Taxation in Tibetan Societies: Rules, Practices and Discourses

Alice Travers is a researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS, CRCAO, Paris), where she works mainly on the social history of Tibet in the 19th and 20th centuries and on the history of the Ganden Phodrang army, in the framework of the ERC-funded TibArmy Project (“The Tibetan Army of the Dalai Lamas, 1642–1959”). Peter Schwieger is emeritus professor of Tibetology at the University of Bonn, Germany. His research covers history, literature and language of Tibet. His publications include Handbuch zur Grammatik der klassischen tibetischen Schriftsprache (2009), The Dalai Lama and the Emperor of China (2015) and Conflict in a Buddhist Society: Tibet under the Dalai Lamas (2021). Charles Ramble is Directeur d’études at the EPHE - PSL University, Paris. His book publications include The Navel of the Demoness: Tibetan Buddhism and Civil Religion in Highland Nepal (2008), as well as three volumes in a series entitled Tibetan Sources for a Social History of Mustang (Nepal) (2008, 2015, 2019).

"Taxation in Tibetan Societies is a major contribution to the study of the history of the sociology and economy of Tibetan societies, a field of study which is coming increasingly into focus among researchers, but also among a wider audience with an interest in Tibet and the Himalayas. This excellently edited volume, with its original and substantial articles, deserves a wide readership." - Per Kværne, Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, no. 70, Avril 2024.

• ContentsNote on the Transliteration and Transcription of Tibetan Names and TermsList of Figures and MapsList of TablesIntroduction1 The Tax System in Central and Far East Tibet Towards the End of the Ganden Phodrang Reign: An Outline of Its Structure and TerminologyPeter Schwieger2 A Perspective on the Ganden Phodrang’s Administration of Taxation in the 19th and 20th Centuries Based on Archival SourcesKalsang Norbu Gurung3 “When You Count, Everything Is There, and When Everything Is There, Everything Vanishes” A Criticism of Tax Collecting in Ngamring District (Rdzong) during the First Half of the 20th CenturyAlice Travers4 Traditional Taxation Systems in Western Tibet: A Comparative PerspectiveNancy E. Levine5 Lam Yig—An Official Document Granting Travel Privileges in TibetSaadet Arslan6 “My Karma Selected Me to Become A Ferryman”: The Role of Waterways and Watercraft in the Corvée Tax System in Pre-1959 TibetDiana Lange7 Performing Tibetan Opera As Khral in the First Half of the 20th Century: In Principle a “Tax”, in Experience a Pervasive ObligationIsabelle Henrion-Dourcy8 A Preliminary Investigation Into Monk-Tax: The Concept of Grwa Khral/Btsun Khral/Ban Khral and Its MeaningsBerthe Jansen9 Monastic Obligations, Hat Change and Lhasa Encroachment Taxation Rights Among Politico-Religious Shifts in the Kingdom of NangchenM. Maria Turek10 “By Ancient Custom and Engagements”: Trade, Taxes and Diplomacy in Ladakh and Western Tibet between the 17th and 20th CenturiesJohn Bray11 Taxes and Corvées in the Manorial and Monastic Estates of Zangskar (Western Himalayas)Isabelle Riaboff12 The Fiscal Status of Buddh1ist and Bönpo Institutions in Mustang (Nepal): A Historical OverviewCharles RambleIndex