NOTES ON THE ETHNOLOGY OF TIBET 



[Based on Collections ln the U. S. National Museum.] 



By William Woodnille Rockhill. 



aiBET — ORIGIN OF THE NAME — LIMITS — HISTORY OF ITS CIVILIZA- 

 TION DERIVED FROM TIBETAN AND CHINESE SOURCES. 



The word "Tibet," also freiiueiitly though erroneously written Thibet, 

 represents two Tibetan words,* meaning " Upper Bod," by which name 

 the central and western portions of Tibet are occasionally called by the 

 natives, to distinguish them from the eastern portiou, which is some- 

 times referred to as Miin-Bod {Sman Bod), meaning " Lower Bod." 



As to the meaning of the word Bod, different explanations have 

 been offered by European scholars— that which has been most gener- 

 ally accepted, though on insufticient grounds, I think, derives it from 

 the verb /tfcofZ-pa (pronounced hodpa)'-^ to call, to speak," and attention 

 has been called to the fact that the name Slav has a similar meaning. t 

 Schiagintweit says the name is derived from a word meaning "force," 

 aid Vigue (Travels in Kashmir, ii, p. 248) thinks it comes from the 

 turKic and means nothing less than "the mountains of the people pro- 

 fessing the Buddhist religion."! 



However this may be, Tibetans from whatever part of the country 

 they come speak of themselves as Bod-pa, pronounced in some dis- 

 tricts Beuba, in otliors,Bopa, and even Gopa. In colloquial Tibetan 

 the country is called Beu lumba, Ben sa-ch'a or Beu yul, all meaning 

 "the Beu (ba) country. ' 



The earliest mention I Lave found of the word "Tibet" is in the 

 Arab Istakhri's works (circa 590 A. D.), where it is used undertheform 

 Tohbat. Other Arab authors of a later date transcribe the word 

 Tobbat, Tiibbat, Tibbat, Tibat,iind Thabbat. The earliest use of the 



* Stod and Bod (pronf)iinced Teu-beu). 



tSee Amedee Thierry, Histoire d'Attila et de ses successiMirs, i, p. 284. 



|Tbi.s paper also embodies the personal observations made by the author duriu^ 



two iouiuoys to Tibet in 1888-'«9 and 1891-'92. 



669 



