Purang County Explained

Purang County
Official Name:Burang County
Other Name:Burang
Settlement Type:County
Pushpin Map:China Tibet Ngari#Tibet#China
Pushpin Label:Purang
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of the seat in the Tibet AR
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:China
Subdivision Type1:Autonomous region
Subdivision Name1:Tibet
Subdivision Type2:Prefecture
Subdivision Name2:Ngari
Seat Type:County seat
Seat:Purang
Area Total Km2:12539
Area Footnotes:[1]
Population As Of:2020
Population Footnotes:[2]
Population Total:12242
Population Density Km2:auto
Timezone:China Standard
Utc Offset:+8
Coordinates:30.2904°N 81.1771°W
Coor Pinpoint:Purang County government
Postal Code Type:Postal code
Postal Code:859500
Tib:སྤུ་ཧྲེང་རྫོང
Wylie:spu hreng rdzong
Zwpy:Burang Zong
Order:st
S:普兰县
T:普蘭縣
P:Pǔlán Xiàn
J:pou2laan4 jyun2

Purang County or Burang County(;)[3] is an administrative division of Ngari Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of China. The county seat is Purang Town, known as Taklakot in Nepali.[4] The county covers an area of 125390NaN0, and has a population of 9,657 as of 2010.[5] [6]

Geography

Political geography

Purang County has TAR's south-western border with Nepal's Sudurpashchim and Karnali province, Darchula, Bajhang and Humla District. Further west, India's Uttarakhand State, Pithoragarh district and Chamoli district borders. Buddhist, Hindu and Jain pilgrims going to Lake Manasarovar and Mount Kailash enter from Nepal via Simikot,[7] and from India via Dharchula.[8]

The county is bounded by other counties in the Ngari Prefecture, including Zanda to the west, Gar to the northwest and Gê'gyai to the north. To the east is Zhongba County of Shigatse Prefecture.

Physical geography

The county covers an area of 125390NaN0, and has a population of some 9,058 people as of 2010. The county seat, located in the Jirang Neighborhood Committee, is located only 20km (10miles) from Nepalese territory, and 450km (280miles) north-west of Kathmandu. It is an important Chinese customs point between Tibet, Nepal and India. Much of the county consists of river valleys of mountains and lakes such as Kangrinboqê (also known as Mount Kailash), The Naimonany Peak Gunrla and Lake Maponen Yamco Lake Manasarowar. The Karnali River fed by Mabja Zangbo is also a prominent geographical feature of the landscape. Wildlife commonly seen in the far south-western Tibetan county are wild donkeys, wild yaks, yellow goats, antelope, rock goat, lynxes, foxes, leopards and marmots.

Climate

Purang County has a cool semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk), with pleasant to warm summers and freezing winters. The annual average temperature in the county is, and annual precipitation averages 147mm. Temperatures are hottest on average in July, when the daily mean is, and coldest in January when the average is .

Administrative divisions

The county is divided into 1 town and 2 townships. The county government is seated in the Gyitang Residential Community (Chinese: 吉让社区居委会), Purang Town.

NameChineseHanyu PinyinTibetanWylie
Town
Purang TownChinese: 普兰镇
Townships
Baga Township
(Parga)
Chinese: 巴嘎乡
Hor TownshipChinese: 霍尔乡

History

Some historians believe that Tegla kar (Lying Tiger fort) near Purang was built during the Zhangzhung dynasty which was conquered by the Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo in the early 7th century CE. It became the main fort of the Purang Kingdom, in the 10th century under King Kori, one of the two sons of Tashi Gon, King of the Guge Kingdom. The Guge and Purang kingdoms were separated about the late 11th century, when king Logtsha Tsensong founded an independent realm. In about 1330 the 13th king Sonam De took over the important Khasa Malla kingdom (alias Yatse; not to be confused with the Malla dynasty of central Nepal) in western Nepal on the extinction of the local dynasty. The dynasty of Purang kings died out shortly before 1376. The territory was subsequently dominated in turns by the neighbouring kingdoms Guge and Mustang. region.[9] region. During Dogra-Tibetan War, General Zorawar Singh had captured Purang and Zanda County, in order to create a land border with Kingdom of Nepal

Ali Sher Khan Anchan the most powerful king, fifteenth in the kings of the Maqpon Dynasty of Baltistan, conquered Ladakh and Western Tibet up to Purang in the east and Gilgit and Chitral in the west during his reign (1590-1625 AD).

Economy

In 2010, the county reported a GDP of 140 million Renminbi, fiscal revenue of 4.27 million Renminbi, and retail sales totaling 26.97 million Renminbi.[10]

Purang is an important barley-growing region and traditionally barley and salt from the salt lakes to the north of Taklakot made up the bulk of the trade to the south, while rice and a wide range of luxuries were traded back into Tibet from Nepal. The local villagers (known as Purangpa) carried the produce across the ranges into Nepal on caravans of sheep and goats during the summer and autumn.[11] Sheep and goats are fitted with double packs which can carry up to 30-1NaN-1 of barley or salt on the 3 week journey to the terai or low-lands of Nepal.[12] In winter and early spring the region is often in total isolation, cut off by heavy snow falls.

Transport

China National Highway 219 passes through the county. The county is also served by Ngari Burang Airport which opened in December 2023.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2016-03-01. zh:普兰县概况地图. http://www.xzqh.org/html/show/xz/37822.html. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200617170336/http://www.xzqh.org/html/show/xz/37822.html. 2020-06-17. 2020-06-17. xzqh.org.
  2. Web site: 阿里地区第七次全国人口普查主要数据公报 . Administrative Commission of Ngari Prefecture . zh . 2021-06-10 .
  3. Web site: Ngari prefecture. Geographical names of Tibet AR (China). Institute of the Estonian Language. 2018-06-03. 9 January 2020.
  4. Book: Dorje, Gyurme. Gyurme Dorje. Footprnt Tibet Handbook. Footprint Handbooks. 2nd. 1999. Bath, England. 978-1-900949-33-0.
  5. Web site: 2016-03-01. zh:普兰县概况地图. http://www.xzqh.org/html/show/xz/37822.html. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200617170336/http://www.xzqh.org/html/show/xz/37822.html. 2020-06-17. 2020-06-17. xzqh.org.
  6. Web site: 2016-04-05 . zh:普兰县历史沿革. http://www.xzqh.org/html/show/xz/20301.html. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200617173322/http://www.xzqh.org/html/show/xz/20301.html. 2020-06-17. 2020-06-17. xzqh.org. zh.
  7. Book: Thubron, Colin . 2011 . To a Mountain in Tibet . New York . Harper Collins . Dec 14, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131215184242/http://www.harpercollins.com/browseinside/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061768262# . 2013-12-15 . dead .
  8. Web site: Kailash Mansarovar Yatra . India Tours Guide . 13 December 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131222200005/http://www.indiatoursguide.org/pilgrimage-tours/kailash-manasarovar-yatra.html . 22 December 2013 . dead .
  9. R. Vitali (1996), The kingdoms of Gu.ge Pu.hrang. Dharamsala: Tho.ling gtsug.lag. In Tibetan (the text, from p. 1) and English (from p. 89)
  10. Web site: 2011-05-09 . zh:西藏和平解放60周年:三国交界边境县普兰变了样. http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2011-05/09/content_1860249.htm. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200617165635/http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2011-05/09/content_1860249.htm. 2020-06-17. 2020-06-17. The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China. zh.
  11. von Fürer-Haimendorf, Christoph. (1975). Himalayan Traders: Life in Highland Nepal, pp. 251-256. John Murray, London. Reprint: 1988 Time Books International. New Delhi.
  12. Tibet Handbook, p. 352. (1999). Edited by Sarah Thorowgood. Passport Books, Chicago. .