The Buddhist Trail in Himachal takes the traveler through the magnificent landscape of the world s youngest mountains sheltering some of its oldest monasteries. From the near perfect beauty of Lower Kinnaur to the austere splendour of Lahaul-Spiti, this highly visual guidebook charts both the majesty of the setting and the strength of spirit and faith that has allowed for habitation, and travel, here.

This study reconstructs for the first time the development of society in Spiti and in Upper Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh, India) over a long historical period on the basis of one of its central structures, that is, socio-economic organisation. The focus of this study is the peasantry of Tabo village in Spiti Valley and the adjacent Tibetan-speaking areas in the northwestern Himalayas. From a methodological perspective this book is primarily the result of a combination of social anthropological fieldwork and the analysis of historical and contemporary written sources (partly from the holdings of the over 1,000-year-old Buddhist monastery of Tabo). The theoretical concepts and perspectives of this work, building at the core on peasant theory models, are considerably developed further by including and integrating findings from social anthropological research on Tibet, in particular the fundamental importance of religious institutions such as Buddhist monasteries and temples for the structuring of the social order. The account of the ethnography of the region forms together with the investigation of the system of land ownership in association with the system of taxes and dues a central component of the analysis of the historical and current relations between the power-holders and the agricultural producers (peasants). It is also in this context that the delineation of the political history of the region which is undertaken here for the first time plays an essential role. Moreover, in altogether 12 excursuses selected key topics (such as administrative and taxation system, corvee labour, regional, supraregional and transnational wool trade, economy of Buddhist monastic communities and monasteries, development of population figures) are studied from a strong comparative perspective.

At publication date, a free ebook version of this title will be available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more. The Monastery Rules discusses the position of the monasteries in pre-1950s Tibetan Buddhist societies and how that position was informed by the far-reaching relationship of monastic Buddhism with Tibetan society, economy, law, and culture. Jansen focuses her study on monastic guidelines, or bca’ yig. The first study of its kind to examine the genre in detail, the book contains an exploration of its parallels in other Buddhist cultures, its connection to the Vinaya, and its value as socio-historical source-material. The guidelines are witness to certain socio-economic changes, while also containing rules that aim to change the monastery in order to preserve it. Jansen argues that the monastic institutions’ influence on society was maintained not merely due to prevailing power-relations, but also because of certain deep-rooted Buddhist beliefs.

Life in Spiti begins. It is winter now. This Trans Himalayan region lies adjacent to the old Hindustan Tibet trade routes. Only a few dare to call it home. It is their destiny. The land of Lamas and Monasteries. This ancient Tibetan culture is preserved and protected by high mountain ranges from all sides. No electricity, sub-zero temperature, piles of snow. For once, man is one with nature. This book is a photo documentation of the life of people in the remote Trans Himalayan valley in the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.