This paper examines the Tibetan transport and postal system from the 13th to the 20th century. In the initial phase of the Yüan dynasty (1279–1368), the Mongols presumably reestablished structures that remained from Tibet’s imperial period. The investigation leads us back to the time when horses were a deciding factor regarding the organization of empires and indispensable to people’s lives. With their routes, the team of horse and rider connected single people, regions and empires, in Tibet but also in many other parts of the world as well. The main sources of information are travelogues from the 13th century onward, a report of a transHimalayan expedition, and Tibetan documents from the Yüan dynasty (1279–1368) and the Ganden Podrang period (dGa’ ldan pho brang, 1642– 1911). The first part of the paper introduces the postal and transport service systems in China and Mongolia and provides a brief survey on levies and taxes in historic Tibet. The travelogues date to different periods and are therefore unsuitable for drawing an overall image of this service that formed part of the Tibetan taxation system. However, they give us insight into several aspects of the administrative organization of the transport service, its beneficiaries, and the number of horses available at a station, as well as a first glance at the number of postal stations and distances covered. The following paragraphs reflect on the terminology related to these services that Tibetans commonly performed by horse, which reveals the multi-cultural influences of the Mongol Empire, that extended via Nepal as far as Persia. The analyzed terminology originates in historical documents and examines terms adopted from Mongolian language as well as Tibetan terms attesting the use of horses for postal service and transport. The documents allow an insight into the array of opportunities and possible duties, the intricacy of the taxation system but also the sorrows and pains for the dependent farmers and cattle breeders (mi ser) who had to pay the taxes. They also mirror the connection between Tibetan Buddhism and the administrative arrangements and obligations. Moreover, they offer a glance at historic Tibet with the position and power of local rulers and an amban as well as the TibetanChinese and Tibetan-Mongolian relations.
目次
Abstract 91 GENERAL INTRODUCTION 92 1. Survey on Transport Services in Mongolia, China and India from the 13th to the 20th Centuries 95 2. Postal Services in Europe 100 OUTLINE ON THE TRANSPORT TAXES IN THE YARLUNG EMPIRE AND YÜAN DYNASTY 101 TAXES AND LEVIES DURING THE GANDEN PODRANG PERIOD 108 1. General Remarks on Levies and Duties 108 2. The Postal and Transport System 110 THE POSTAL SERVICE RTA ZAM 112 HORSE TRANSPORTATION SERVICES AND PACK ANIMALS (RTA ’UL, RTA KHAL AND RTA’U KHAL MA) 114 THE SA TSHIGS AND RDZONG BSKYEL TRANSPORT SERVICES 118 THE TRANSPORTATION SERVICES LAM THOG AND ZHON KHAL, NUMBERS AND DISTANCES 127 THE ROUTE TAX (LAM KHRAL) 129 THE MESSENGERS AND EMISSARIES 131 CONCLUDING SUMMARY 133 FINAL REMARKS 135 BIBLIOGRAPHY 137
