The vast mountainous country between 73° and 98° E. long. from Greenwich, and 27° and 38° N. latitude may be assigned to Tibet, since the Tibetan language is generally understood there, from Baltistan or little Tibet to the frontier of China, although there are various dialects; but the inhabitants of those countries have the same manners, customs, and faith, viz., Buddhism; have the same religious books, written or printed in characters common to all the provinces.
The native name of Tibet is Pot or Bod: Bod-yul, the country of Tibet; Bod-pa, a native man of Tibet; Bod-mo, a Tibetan woman. The Indian name for Tibet is Bhot.
Bod-yul, par excellence, is Middle Tibet, namely, the provinces of U and Tsang, with the capital of Lassa and Zhikátsé. Eastern Tibet or Great Tibet is called Kham or Kham-yul, the north-western part towards Ladak is Nári, and the southern part Bhutan; Lhopato or simply Lho, meaning south.
The whole of Tibet is highland, and lies among snowy mountains. In Tibetan books it is called by various poetical names, in allusion to snow, ice, glaciers, cold, and high elevation. The highest plateau is in Nari; the most elevated peak is Tisé or Tésé, called in Sanskrit Kailasa, about 80° E. longitude, and 34° N. latitude. The sources of the Indus, Sutlej, Gogra, and Brahmaputra are in Nári. Tibetan writers, in describing the situation of Tibet, have likened Nari to a water-pond, the provinces U and Tsang to four canals, and Kham-yul to a field of crops.
On the north, Tibet is bounded by the countries of the Turks and Mongols, called by Tibetans Hor and Sok. [[177]]
On the east by China (Gyanak); on the south by India (Gyagar); and on the west by India, Kashmir, Afghanistan, and Turkestan.
The neighbouring hill people are called by Tibetans “Mon,” their country Mon-yul; the males Mon-pa, and the females Mon-mo.
From the first range of the Himalayas on the Indian side to the plains of Tartary, they count six chains of mountains, running in the north-western and south-eastern direction, viewed from the lofty mountain Kangri in Nari.
In the spacious valley between the third and fourth range is the main road between Ladak and U-tsang. The three great divisions of Tibet described are—
1. U-tsang or Tibet proper, divided into several districts. The capital, Lassa, situated in the district U, is the residence of the Great Lama, the government of Tibet, and of the Amban, the Chinese Ambassador. The number of the inhabitants of this part of Tibet is reckoned at 130,000 families, who are, of all the Tibetan races, the most industrious, skilful, and polite.