Page:Journey to Lhasa and Central Tibet.djvu/216

 the abbots decide all minor offences committed within the monastery limits, but the more serious charges are committed to the court of the regent and the Kalon. In all other lamaseries only offences against the common law are tried by the convent authorities.

It is customary for both parties in a suit to make presents to the judge. When the case has been examined, the judge fixes the costs (tim-teg) to be borne in equal portions by the plaintiffs and defendants. As a general rule, disputes are settled by the village elders; but few lawsuits occur on the whole, for the Tibetans are a peaceful, kind-hearted, law-abiding people, and very amenable to reason.

The Amban, or Imperial Resident of China in Tibet, is the head of the Tibetan army. His Chinese staff consists of an Assistant Amban, two Laoyeh, and a paymaster (pogpon). There is also one Tibetan general, or Magpon, six Dahpon, or division commanders, six Rupon commanding regiments, and a number of subordinate officers.

The Amban is the medium of all communications between the Tibetan Government and China. He settles all political differences between the various states of Tibet and the Lhasa Government; he confers titles and honours on native military officials; but he has, theoretically, no authority in the internal administration of the country. He ordinarily resides at Lhasa, and annually makes an inspection of the Nepalese frontier as far as Tingri djong. Sometimes the Assistant Amban performs this duty, and he then inspects the military stores and forces at the different Djong.

The political relations between Tibet and China are now so intimate that the Imperial Residency established at Lhasa in the first quarter of the last century has converted Tibet from a protected state into a dependency of China. The two Ambans are commanders of the militia, and arrogate to themselves the supreme political authority of the country. The appointment of two Ambans to watch the political interests of the country is probably based on the principle that the one acts as a spy on the other. This has, as in China, become a custom in Tibet.

The Ambans are the terror of the Tibetans, who abhor them from