Ladak, is styled "Little Tibet"; Tsang and Wei are "Tibet proper"; while the appellation "Great Tibet" is applied to the whole of the east, to Kham, Amdo, etc.
The spiritual head of Tibet has been the Dalai Lama, until his flight from Lhasa, at the time of the British entry into that city in 1904. He has been seen by missionaries recently, on his return journey from Urga, and may possibly have already reached his old residence. The temporal government is in the hands of a council of ecclesiastics, the chief of whom is styled "King." This Dewa-zhung, in its turn, acknowledges the sway of the Chinese representative or Amban and his assistant, while a subordinate Chinese Governor advises and controls at Shigatze. Probably the priestly power is more in evidence than the temporal.
Chinese troops garrison the country at Lhasa, Shigatze, and other places, and since A.D. 1720 taxes have been paid by Tibet to China, either in money, in labour, or in kind. The annual revenue of Tibet exclusive of this payment is £35,560. Tibet acknowledges its vassalage to China by sending tribute to the Chinese Emperor once in ten years; the embassy bringing back, in return for its offering of gold and cloth, etc., an imperial gift of silk, tea, and bullion, to the Dalai Lama.
While Central Tibet is ruled from Lhasa, Kham is divided into thirteen sub-provinces, the inhabitants of which vary in character and government. In religion all own a sort of fealty to the Dalai Lama, though some are directly subject to Chinese rule, and others more or less to the Lhasa Government. These tribes are a lawless set, and are most unwilling to admit other authority than that of their own chieftain. In some cases these are laymen, styled "Kings," and in others ecclesiastical princes with Deputy-Governors.
Chamdo and Derge are the two leading provinces of Kham. The former of these, while owning Lhasa as its suzerain, is practically independent, and is ruled by two ecclesiastics. Its chief town, which is also called Chamdo,
