Dolpo (Tibetan: དོལ་པོ ) is a region in Nepal. The Dolpo people (or "Dhol-wa" in their own language & "Dolpo-pa" in Tibetan) live in the Himalayan range of Dhaulagiri near the Tibetan border. The Dolpo-pa have a culture closely linked to Tibetan culture.

The lives of the Dolpo-pa were portrayed in the Oscar-nominated film "Himalaya -l'enfance d'un chef"[1], in 1999.

[edit] Bibliography

• Snellgrove, David L. (1967). Four Lamas of Dolpo: Tibetan Biographies. London: Bruno Cassirer. ISBN 978-0851810249. 
• Schaeffer, Kurtis R. (2004). Himalayan Hermitess: The Life of a Tibetan Buddhist Nun. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195152999. 
• Stearns, Cyrus (1999). The Buddha from Dolpo: A Study of the Life and Thought of the Tibetan Master Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen. Albany: SUNY Press. ISBN 0-7914-4192-X. 

Dunai is headquarters of Dolpa.

The karang Gangjong Rikshung School In Karang, Saldang VDC ward #4 was founded by a tibetan refugee from India Mr Kalsang lhundup with help from dolpohilfe.ev of germany. THE DOLPO REGION The Dolpo, a remote region in northwestern Nepal bordering on Tibet, is cut off from the rest of the world several months a year by snow and ice. Referred to as a wonderland shrouded in mystery, the Dolpo has been considered the last enclave of pure Tibetan culture left on earth. Nestled in the mountains, at the altitude of 4100 meters, is a small valley called Tarap. Its inhabitants lead a precarious life in a harsh climate trying to grow what they can from arid land. In poorly lit windowless houses, the families gather around small fires of yak dung and shrubs. Most of them lead a nomadic life, looking for pastures for their meager livestock. Their diet consists of tsampa (roasted barley flour) and buttered tea. The problem of food shortage, coupled with the lack of transportation, has brought great hardship to the Dolpopas (inhabitants of Dolpa). Hunger and freezing winters compel the inhabitants to move to warmer places in search of work on farms. Because of the remoteness and difficult terrain, the people rarely receive the government subsidies to which they are entitled. They are deprived of education, health care and other basic amenities.

[edit] Further reading

• Bauer, Kenneth (2004). High Frontiers: Dolpo and the Changing World of Himalayan Pastoralists. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231123906. 
• Matthiessen, Peter (1978). The Snow Leopard. New York: Viking Press. ISBN 0670653748. 

A Short History of DOLPO

by Geshe Nyima Woser Choekhortshang (Dolpo)

Dolpo is a land today situated at the border of Nepal and Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). Traditionally, Dolpo is known to be one of the ancient lands in which ancient human civilization was originated. According to the historical record of Tibet, Dolpo was a province separate from Tibet during the period of Yarlung dynasty (6th - 9th century AD). It is recorded in an early 14th century medical text written by Brang ti dPal ldan ‘tsho byed. According to that record, a Dolpo physician named Khyol ma ru rtsi (ca. b. 8th century) was invited by the king Khri srong lde btsan (reigned 756-797AD) among the other delegations of medical doctors from the neighboring countries such as India, China and Nepal. In addition, we have also a reference from PT 1287, an Old Tibetan Chronicle preserved until the beginning of last century in Dunhuang library. This chronicle also suggests that Dolpo was a province separate from Tibetan imperial control. Therefore, Dolpo was neither a part of Tibet nor of Nepal, but it was an independent province already during the eight century. Dolpo was also said to be under controlled by Serib. Furthermore, since the Dolpo and Serib had strong ties not only with its geography, but also with matters such as religious and political. In Old Tibetan Annals preserved in Dunhuang, we can find a reference which suggest that Serib was taken under control of Tibet with the help of the minister (Tib. blon chen po) dBa Khri gzigs, but later again separated from their control. In the tenth century AD, Dolpo became a tributaries state under the control of the ruler bKra shis mgon of Guge-Puhrang. After a century later (around in 11th century), the ruler of Ya-rste kingdom (currently known as Jumla, a district in the north-west Nepal) took this state from Guge-Puhrang. During the reign of the Ya-rtse king A-sog-lde around 1253 AD both Dolpo and Serib were lost to the ruler of Gungthang, mGon po lde. The latter then reunited both the Dolpo and Serib and classified them among one of three provinces of mNga' ris. It is also known from historical documents that Mongolian troops reached Dolpo to conquer this province when they have conquered many parts of Tibet and finally handed over the power to the ruler of Sakya period. After more than six hundreds years of annexation by foreign rulers, Dolpo was finally able to become independent kingdom, probably from the fifteenth century (1440 AD). The kingdom was then said to have ruled by one of the king in the lineage of Ra nag dynasty. In the history of Dolpo, this dynasty seems to be the most influential and powerful one. Even more interestingly, this is the only dynasty that has been ever known to us having reigned the independent kingdom of Dolpo although it is only for about a hundred year. Since the 16th century, Dolpo became a province under the rulers of Mustang king until its annexation by Gorkha king of Nepal in 1769.

[edit] External links

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