JOURNAL 



OF 



THE ASIATIC SOCIETY. 



JVb. 4.— April, 1832. 



I. — Geographical Notice of Tibet. By Mr. Alexander Csoma de 



Koros. 



The vast mountainous tract of country between about 73" and 98° 

 east longitude from London, and 27° and 38° north latitude, may- 

 be called by the general name of u Tibet," since the Tibetan language 

 is understood every where from Beltistan (or Little Tibet) down 

 to the frontier of China, although there be several corrupt dialects of 

 it, and the inhabitants of these countries, in general, have the same 

 manners and customs, are addicted to the same faith, (to Buddhism,) 

 and have the same religious books written or printed in characters com- 

 mon to all the different provinces. 



The native name of Tibet is " Pot" as it is pronounced com- 

 monly ; '* Bod" more properly. It denotes both the nation, and the 

 country : for distinction's sake the country is expressed by " Bod-yuV 

 (Bod-land), a male native "Bod-pa" and a female one "Bod-mo." 

 The Indian name for Tibet is Bhot. 



The natives of Tibet apply the name Pot, or Bod, especially to the 

 middle Tibet, or to the two provinces " U" and ci Tsang" (Dvus- 

 Qtsang, pronounced U-tsdng), the capitals of which are Lhassa 

 and Zhikdtse. Hence a native of those two provinces is called by 

 them especially Pot-pa. The eastern part of Tibet is called 

 " K'ham" or " K'ham-yul," also « Great Tibet." The north-western 

 part towards Ladak is called " Nari." Bhutan is called by several 

 names by the Tibetans ; as, u Lhopato" " Lho-mon-k''ha-zhi" " Lho- 

 bruk-pe-yul" or simply " Lho" (the south.) According to these 

 divisions, the inhabitants of Tibet are distinguished thus : " Pot-pa" 



