The Tibetan treasury is managed by two officers named Jhassa ; both are Lamas, and act con jointly, although one of them is treasurer on behalf of the Grand Lama, and the other on behalf of the Noume-hen, or temporal estate. They are assisted by two sub-treasurers, styled Shangjotes. Four officers, designated Da-pun, are the commanders of the Tibetan troops, and act as civil and political commissioners on occasions of frontier or other disturbances ; they are Tibetans, and not Lamas. The ordinary course of official promotion is from a Da-pun to a Shapi ; of equal rank to the Da-pun is the Che-pun, who is, however, a civil officer, and acts in all depart ments as deputy to the Shapi. Shate Shapi was the energetic commander-in-chief of the Tibetan army which opposed the Nepalese under Jung Bahadur. The Shapi is often employed as commissioner on deputations in civil affairs, either judicial or fiscal, and all the cases sent up by the police for trial before the Shapi are forwarded through this officer. All appointments to the offices above noted require the confirmation of the emperor.
A religious exercise or penance, much prac tised by the Buddhist, is that of going round the convent, prostrating himself at every step. Sometimes an immense number of devotees will be going through their act of devotion at the same time, one after the other, and they will include all the neighbouring buildings in their prostrations. The feat must be performed all at once, without any interruption, even that of stopping for a few moments to take nourishment ; and the prostrations must be perfect, that is to say, the body must be extended its whole length, and the forehead must touch the earth, while the arms are stretched out in front, and the hands joined. Before rising, also, the pilgrim must describe a circle with two rams' horns, which he holds in his hands. Some content themselves with taking a walk round the convent, rolling all the while between their fingers the beads of their long chaplet, or giving a rotatory movement to a kind of praying mill, which turns with incredible rapidity. This instrument is called a Chu-kor, that is, turning prayer ; and it is common enough to see these fixed in the bed of a running stream, as they are then set in motion by the water, and go on praying night and day, to the special benefit of the person who has placed them there. The Tartars also suspend these convenient imple ments over•their domestic hearths, that they may be put in motion by the current of cool air from the opening of the tent, and so twirl for the peace and prosperity of the family. Another machine which the Buddhists make use of to simplify their devotional activity is that of a large barrel turning on an axis. It is made of thick pasteboard, fabricated of innumerable sheets of paper pasted one on another, and upon which are written in Tibetan character the prayers most in fashion. Those who have not sufficient zeal or sufficient strength to place on their backs an immense load of books, and prostrate them selves at every step in the mud, adopt this easier method, and the devout can then eat, drink, and sleep at their ease, while the com plaisant machine does all their praying for them.
Kablai Khan was the first of the Mongol Khakans to adopt Buddhism as the state religion. The Mongols called the Buddhist priests Lama, and in January 1261 Kablai Khan promoted a young man called Mai DliwaAlsha to the title Pakba Lama, or supreme holy Lama. He was born at Sazghia in Tibet, and belonged to one of its best families, that of the Tsukoan, who had for more than six centuries furnished ministers to the kings of Tibet and other western princes. By his wis dom, etc., ho won the confidence of Kablai Khan, who not only made him Grand Lama, but also temporal sovereign of Tibet, with the title of 'King of the Great and Precious Law and Institutor of the Empire.' Such was the origin. of the Grand Lama. Lamaism in China is a state religion. • • The manes of the dead Lamas are revered in several ways, but only of the soverign Lamas are the mortal remains preserved entire. So soon as life leaves the body, it is seated upright, with the legs folded in front, the instep restine. on each thigh, and the sides of the feet turned upwards. The right hand is rested with its back on the thigh, with the thumb bent across the palm. The left arm is bent and held close to the body, the hand being open and the thumb touching the point of the shoulder ; this is the attitude of abstracted meditation. They are deposited entire in shrines prepared for their remains, which are deposited in monuments, ever afterwards regarded as sacred, and visited with religious awe. The bodies of the inferior Lama are usually burnt, and their ashes preserved in little metallic idols, to which places are assigned in their sacred cabinets. Ordinary persons are treated with less ceremony, —sonic are carried to lofty eminences, where they are left to be devoured by ravens, kites, and other carnivorous animals. But they also have places surrounded by walls, where the dead are placed. The Mongols sometimes bury their dead; often they leave them exposed in their coffins, or cover them with stones, paying regard to the sign under which the deceased was born, his age, the day and hour of his death, which determine the mode in which he is to be interred. For this purpose they consult some books, which are explained to them by the Lama. Sometimes they burn the corpse, or leave it exposed to the birds and wild beasts. Children who die sud denly are left by their parents on the road. In Spiti, in the North-West Himalaya, when a person dies, the body is sometimes buried, or burnt, or thrown into the river, or cut into small pieces and burnt ; admonitions are made over the body to the departed spirit, such Do not trouble yourself, you cannot enter it (meaning the dead body); in summer it quickly becomes corrupt, in winter it freezes and is too cold for you.'— /Thieurth's Hist. of the Mongols,. p. 220 ; Fylche, i. p. 328; Fat Oruzio in Nose.• Jour. Aria xiv. p. 408; Jour. (lea &mantes, May 1831, p. 203; Turner ; Cunniugham's Bhilsa Topes; Lubbock', Orig. of Civil.; hue's Journey; Timkowski's Journey ; Dfoorcroft's Travels.