The Hor States (Tibetan: ཧོར་དཔོན་ཁག་ལྔ།, Wylie: hor dpon khag lnga; Chinese: 五霍爾; lit. 'Five Hors'), also known as the Horpa States (Chinese: 霍爾巴小邦), were a group of five principalities located in the Tibetan region of Kham that existed from the 14th century to the mid-1900s.

Today, the historical territory of the Hor States comprises Garzê County, Luhuo County, and part of Dawu County.

Etymology

The name "Hor" is usually considered to be Turkic; because the Hor states were Tibetic in culture, their population is thought to be Turks that were influenced by Tibetic culture.[1]

Geography

The Hor States were located in the region of Trehor (named after one of the states) or Horkhok (Tibetan: ཧོར་ཁོག, Wylie: hor khog) in northern Kham on the upper portion of the Yalong River. The traditional five states were:

Each state governed families rather than distinct territory; as a result, there were no clear borders and some land was owned by multiple principalities.

History

The Hor States originated when a prince of the Yuan Dynasty entered the region and had a relationship with a daughter of a chieftain; however, when it resulted in a child, he had departed. He decreed that the offspring's status depended on its gender; if it turned out to be male, then his son should be made ruler, if it turned out to be female, then no special accommodations should be made; the child turned out to be male; the ruling dynasties of the principalities claimed him as their ancestor. The prince's companion, lama Ga Anyen Dampa (Wylie: sga a gnyan dam pa), stayed a while longer, founding a prominent local temple. The Hor states next appear in the historical record in the 1600s; when the Gelugpa sect built monasteries (thirteen in local accounts) across the Hor states; this move connected them to the Ganden Podrang elite and amplified the region's prosperity. The Qing Dynasty bestowed ranks on the rulers of the Hor states.[2] The Hor States, unlike many of Tibet's traditional states were not brought to an end by increasing centralisation from the Chinese government; but instead survived the end of Qing rule and became governed from Lhasa. However, a rebellion in the early 1930s made the Hor States practically independent; this continued until Communist rule.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Hor States". The Tibetan and Himalayan Library. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  2. ↑ Ronis, Jann (July 13, 2011). "An Overview of the Five Hor States". The Tibetan and Himalayan Library. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  3. ↑ Powers, John; Templeman, David (18 May 2012). Historical Dictionary of Tibet. Scarecrow Press. p. 299. ISBN 9780810879843. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
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