A Study of the Documentary Administration and State System of the Old Tibetan Empire based on Central Asian Documents and Historical and Cultural Artifacts and Artefacts

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K01043
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 03030:History of Asia and Africa-related
• Research Institution: Ryukoku University
• Principal Investigator: Iwao Kazushi 龍谷大学, 文学部, 准教授 (90566655)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 吐蕃 / 古代チベット / 行政文書 / 公印

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The Old Tibetan Empire or Tufan, which unified the Tibetan plateau for the first time from the end of the 6th to the beginning of the 7th century, grew into a vast empire that controlled various ethnic groups in the surrounding area and continued to exist for another two and a half centuries. Although it is reasonable to expect that part of the reason for the long-term sustainability of this new state lies in its state system, there are many unknowns as to what kind of state system the Tibetan empire had. This project aims to elucidate the documentary administrative system of the Tibetan empire. Based on primary historical sources such as contemporary documents unearthed in Central Asia and artifacts, this project will study the format of official documents, elucidate the process of document processing, and clarify some aspects of the nature of the state system that made long-term rule feasible.

Free Research Field

東洋史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

古代チベット帝国（吐蕃）は史上に突如現れたにもかかわらず唐・ウイグルなどと並ぶ大国に成長するだけでなく2世紀ほど存続し、また後のチベット文明に大きな影響を与えた。しかしこの国家の詳細については不明な点が多く、例えば東洋史の概説においても簡単にしか説明されない。近年、古チベット語の出土史料、金石史料数の増加、史料のインターネット公開、オンラインテキストデータベースの出現など研究状況が劇的に改善した今、史料数の多い行政文書の研究を通じて、古代チベット帝国の国家像の一端を明らかにする。