Policy Brief

June
1, 2018
Oct 17,2019

Dr. Monika Cha nsor ia is a
Tok yo -based Senior Fellow
at T he Japa n I nst it ute
of I nter nat iona l A f f a irs.
P r e v i o u s l y, s h e h a s h e l dappointments at the Sandia

G o ve r n a nc e , E d uc a t io n , Tr a de ,Finance, Religion, and Gender:
Ek a i K awa g uch i’s Not es on 20 t hCentury Tibet*

National Laboratories (U.S.),

Dr. Monika Chansoria

Hokkaido University (Sapporo,
Japan), and Fondation Maisondes S c ienc es de l ’ Hom me( Pa r is). Dr. Cha nsor ia has
authored five books including
her latest work, China, Japan,
and Senkaku Islands: Conf lictin the East China Sea Amid an
American Shadow (Routledge© 2018).

Disclaimer :The views expressed in thispublication are those of the authorand do not necessarily reflect thepolicy or position of The Japan
Institute of International Affairs or
any other organization with which
the author is affiliated.

Government and Governance
The politico-governance landscape in 20th century Lhasa oversaw
a system of hierarchical government–one in which, the hierarchy wascomposed of both, clerical and lay departments, each consisting of an
equal number of men. The 165 priests belonging to the higher ranks
attending to the affairs of the State bore the title “Tse Dung.” The lay
officials with corresponding rank and number held the title “Dung
Khor.” The most visible distinguishing mark between the priests andlaymen was that while the former shaved their hair and wore priestlyrobes, the latter did not.1 The priestly functionaries of higher ranks
were subjected to control by four Grand Secretaries, bearing the title“Tung yk chen mo”, though the real powers were vested in the seniormost priest. Similarly, four “Shabpe” (Premiers) were appointed overthe higher lay officials.2 Only one among the four “Shabpe” held
precedence in wielding real power, while the other three were hiscouncilors and advisers.
The Cabinet was composed of four Prime Ministers, three
Ministers of Finance, two Ministers of War, a Minister of Household,a Minister of Religion, a Minister of Justice, and four Grand
Secretaries belonging to the Order. All these high positions wereassumed by men belonging to only the privileged classes. It was veryrare that it got filled up by the Ngak-pa, Bon-bo, and Shal-ngo castes.
 his is the fifth and concluding paper in a continuing series tracing the travels
Tand journey of Ekai Kawaguchi–Japan’s first successful explorer inside Tibet
in 1900. The narrative, citations, and arguments of this paper are primarily
excerpted and based on Kawaguchi’s personal memoir published in 1909,
titled Three Years in Tibet , [Theosophist Office, Vasanta Press, Adyar (Madras)
British India.]
1 Chapter LXII, The Government , p. 434.
2 Ibid., p. 428.
*

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The Tibetan administration was a peculiar mix
of feudal partaking and modern system of local
government. Relations between the peers andcommoners apparently resembled feudalism,
while the lord of the manor and the inhabitants
shared a relationship akin to that between thesovereign and its subject. The lord levied a polltax on the inhabitants, with even the poorest
being non-exempt from this obligation. The
levy generally varied according to the means of
the payer. Ever y freeholder was compulsorily
obliged to pay land tax. 3 The sole means ofescape from paying taxes was, perhaps, by
becoming a monk.

subjects; writing, arithmetic and reading.
There was no provision for teaching except atmonasteries. Consequently, children belonging
to ordinary families were left illiterate, especiallythe girls. The sons of ordinar y people wererefused admissions to government schools. The
only worthy educational institutions were foundin the premises of the Lhasa Palace, and at Tashi
Lhunpo monaster y in Shigatze. The systemof training priests was rather well developed.
Receiving comparatively advanced education
was possible only at religious schools.7
Foreign explorers often expressed surprisethat T ibet, at that time, had no printed
newspapers during that time. The paper used
for printing was of native origin. The leaves androots of the plant used for this purpose werepoisonous. The white-colored roots produced
excellent tough fiber which made the paper
sufficiently strong and durable. However, thepaper was not white owing to the poor quality of
bleaching. Kawaguchi observed that booksellers
in Lhasa did not sell their books in houses, but
in open stalls at the courtyard lying in front of
the western door of the great temple-shrine of
the Buddha Shakyāmuni, called Cho Khang. At
any given time, there were ten such bookstallsin Lhasa and two or three at the Shigatzebazaar.8

In the beginning of the 1900s, the Tibetans
were divided into two distinct classes of people–
one being subject to control by the lordsof the manors, and the other, to the central
government. The task of revenue collection was
entrusted to two or three Commissioners who
were appointed from among the clerical or lay
officials of higher ranks. Invested with judicial
and executive powers, they were dispatchedevery year to the provinces to collect revenues(that included taxes, imposts, and impor t
duties). These were paid either in cash or kind.4
A Premier drew an annual salary of about 600
koku or 4000 bushels of wheat. The first Lordof the Treasur y drew 360 koku. 5 The Grand
Lama was placed in a highly anomalous position,
for he was not a political chief, as per Ekai
Kawaguchi.6

In government schools, the lessons consistedof learning only by memor y, penmanship andcounting. Kawaguchi described counting asa primitive af fair being taught by means ofpebbles, pieces of wood, or shells. Perhaps thegreatest problem for the Tibetans, according to
Kawaguchi, was being ignorant and incapableof doing arithmetic and calculations. Moreover,they did not possess an abacus to count with,

Education and Social Classes
The subject of education was not widely
diffused throughout Tibet in the late 19th andearly 20 th centur y. In the second capital city,
Shigatze, children were primarily taught three
3
4
5
6
7
8

Ibid., p. 429.
Ibid., p. 431.
Ibid., p. 432.
Ibid., p. 433.
Ibid.
Chapter LXV, Currency and Printing Blocks , p. 463.

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instance, in order to add five and two, they first
counted five, and then, two beads on the string,and then counting the whole number–thus
making sure that the total number was seven.
Kawaguchi witnessed this on ample occasions
and termed it a ‘ver y tedious process.’ 9 The
subject matter of lear ning by memor y wasthat of Buddhist Texts. The documents to bepresented to the Dalai Lama were laced withhigh-flown phraseology and characters rarely
used in ordinar y writing. These characters attimes were not found even in Buddhist Texts.10

Duke. The descendants in the direct line of that
King existed till when Ekai Kawaguchi wrote
his memoirs, and perhaps later. Their head wasentitled to occupy the same rank as the GrandLama, the only dif ference being that he did
not possess any power in public af fairs. The
highest positions in the Tibetan Hierarchy were
within the easy reach of the Yabshi men, who
could become Prime Ministers or other great
dignitaries of state provided they were judged
to possess qualifications for undertaking thosehigh functions. 12 All the remarks about the
Yabshi applied to the families of the Dalai Lamas
installed at Lhasa. The other Patriarchs at Tashi
Lhunpo also possessed Yabshi of their own,
although they did not enjoy the same privileges
as the others. Descendants of the Dalai Lama’s
relatives and those of the former King werethus considered as the royal families of Tibet.13
Of these, one were referred to as De-pon Cheka(the families of generals) representing thedescendants of the generals and captains who
rendered distinguished services when Tibet was
engaged in war, thereby earning great respectfrom the public and privileges as well.

Both by law and custom, Tibet’s higher
classes enjoyed special privileges that wenta long way. Ranks were amply visible on thesurface in Lhasa and in other metropolis. The
aristocrats were distinguished as noble menwith refined manners. There also existed
the one lowest class in the scale of social
gradation. This was sub-divided further between
fishermen, ferr ymen, smiths, and butchers.
People belonging to this lowest grade wereprohibited from becoming priests.11 The fourclasses that were entitled to enter and serve in
the government institutions were:Ranking next to the peers was the Ngakpas class or miracle workers, considered to bedescendants of the Lamas who worked miracles
and played an important part in the social beingof Tibet. They were entitled to assume thefunction of administrators. 14 Following them
was the third class named Bon-bo–belonging
to the religion Bon that prevailed in Tibet long
before the introduction of Buddhism. The Bonbo priests left behind them a class of people
who represented Tibet’s old social institution.
The Bon-bo people held a distinct role in public
af fairs that was more ceremonial than being
religious. It consisted of worshipping local

1) Ger-pa, (the peers)
2) Ngak-pa, (the mantra clan)
3) Bon-bo, (the Old Sect clan), and
4) Shal-ngo, (the families of former chieftains)
The peers comprised of descendants offormer ministers and generals, and contained
the supreme class called Yabshi. This wascomposed of the families of the 13 Grand Lamas(at that time) past and present, and also thedescendants of the first King of Tibet, called
Tichen Lha-kyari. They all held the rank of
9 Chapter XXVII, Bartering in Tibet , p. 148.
10 Chapter LXIII, Education and Castes , p. 442.
11 Ibid., p. 435.
12 Ibid.
13 Ibid., p. 436.
14 Ibid., p. 437.

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deities, and undertaking ceremonies intended tosecure their favor. Most villages in remote areas
such as Tsar-ka in the Himalayas belonged to
the Bon-bo class. Acting as local magistrates
or administrators, they were considered to bedescendants of ancient families and therefore
commanded great respect from the neighbors.15
The fourth an final Shal-ngo class was comprisedof descendants of ancient families who acquired
power in the locality on account of their wealtheither through money or land. The Tibetans
being a conser vative race succeeded, by andlarge, in keeping their hereditar y proper ty
intact.

Tibetan Trade and Industry
Kawaguchi stated in his memoir that judging
by the sheer number of traders, the Forbidden
Land [Tibet] without exaggeration could havealternatively been a “nation of shop-keepers.”
The monasteries often traded on a large scale.
While the government itself was not a direct
trader, its regular agents enjoyed various
privileges, including the liberty to requisition
for horses to carry goods or take the lodgments
gratis. The peers too were traders, mostly by
proxy though.18
Currency and Printing Blocks

The common people were divided into two
grades, one called tong-ba and the other named
tong-du. The former being superior included all
those common people who had not fallen into an
ignoble state of slavery. Tong-du represented the‘petty’ people whose rank was one grade lower
than the other. This class of poor tenant-farmers
was engaged in menial ser vices.16 The tong-ba
distinguished from the others by possession ofproper ty, while pover ty was a distinguishingfeature of the tong-du. Kawaguchi opinedthat the rigid canon of social caste rendereda strict line of demarcation that continued toseparate the above two classes. No ordinar ypeople shared a seat to eat alongside anyone
belonging to the tong-du class. This strict ruleof social etiquette was in force even among thefour divisions of the lowest class, that is, theferrymen, fishermen, smiths and butchers. Of
the four, the first two ranked higher than theremaining two. The smiths and butchers wereprohibited from eating in the same room as
common people. However, the ferr ymen andfisherman were allowed to do so.17
15
16
17
18
19
20
21

Kawaguchi described that products andcommodities were either bartered or purchasedwith regular coins. He specified that there
was only one kind of legal tender–a coin (24sen silver) piece that was further divided. In
Lhasa, the unit of transaction was four sen.
There were six gradations of value reaching
finally to a tanka. Thus, four sen was referred
to as a khakang, eight sen a karma, twelve sena chyekka, sixteen sen a shokang, twenty sen akabchi, and twenty-four sen a tanka.19 In places
that perhaps were not as prosperous as Lhasa
and Shigatze, it was impossible to make apurchase of less than one tanka, owing to be theabsence of divided pieces of smaller value.20
Trade with British India and Nepal
In November 1901, T ibet decided to
procure iron from Calcutta for the purpose of
manufacturing small arms at an arsenal situatedat Dib near Che-Cho-ling on the banks of theriver Kichu, which flows to the south of Lhasa.21

Ibid., p. 438.
Ibid., p. 439.
Ibid., p. 440.
Chapter LXIV, Tibetan Trade and Industry , p. 458.
Chapter LXV, Currency and Printing Blocks , p. 461.
Ibid., p. 462.
Chapter LXIV, Tibetan Trade and Industry , p. 447.

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The manufacture of improved firearms wasconsidered a great boon to the countr y. Few
individuals were identified and authorized by
the Tibetan Government to proceed to Calcutta
and procure the iron supply. This was the time
when the departure of Tibetan merchants toforeign countries for business transactions had
become quite frequent. They initially proceededto British India, next to China, and lastly to theRussian territories, although trade with Russia
was ver y minimal. Tibet’s ties with Russia
were majorly political and not quite as muchcommercial.22

goods from Tibet to China travelled through Tachien-lu, and were more or less sent to Yunnan.
Japan used to obtain the prized ‘Yunnan-musk’from China. It was Kawaguchi who discoveredthat the ‘Yunnan musk’ came originally from
Tibet.25
The exports to Nepal comprised wool, yaktails, salt, salt-petre, and woolen goods. Various
kinds of woolen goods went to the districts
lying north-east of Tibet (i.e., the north-western
par ts of China and Mongolia). The primar yimports coming from India were woolen clothfor decorating temples, silk handkerchiefs,
Burma crepes, Benares brocades, silk tissues,and cotton fabrics.26 The imports from Bhutanor Sikkim comprised tussore-silk goods, woolen
fabrics, and cotton goods. From India, Kashmir,and Nepal, the imports included copper utensils,
grains, dried grapes, dried peaches, dates,
medical drugs, and precious stones of various
kinds (including diamonds, r ubies, agates,
turquoises and corals). Of these, turquoises andcorals were the most popular among Tibetans
for their use as accessories.27

Wool was the most significant T ibetan
product exported to British India. The quantityof wool sent abroad was phenomenal according
to Kawaguchi. During the peak season, there
would be 5000-6000 mule-packs going toDarjeeling, about 1500 packs to Bhutan, nearly2500 packs to Nepal, and about 3000 packs
to Ladakh. Kawaguchi simultaneously issued
a disclaimer that the figures he cited could
be far from precise since his estimates werebased on his own observations and information
obtained from the traders. Quantities, greateror less, were sent to China and also westward to
Mānsarovar.23

Trade with China
The imports coming from China comprised,most distinctly, of all silk fabrics of sundr ykinds, including brocades, tussore-silk, crepes
and satins. In terms of value, tea stood firston the list of Chinese impor ts. From what
Kawaguchi estimated, the quantity of tea
arriving at Lhasa alone would cost an estimated650,000 yen annually. For Tibetans, tea was themost popular beverage throughout the year. The
prices rose, going further westward, owing to
the cost of transportation. For a brick costing

The next most significant item was musk
and tails of yaks, furs and leathers. Musk wassold cheaply in the districts and it cost about
one-tenth of the price in Japan.24 Though themusk deer was found almost ever ywhere in
Tibet, its principal habitation was in remote
districts such as Kongbo, Tsari, and Lo. Tibetan
musk was sent in far larger quantities to China
as compared to India, despite the fact thattransportation to India was easier. Almost all

22
23
24
25
26
27

Ibid., p. 448.
Ibid.
Ibid., p. 449.
Ibid., p. 450.
Ibid., p. 452.
Ibid., p. 453.

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two yen seventy-five sen at Lhasa, it would cost
three yen twenty-five sen in western Tibet.28 The‘blood-horn’ of the “Precious Deer” found in thewild districts of south-eastern and north-westernparts of Tibet was the most valuable item among
commodities on the export list to China. This
horn made for a medicine that was highly valuedby Chinese physicians. A pair of high quality
horns, therefore, fetched a high price of 500
Japanese yen.29

countries instead of confining their commercial
operations within the nar r ow bounds ofTibet. As a consequence, a large number ofthe inhabitants began proceeding ever y year
to China, India, and Nepal on commercial
enterprises.32
Tibet could not afford to adopt an exclusion
policy economically, even though it conveniently
adopted the policy for political r easons.
Enforcement of economic exclusion would haveinvited serious internal trouble, simply because
it would have put a stop to the inflow of gold
from Mongolia among others.33 Since the timeof the war between Japan and China, and theBoxer Rebellion, the inflow of Mongolian gold
to Tibet had virtually ceased.34 If Tibet would
have prohibited traders to embark upon foreign
trade, it would have been unable to get any
goods or supplies from India, China and othercountries. Kawaguchi opined that closure ofIndian markets for Tibetan wool would havebeen unendurable since India was the mostimportant consumer of this staple produce. Asa direct consequence, the sheep-farmers would
have been threatened with star vation. 35 The
farmers were part-time traders too. As the workon farms decreased during winters, the farmers
proceeded to nor thern Tibet to collect theirstock of salt, obtained from the salt lakes foundin the region. Subsequently, these men started
for Bhutan, Nepal, and Sikkim, in order to sell
their goods.

Kawaguchi described many customs
concerning business transactions that prevailedin Tibet. For instance, the mode of selling
woolen and cotton pieces was peculiar. The
standard measurement was the length of two
outstretched hands, while another measurementmode was based on the length from the elbow
to the tip of the fingers. This measurement wasdetermined by the buyers–implying that a large
person enjoyed the advantage of getting a longer
measure with the merchant being subjected
to a disadvantage. This primitive mode ofmeasurement was generally applied to native
products only. For measuring foreign cloth, theunit of measurement was a square, each sideof which was equal to the breadth of the cloth.
This was referred to as a kha–which varied withthe breadth of each piece of cloth.30
Buddhist books, images, and pictures weresent to Mongolia.31 Tibet also obtained a large
amount of gold from Mongolia–more in the formof donations to Tibetan Lamas than as the pricepaid for Tibetan goods. The influx of gold from
Mongolia enabled Tibet to keep the balanceof its trade. The Tibetans saw a necessity ofextending their sphere of trade with foreign
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35

Tibetan Finance
Understanding finances of the T ibetan
Gover nment accurately was not simplistic.

Ibid.
Ibid., p. 450.
Ibid., p. 454.
Ibid., p. 452.
Ibid., pp. 456-457.
Ibid., p. 456.
Ibid.
Ibid., p. 457.

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held a quar ter. 38 All Gover nment expenses
including salaries for priests and officers, andwages for mechanics and tradesmen, were paidwith an average measure.39 Besides, the officials
and priests derived additional incomes fromthe land they possessed. The chief expense of
the Government was ser vice of the Buddha
Shakyāmuni. The money used for the repair oftemples and towers, and for purchase of stonelanterns and other furniture amounted to alarge sum. However, Kawaguchi noted that thegreatest proportion was spent for butter, which
was used instead of oil for the myriads of lightsthat kept burning day and night. The stands
arranged in rows in the temple of the Buddha
in Lhasa alone, numbered no less than 2500. In
some special cases it was 10,000 to even 100,000
lamps that were lit. 40 In front of the image of
the Buddha in Lhasa were placed 24 large lightstands of pure gold. All the oil used for the
ser vice of the Buddha was furnished by thetreasury of the Tibetan Government.41

Kawaguchi stated that only the revenue officials
were well informed about the Government’s
revenue and expenditure. Knowing the Ministerof Finance on a personal level Kawaguchi
gathered that a considerable margin ofdifference existed partly because taxes were
paid in kind. The Government could not always
realize the same amount of money from the saleof grains and other commodities collected by therevenue authorities. Statistical returns remained
a concept unknown to Tibet.36 Kawaguchi gavea short account of how tax collection was done
and paid, followed by how was the collected
revenue thus disbursed.
The Treasur y Depar tment of the Papal
Government was known as Labrang Chenbo(meaning large Kitchen of the Lama). There
were no financial documents such as drafts ormoney orders. The collected revenue had to
be transpor ted directly from each district tothe central treasur y, whatever the distance. 37
Among ar ticles collected as revenue werebarley, wheat, beans, buck-wheat, meat andbutter. From districts in which custom-houses
were established, there were various otherthings, such as coral gems, cotton, woolen/silkgoods, raisins, peaches and animal-skin thatwere accepted. Kawaguchi summed up thesemethods of tax collection to be strange.

In each province there were two tax
collection places for the government–one being
the temple, and the second being the local
government office. The people were divided into
two classes: 1) those governed by the temple
and 2) those governed by the local government.
They paid their taxes to the Central Government
through their respective Governors. In each
local district there was a Zong–originally acastle built for warlike purposes, but in times ofpeace it served as a Government office where
all government work was carried out, including
tax collection. Located on the top of a hillock ofabout 300 feet, the Zongpon (chief of the castle)
lived inside it. He was the chief Governor of the
district and collected taxes to be further sent
to the Central Government. The Zongpon was

Tibet had another peculiarity–the use ofan abundant variety of weights and measures.
There were twenty scales for weighing meal, andthirty-two boxes for measuring grain. Bo-chik
was the name given to an average size box, and it
measured about half a bushel. However, the taxcollectors used measures half as large, or half as
small, as these. Thus, the largest measure held
three quarters of a bushel, while the smallest
36
37
38
39
40
41

Ibid.
Chapter LXXVII, Tibetan Finance , p. 554.
Ibid., p. 555.
Ibid.
Ibid., p. 556.
Ibid.

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not paid by the Central Government directly,
but subtracted the equivalent of his pay fromthe collected taxes. The Central Government
did not send goods or money to the Local
Government except on few occasions when
special help from the national treasur y was
required. A person under the direct jurisdictionof the Central Government had to pay a polltax at times. Those who belonged to the nobility
and higher class of priests were assessed bytheir landowners, although there was no definite
regulation vis-à-vis their payment to the Central
Government.42

the highest type of Tibetan priesthood, the 165
aristocratic priests bearing the title of Namgyal
Tatsang lived in one par t of the castle. The
property of the Grand Lama, following his deathgot divided. One-half of the property had to be
divided among his relatives in his native place,and the remaining half got distributed among
the priests of the Great Temples.46
Despite all the above grandeur, Kawaguchi
was ver y critical of the area’s water supply.
Within the high walls that defended the dwellers
from attacks of an eternal enemy, there was nowater-well or spring. Water had to be fetchedfrom a well that was situated at a descentcomposed of stone steps of about 150 feetand further crossing another 150 feet of levelground. In order to reach atop the hill, a 300
feet climb was needed–thus making the journey
three quarters of a mile in all.47

Kawaguchi stated that all offerings made at
the Buddhist Temple, and to the priests, at thetime of the Great Assembly was handed over tothe Treasury at once. This was to be given out
only by the order of the Minister of Treasury.43
Expenses were not fixed. The Pope could
draw out as much as he pleased. It was said
that since the accession of the then 13th Lama,the expenditure and revenue both had risen
substantially.44 The system of compound interest
remained unknown in Tibet, however long the
debtor prolonged his payment. Another subsidy
given by the Government was six dollars extra
pay per annum to each priest of the Three Great
Temples.45

Army and Soldiers
Protecting a country of six million inhabitants
against foreign invasion and civil commotion
was no easy task, although social order was
not a duty to be discharged by the soldiers.
Describing the people of Kham as ‘natural
soldiers’, Kawaguchi said that Tibet’s standingar my comprised of around 5000 soldiers,
though, he found the figure to be exaggerated.
The two conflicts with Nepal, and one with
British India, became the drivers for Tibet toaccept the necessity of having a standing army.
Ever since that time, Tibet’s regular army stoodwith 1000 men at Lhasa; 2000 at Shigatze; 500
at Tingri (a vital fort on the Nepal frontier); 500
at Gyantze; 500 at Dam; and, 500 at Mankham.
Besides, there were Chinese soldiers stationed
in the countr y distributed equally at Lhasa,

The Treasury of the Grand Lama was called
Che Labrang (meaning the Lama’s kitchenon the hill) since the Lama’s Potala Palace islocated on a hill. Potala is a castle, a temple,
and a palace all at once. As a castle nothingequaled the Potala in Tibet, especially in viewof the strength of its fortification. As a temple,
it stood tallest amongst all other lamaseries ofTibet in terms of elegance. And, as a palace, noother building could surpass it. Representing
42
43
44
45
46
47

Ibid., p. 557.
Ibid.
Ibid., p. 558.
Ibid.
Ibid., 559.
Ibid.

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Tingri, Shigatze, and Tomo. Every 500 Tibetan
soldiers were placed under a chief called De
Bon. The soldiers received only one bushel ofbarley a month as salar y and had no regularbarracks to live in, though they were free fromhouse-rent. Kawaguchi narrated how he often
heard the locals complaining of the burden tobuild houses for the soldiers.48

were ver y religious, and, to a certain extent,
superstitious beings. They recognized theexistence of a superhuman being that protected
them, and were also sure of establishingcommunication with this being by means of
their religious faith. Tibetans also strongly
believed in the laws of cause and effect.52
Buddhism was so deeply embedded inside
Tibet that no other religion could exist, leavealone thrive, in Tibet. The pre-Buddhist Old Bon
religion discussed earlier in this paper had lostits original form and was replaced by the New
Bonism (resembling the Ryobu Shinto of Japanaccording to Kawaguchi) –wherein the Sun God
is interpreted as the incarnation of the Buddha.
Kawaguchi asserted that the only two countries
in the world that maintained the Mahāyanā
teachings of Buddhism were Tibet and Japan.
Moreover, he outlined three sacred places53 inTibet as:Lhasa used to witness a grand parade/maneuver once a year, for which the soldiers
had to be present in the vicinity of a little village
two miles nor th of Lhasa called Dabchi (onthe road leading to the Sera monastery). This
village hosted the shrine of Gesergi Gyalpo(saffron king) –revered as the God who droveaway evil spirits.49 The scene of the grand parade
was north of this shrine. The parade was usually
held towards the end of September or beginningof October every year, when the barley harvest
season was over. During the early years of
20th century Tibet, archery was considered anessential art of warriors, though artiller y wasjust introduced, and taught by Tibetans who had
been educated and trained in British India.50

1) K ang Rinpoche or Mount Kailasa in thenorth-western plain2) Tsa-ri, a peak in the Himalayas in the southeast which formed the frontier of Assam3) G aurishankara or Chomo Lhari, often called
Mount Everest (the highest mountain in theworld)

Religion
Religion was, by far, the most predominant
and prevalent force that kept Tibet in goodorder. The masses would never resort to arms
or protest against the Grand Lama whom they
believe was, and is, the living Buddha. There
were very few cases of rebellion in Tibet, whose
history testifies that civil commotion only took
place at the time of the Grand Lama’s death andthe transition period thereafter when the next
Lama would be too young to assume power,
thereby, relying on agents and ministers, who
often abused their powers.51 Tibetans essentially
48
49
50
51
52
53

What str uck Kawaguchi in the referenceof religions in T ibet was what he ter med“Muhammadanism”, prevailing mostly among
the Chinese, and descendants of immigrants
from Kashmir. They numbered around threehundred in Lhasa and Shigatze, having two
worship shrines in the suburbs of Lhasa, andtwo cemeteries on the peripher y of a distantmountain. One of these shrines cater edto the “Musulmāns” from Kashmir, as per

Chapter LXXVI, The Tibetan Soldiery , p. 550.
Ibid.
Ibid., p. 551.
Ibid., p. 549.
Chapter LXXVIII, Future of the Tibetan Religions , p. 561.
Chapter LXXXII, Preparations for Departure , p. 593.

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Oct
2019
June17,
1, 2018

Policy Brief

Kawaguchi, and the other for the Chinese.
Further, Kawaguchi was startled to witness “…
the calm existence of Muhammadanism in acountry where Buddhism was predominant.”54
Besides, the Christian missionaries did makeefforts to tr y and introduce their religion into
Tibet. However, since Tibet did not admit any
foreigners, it was nearly impossible to penetrate
into Tibetan interiors.55

sheep and yaks. The most widespread businessfor them was manufacturing butter and othersubstances obtained from milk through theprocess of home-processing on fire.58
And thus, Japanese explorer Ekai
Kawaguchi’s challenging five-year passage(that began in May 1897 from Tokyo) to thefrontier and interiors of Tibet finally came toan end, when he sailed out from Bombay on
April 24, 1902, and arrived at the Kobe pier inJapan on May 20, 1902. It is often said that ascholar can never really quench his/her thirstfor knowledge. Indeed, it was this yearning forlearning that led Ekai Kawaguchi to embark
upon yet another jour ney to British India
and Nepal in October 1904–this time with anobjective of studying the Sanskrit language andother manuscripts.

Status of Women
The position of women bears a vital relation tothe overall prosperity and greatness of a country
and society. The women residing in Lhasa wereregarded as models of Tibetan womanhood. The
Tibetan women were treated almost equally as
men. For instance, they received equal wages
as men. Women were allowed to have their own
savings, according to their social positioning.
Although the women’s garments did not differ
much in appearance from the men, it was thetaste and elegance in dressing that set the
women apart from men. Lhasa’s women dressedsomewhat like Mongolian women. They wore
a head-ornament made of turquoises or corals.
Nearly all Lhasan women used an apron madeout of the best Tibetan woven wool.56
Par ticularly notewor thy about T ibetan
women was their skill in matters of trade andbusiness. Women belonging to the middle
and lower classes regarded trade as their
specialized sphere of activity and were shrewd
in conducting business. The women had no
public duties and they did not under takesewing, weaving and spinning. In fact, sewing
was primarily considered a man’s job. Tibetans
were incapable of producing yarn of even andfine size.57 The women residing in the faraway
provinces attended to farming and rearing cattle,
54
55
56
57
58

Chapter LXXVIII, Future of the Tibetan Religions , p. 562.
Ibid., p. 563.
Chapter LXVII, Tibetan Women , p. 473.
Ibid., p. 475.
Ibid., p. 478.

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