84 S. C. Das— The Origin of the Tibetans. [Feb. 



Babu Gopal Ballabh Das, M. A., proposed by Babu Man Mohan 

 Chakravarti, B. L. seconded by C. R. Wilson, Esq., M. A. 



Prof. Nrisimha Chunder Mukcrjce, Calcutta, proposed by the Hon. 

 Sir A. W. Croft, seconded by C. Little, Esq., M. A. 



The following gentleman has expressed a wish to withdraw from 

 the Society : — 



Kumar Sarat Chandra Singh. 



The Secretary reported the death of Sir G. B. Airy, K. C. B., an 

 Honorary Member of the Society. 



Babu Sarat Chandra Das read a short note on the origin of the 

 Tibetans. 



The origin of the Tibetans. 



(From Tibetan works.) 



Tibet was known to the early Indians by the name of Himavata, 

 (Khaiva-ehan in Tibetan) under which appellation it also occurs in the 

 Mahabharata. During the reign of King Asoka, the country to the north 

 of the Himalayas was first explored by his generals and called Himavata. 

 Buddhism rapidly spread there and gained much importance on account 

 of the learning of its teachers. In the schism which took place after the 

 second Council in Buddhism, the name Himavata was given to the school 

 that prevailed in Tibet. The Chinese pilgrim Fahian visited the head- 

 quarters of the Himavata school in Western Tibet which, in vulgar 

 language, was called Hima-desa, i. e., the snowy country. In the begin- 

 ning of the seventh century, the first Tibetan who came to Magadha to 

 study the art of writing was called Sambhota, the excellent Bhota. From 

 that time Tibet has been known to the people of India by the name of 

 Bhot or Bhota. Hence the general epithet of a native of Bhot was 

 Bhotya or Bhotia. The Tibetans, when the art of writing was first 

 introduced in their country about A. D. 630 to 634, endeavoured to 

 reproduce the name Bhot in their language with the newly formed 

 Tibetan character b, o and d, i. e., Bod, the literal meaning of which is 

 to call or invoke. But in the Tibetan language the letter B is pro- 

 nounced as p and the last consonant of a word is seldom or very im- 

 perfectly pronounced. Hence the name written as Bod becomes in 

 pronunciation P6.* 



The name by which Tibet is known to the Tibetans is therefore 

 Po. The name Tibet by which Marcopolo designated the country, seems 

 to have been the corruption of "Tu-bod" flic epithet by which the 



* In the history of Sikkim the name Tribofn Nwren&ra (Tibetan king) appears 

 to be the principal designation of the first Maharaja of Sikkim who came from Tibet. 



