Purang (Taklakot)

Who holds it

Name

Not known by name for 1200

Title

Lord of Purang

Since

not pinned

Born

not known

Family

not known

Confidence

low

See the Purang lords record. Wikipedia: Tegla Kar became the main fort of the Purang kingdom in the tenth century, under a King Kori.

What the town holds

• the Takla Khar fort
• the Lipu Lekh and Limi roads on the Tibetan side
• the Karnali head

How things stand that morning

The trade road is shut by snow from about October; no event is dated.

Wealth

Tolls and lodging on the salt, wool, borax and grain road; the pilgrim traffic.

Military

No army is recorded and no number is known.

Communities

Tibetan herders and farmers; Bhotia, Humli and Indian traders; pilgrims of four faiths.

Fairs and markets

The summer trading season, June to September, follows the pilgrim season; no dated fair.

Walls and castle

Takla Khar, the fort, and the hill monasteries; the standing buildings are not dated.

Trade and crafts

Salt, wool and borax down; grain, cloth and sugar up; the pilgrim trade.

Places of note

• Takla Khar fort: The old fort.
• Khorchag monastery: Traditional foundation of the days of Yeshe-O (not checked); the site is approximate.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Wikipedia's Taklakot page and the campaign board; no document of 1200.

"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.

On the map: Approximate; the Khorchag point is a guess near Taklakot.

Primary sources for Guge and Maryul

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The River of Kings, with Jonaraja's continuation, Kalhana; continued by Jonaraja (Kalhana 1148 to 1150; Jonaraja about 1459). Kalhana's chronicle stops in 1149, so for 1200 the witness is Jonaraja, writing three centuries later and very briefly. Read online
• History of Buddhism in India and Tibet, Buton Rinchen Drub (Bu ston Rin chen grub) (1322). Optional background. Read online
• The Blue Annals, Go Lotsawa Zhonnu Pal ('Gos lo tsa ba gZhon nu dpal) (1476 to 1478). The fullest Tibetan account of who mattered around 1200, written three centuries later from earlier biographies and lineage records, many now lost. Read online
• The Sakya genealogy, and the works of the Sakya hierarch of 1200, Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen (Grags pa rgyal mtshan) and Sakya Pandita; the genealogy by Ngawang Kunga Sonam (the hierarchs' writings about 1170 to 1250; the genealogy 1629). Sakya in 1200 was ruled by Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen, the third of the five founders, with his nephew Kunga Gyaltsen (later Sakya Pandita, born 1182) under his teaching. Read online
• Indo-Tibetica (the temples and inscriptions of western Tibet), with the Royal Genealogy of Ngari, Giuseppe Tucci (editor and translator); the genealogy by Ngawang Drakpa (Ngag dbang grags pa) (the inscriptions and temple records of the 11th to 15th centuries; Indo-Tibetica published 1932 to 1941; the genealogy about 1497). Guge, Purang and Ladakh in 1200 are among the least documented kingdoms in the atlas. Read online