe tNatuurbehee r ind eTrope n enEcologi eva n Vertebraten Co-promotor : Dr.S .E .Va nWiere n Universitair Docent, Leerstoelgroep Natuurbeheer in de Tropen enEcologi eva nVertebrate n Promotie Prof.Dr .Ir .A .J .Va n DerZijp p commissie Wageningen Universiteit Prof.Dr .J .H . Koeman Wageningen Universiteit Prof.Dr . J.P .Bakke r Rijksuniversiteit Groningen Prof.Dr .A .K .Skidmor e International Institute forAerospac e Survey and Earth Sciences, Enschede High altitude survival: conflicts between pastoralism and wildlife inth e Trans-Himalaya Charudutt Mishra Proefschrift ter verkrijging van degraa d van doctor opgeza g van derecto r magnificus van Wageningen Universiteit prof. dr. ir. L. Speelman, inhe t openbaar te verdedigen opvrijda g 14decembe r200 1 des namiddags te 13:30uu r in deAul a -\ •> Mishra, C. High altitude survival:conflict s between pastoralism andwildlif e inth e Trans-Himalaya Wageningen University, The Netherlands. Doctoral Thesis (2001); ISBN 90-5808-542-2 A^ofZC , "SMO Propositions 1. Classical nature conservation measures will not suffice, because the new and additional measures that have to be taken must be especially designed for those areas where people live and use resources (Herbert Prins, The Malawi principles: clarification of thoughts that underlaythe ecosystem approach). 2. The ability tomak e informed decisions on conservation policy remains handicapped due to poor understanding of the way people use natural resources, and the impacts of such resource use onwildlif e (This thesis). -
Himachal Pradesh in the Indian Himalaya
Mountain Livelihoods in Transition: Constraints and Opportunities in Kinnaur, Western Himalaya By Aghaghia Rahimzadeh A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science, Policy and Management in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Louise P. Fortmann, Chair Professor Nancy Lee Peluso Professor Isha Ray Professor Carolyn Finney Spring 2016 Mountain Livelihoods in Transition: Constraints and Opportunities in Kinnaur, Western Himalaya Copyright © 2016 By Aghaghia Rahimzadeh Abstract Mountain Livelihoods in Transition: Constraints and Opportunities in Kinnaur, Western Himalaya by Aghaghia Rahimzadeh Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science, Policy and Management University of California, Berkeley Professor Louise P. Fortmann, Chair This dissertation investigates the transformation of the district of Kinnaur in the state of Himachal Pradesh in the Indian Himalaya. I examine Kinnauri adaptation to political, economic, environmental, and social events of the last seven decades, including state intervention, market integration, and climate change. Broadly, I examine drivers of change in Kinnaur, and the implications of these changes on social, cultural, political, and environmental dynamics of the district. Based on findings from 11 months of ethnographic field work, I argue that Kinnaur’s transformation and current economic prosperity have been chiefly induced by outside forces, creating a temporary landscape of opportunity. State-led interventions including land reform and a push to supplement subsistence agriculture with commercial horticulture initiated a significant agrarian transition beginning with India’s Independence. I provide detailed examination of the Nautor Land Rules of 1968 and the 1972 Himachel Pradesh Ceiling of Land Holding Act, and their repercussion on land allocation to landless Kinnauris. -
Adventure Leisure Happiness LEH LADAKH VIA NH 3;THE GRAND TOUR
LEH LADAKH THE GRAND TOUR ₹ 34800 Per person 10 NIGHTS 11 DAYS 21st July 2021 to 31st July 2021 Adventure Leisure Happiness LEH LADAKH VIA NH 3;THE GRAND TOUR PLACES COVERED Manali This 11 Days Trip to Ladakh is designed to cover the all the Rohtang beautiful places of Ladakh with mesmerizing journey via the Jispa Manali – Leh Highway. We have Zingzingbar been consistently doing group tours to Ladakh since last 6 Surajtaal years, in this journey we have main focus on factors like Sarchu quality, comfort, acclimatization, exposure to all the best places, Tanglangla budget friendly and suitable for every type of traveler. Leh-Ladakh Zanskar Khardungla Nubra Valley Hunder Diskit Changla Pangong Lake Spangmik ITINERARY Overview Day 1 _ Mumbai to Delhi Flight, Delhi to Manali Day 2 _ Manali Arrival, Hadimba Sightseeing Day 3 _ Manali to Jispa, Spiti via Rohtang Pass Day 4 _ Jispa to Leh, Via Manali Leh Highway Day 5 _ Leh Sightseeing, Zanskar Valley Excursion Day 6 _ Leh to Pangong Lake, via Changla Pass Day 7 _ Pangong Lake to Leh, via Shey Day 8 _ Leh to Nubra Valley, via Khardungla Pass Day 9 _ Nubra Valley to Leh, via Diskit Day 10 _ Leh at Leisure Day 11 _ Flight Leh to Mumbai DETAILED TRIP ITINERARY DATE 21st JULY 2021 DAY 1 MUMBAI – DELHI/CHANDIGARH FLIGHT (2.30 hrs) DELHI/CHANDIGARH - MANALI BUS 570kms (14-15 HRS Overnight Journey) No meals this day • You will be informed to Arrive at Mumbai Airport 2.30 hrs prior to the flight departure time.