The Great Lineages of Central Tibet

In the earliest sources we encounter the central Tibetan area on both sides of the Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) river as the settlement area of (predominantly) patrilinear clans whose identity is not least defined by the ancestral link to a particular territory. The line from which the Tibetan kings emerged (Yarlung Dynasty, 7-9th C.) was originally just a segment in this world of tribal interconnections, which had not ceased to exist after the decline of the dynasty. Attention should be paid to the identification of the numerous aristocratic lines, whose traces largely display a high degree of historical continuity: From the time of the pre-imperial principalities (before 7th C.) until late in the post- dynastic period and beyond, we find the bearers of these great clan names in key positions of the political and religious history of the country. Methodologically, text (i.e. elaboration of primary sources) and field research form the base of this historical and socio-anthropological research project, the primary aim of which is to identify and localise the clan histories of Central Tibet. This includes the attempt to record the geographical positions of the settlements and the historic movements of the individual lines with their specific local-historic connections in the phases of early and medieval Tibet. This work is to lead to cartographically documentable results, which ideally will be specified by the data from the field work. The clan history as proposed here forms a significant contribution to the historical geography of Central Tibet and in fact is to form a part of a long-term map-work, a "historical atlas" of Central Tibet, which the applicant will publish together with Prof. Sørensen (University of Leipzig). In addition to the Leipzig (Institute of Indologie and Central Asian Studies) the Tibetan Academy of Social Sciences (Lhasa) will constitute the primary cooperating partner of this 3-year project, in the course of which the holding of an international "Tibetan Clan Seminar" is also planned.

In the earliest sources we encounter the central Tibetan area on both sides of the Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) river as the settlement area of (predominantly) patrilinear clans whose identity is not least defined by the ancestral link to a particular territory. The line from which the Tibetan kings emerged (Yarlung Dynasty, 7-9th C.) was originally just a segment in this world of tribal interconnections, which had not ceased to exist after the decline of the dynasty. Attention should be paid to the identification of the numerous aristocratic lines, whose traces largely display a high degree of historical continuity: From the time of the pre-imperial principalities (before 7th C.) until late in the post- dynastic period and beyond, we find the bearers of these great clan names in key positions of the political and religious history of the country. Methodologically, text (i.e. elaboration of primary sources) and field research form the base of this historical and socio-anthropological research project, the primary aim of which is to identify and localise the clan histories of Central Tibet. This includes the attempt to record the geographical positions of the settlements and the historic movements of the individual lines with their specific local-historic connections in the phases of early and medieval Tibet. This work is to lead to cartographically documentable results, which ideally will be specified by the data from the field work. The clan history as proposed here forms a significant contribution to the historical geography of Central Tibet and in fact is to form a part of a long-term map-work, a "historical atlas" of Central Tibet, which the applicant will publish together with Prof. Sørensen (University of Leipzig). In addition to the Leipzig (Institute of Indologie and Central Asian Studies) the Tibetan Academy of Social Sciences (Lhasa) will constitute the primary cooperating partner of this 3-year project, in the course of which the holding of an international "Tibetan Clan Seminar" is also planned.