Includes bibliographical references (p. [209]-215) and index.

Preliminary Materials / R. Thargyal and T. Huber -- Editor’s Introduction: The Anthropology Of Tibet And The First Tibetan Anthropologists / Toni Huber -- Chapter One. Introduction / R. Thargyal and T. Huber -- Chapter Two. The Genesis Of Zilphukhog / R. Thargyal and T. Huber -- Chapter Three. Labour Service / R. Thargyal and T. Huber -- Chapter Four. Animal Husbandry / R. Thargyal and T. Huber -- Chapter Five. Trade And Peripheral Incomes / R. Thargyal and T. Huber -- Chapter Six. Strategic Transhumance / R. Thargyal and T. Huber -- Chapter Seven. Household Organization / R. Thargyal and T. Huber -- Chapter Eight. Marriage And Kinship / R. Thargyal and T. Huber -- Chapter Nine. Birth And Death / R. Thargyal and T. Huber -- Chapter Ten. The Political Environment / R. Thargyal and T. Huber -- Chapter Eleven. Social Organization / R. Thargyal and T. Huber -- Bibliography / R. Thargyal and T. Huber -- Index / R. Thargyal and T. Huber.

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This book presents the first comprehensive anthropological account of premodern Tibetan pastoral economy and social organization in the Kham region of eastern Tibet. It offers a uniquely fine-grained descriptive portrait of traditional Tibetan rural life among nomads in the kingdom of Dege. Based upon extensive ethnographic interviews, this study yields a nuanced analysis of the most crucial and controversial relationship in premodern Tibetan societies, namely, that ensuing between local lords and their dependents. It convincingly readdresses anthropological debates and political claims about feudalism or serfdom in Tibetan societies from a perspective that is more sensitive to local historical, social, and economic contexts.