1878.] 
R. B. Shaw —Stray Arians in Tibet. 
31 
forty or fifty years ago, after a war between Shigar and Ladak, when their 
country was occupied by the Ladak army, the Lamas converted them. The 
head Lama at the monastery of Skirbuchan, further up the river, told me, 
however, that it was only some twelve or fifteen years ago that the Brokpas 
were converted by Lamas from his monastery who went on begging tours 
amongst them. But this may have been a mere revival. At any rate, 
there is a remarkable absence in the Dah-Hanu country, of those Buddhist 
monuments (long stoiie dikes covered with inscriptions, and tall structures 
surmounted by obelisks and containing relics, called respectively Mane and 
Chorten) which form such a conspicuous feature along the roads and in 
the villages of Tibet. I saw one or two small chortens, evidently newly 
erected, and in two villages small yompas or hermit-cells (the larger 
monasteries of Tibet have the same name) inhabited each by a single Lama, 
one of whom was a Tibetan and the other, whom they brought forward 
rather as a curiosity, a real BroTcpd Lama, the only one in existence. 
These yompas also were quite new. 
The Brokpas burn their dead like the Ladakis ; that is to say in little 
brick furnaces on the hill-sides. The upper part of the furnace is a short 
upright cylinder into which the body is crammed in a squatting posture 
with The head tied well down between the knees, while a fire is lighted in 
the square base of the furnace. This method is probably adopted as saving 
fuel in a country where it is so scarce, and where it would be difficult to 
get logs sufficient for the ordinary mode of Hindu cremation where the 
body is extended at full length on an open pyre. The corpse is carried to 
the burning on a kind of sedan-chair raised by poles on men’s shoulders. 
It is placed in the squatting posture in which it is to be burnt, but cover¬ 
ed up with flowing coloured sheets so that it might almost be taken for a 
veiled woman being carried on a journey. Often in Ladak a broad- 
brimmed Lama’s hat is placed on its head to secure a blessing for the soul 
of the defunct. 
Mr. Drew, who has given a most interesting short account of these 
Brokpas in his “ Jummoo and Kashmir,” is, I think, mistaken in suppos¬ 
ing that they have no caste, as the other Dards have. I have heard of at 
least three caste-like divisions, which we may call those of priests, cultiva¬ 
tors , and artisans. The priestly families (called LhabdaJc, Tib.) form 
the highest division in each village. Although men of the next caste are 
allowed to come into their houses, yet it is only on condition of washing their 
hands and faces before doing so, especially if they have recently been among 
the Gentiles (Tibetans, &c ), a precaution that does not seem to be considered 
necessary on other occasions by the Brokpas, who are a very dirty people. 
This next caste which forms the bulk of the people is called Biishen . The 
younger branches of the priestly families become Bushens , since there can 
only be one priest or Lhabdak in each village. 
