28 



HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULERS. 



The royal family belong to the second of the above. 



The descendants of Khy^-bum-sar are divided into six families, 



VIZ. 



Pyak-Tsen-Tar 

 Pu-pun-Sum.* 



(1) Yul-tenpa or Yul-thon-pa 



(2) Lingzerpa. 



' (3) Zhan-tar-pa or Zhan-po- " 

 tar. 



(4) Tsh^-gyu-Tarpa or Tsh^s 

 bChu-tar. 



forming the Tong- 

 du-ru-zi, or " the 

 four families of 

 a 1,000 collec- 

 tions." 



(5) Nyim-Gy^-pa. 



(6) Gura-tashe-pa. 



But with Khyd-bum-sar came otherf Tibetans or Kham-pas, who 

 founded the eight families now known as the hBeps-mTshan-bGyad, 

 or the tribe of " the eight respectable names." 



There is some confusion as to the exact names of these eight 

 sub-families and the order in which they rank, but the following is 

 fairly correct: — 



1. Pon-pa. 



2. rOaii-sTag-Pu-Tshogs or tGon-gSang-pa. 



3. Nam-gTsang-sKho-pa or sKor-pa. 



4. sTag-Chhung-Tar-pa. 



5. tKar-Tshogs-pa. 



6. Grong-sTod-pa. 



7. bTshun-rGyal-pa or rGyas-pa. 



8. mDo-Khang-pa or Kham-pa. 



In all there are thus fourteen original main families of Tibetan origin 

 in Sikhim, if we do not include a fifteenth, the Pu-Tshogs Nier-pok, 

 descended from the illegitimate grandson of Tshe-bChu-tar referred to 

 in page 9 above : the representatives of this branch have dwindled 

 considerably and are in low circumstances near Chongpon close to 

 Pemiongchi. 



These fourteen main families have the right to be admitted to 

 the Tasong monastery at Pemiongchi without payment of nuzzur or 

 entrance fees. 



The Pon-pa are again subdivided into five, viz. — 



(«) NagdDig. 



(b) Lha-bSungs. 



(c) Yos-lChags. 



(d) Na-pon, 



(c) Pon-Chhung-pa. 



• " Pu-pun-Sum '' means " the three brothers." 



t As mentioned above, Khye Bamsa had three brothers, who migrated to Hah in 



Bhutan, whence their descendants migrated into Sikhim. 



