Tsona County () or Cona County () is a county in Shannan prefecture in southern part of

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

region of China. The county lies immediately to the north of the

McMahon Line The McMahon Line is the boundary between Tibet and British India as agreed in the maps and notes exchanged by the respective plenipotentiaries on 24–25 March 1914 at Delhi, as part of the 1914 Simla Convention. The line delimited the res ...

agreed as the mutual border between

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

and

in 1914. Chine has not accepted the 1914 border delineation, but treats it as the

Line of Actual Control The Line of Actual Control (LAC), in the context of the Sino-Indian border dispute, is a notional demarcation lineAnanth KrishnanLine of Actual Control , India-China: the line of actual contest, 13 June 2020: "In contrast, the alignment of ...

(LAC). The Tsona County also borders

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

on its southwest.

Geography

Two main south-flowing rivers Nyamjang Chu and Tsona Chu flow through the county and enter India's

Tawang district Tawang district (Pron:/tɑ:ˈwæŋ or təˈwæŋ/) is the smallest of the 26 administrative districts of Arunachal Pradesh state in northeastern India. With a population of 49,977, it is the eighth least populous district in the country (out o ...

, where they join the

Tawang Chu Tawang Chu is the main river of the Tawang district in Arunachal Pradesh, India. The entire district may be regarded as the basin of the Tawang Chu river. In addition, two south-flowing rivers from Tibet, viz., Tsona Chu and Nyamjang Chu, joi ...

river. Between Nyamjang Chu and Tsona Chu lies an undulating plateau, with streams flowing west to east, often after collecting into lakes. Napa Yutso Lake and Nyapa Tso are two such large lakes. In addition, the Tsona County also contains the basins of the east-flowing rivers that form the Subansiri River. Loro Karpo Chu (the "white Loro river") in the north leads to the Jorra township. Loro Nakpo Chu (the "black Loro river") leads to the Khartak (or Kardag) township.. Tsona Dzong, the main town and the headquarters of the Tsona County, is in the plateau between Nyamjang Chu and Tsona Chu. It is 34 km north of Bum La Pass, which marks the border with the Tawang district.Indo-China Border Trade
Department of Trade & Commerce, Government of Arunachal Pradesh, retrieved 13 July 2020. Immediately to the north of Bum La is the village of Shao (), whose full name Shauk Tago has been associated with Guru

Padmasambhava Padmasambhava ("Born from a Lotus"), also known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru) and the Lotus from Oḍḍiyāna, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who may have taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries)... According ...

and other Buddhist preachers over centuries. The location is mentioned in these texts as being part of "Monyul" i.e., Tawang area.

History

Tsona Dzong is on the historical trade route between Tibet and the

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

region of India. The original route led via the Nyamjang Chu and Tawang Chu rivers via Trashigang to Dewangiri (then in Assam, but now in the Samdrup Jongkhar District of Bhutan). In the 17th century, sectarian rivalries developed between the

Gelugpa 240px, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Bodhgaya (India). The Gelug (, also Geluk; "virtuous")Kay, David N. (2007). ''Tibetan and Zen Buddhism in Britain: Transplantati ...

sect that was in the ascendant in Central Tibet and the Drukpa sect that got consolidated in Bhutan. The Mera lama of the Merag-Sagteng region in present day Bhutan, belonging to the Gelugpa sect, was chased out of his native village by the Drukpa forces. He fled to the neigbouring Tawang region. The people of Tawang were apparently indifferent to the sectarian divisions, and the Mera lama requested help from the governor of Tsona. However, his forces were unable to resolve the conflict between the sects. Eventually a direct appeal to the Fifth Dalai Lama was made asking him to "annex" Tawang. According to Tawang records, an edict to this effect was issued in 1680, establishing a new Gelugpa regime in Tawang. The Mera Lama was placed in a position of authority over the region and made responsible to Tsona. Since the traditional route via Trashigang was now lost to Bhutan, a new route was developed via Dirang and the area under the Sela Pass was brought under Tawang's control. The Fifth Dalai Lama died two years after these events, and his reincarnation was discovered to have been born in Tawang in 1683. The family of the young boy, the next Dalai Lama, was secretly transported to Tsona, where the boy was raised under the watch of the Tsona dzongpöns. The family was taken to Nakartsé in 1697, after which the Desi (Regent) revealed the news of the Fifth Dalai Lama's death and his reincarnation to be installed as the Sixth Dalai Lama.

Administration

The Tsona County has 9 townships:Tsona County
OpenStreetMap, See Members section. * Tsona/Cona (original name: Zholshar) * Chudromo/Quchomo (; ) * Kongri/Gongri (; ) * Kyipa/Jiba (; ) * Marmang/Mama (; ) * Khachu/Kuju (; ) * Lé (; ) * Khartak/Kardag/Kada (; ) * Jorra/Juela (; ) * Lampug/Langpo (; ) Kongri, Kyipa, Marmang, and Lé are in the Nyamjang Chu valley and are recognized as Monpa ethnic townships.

Climate

Maps

File:Map India and Pakistan 1-250,000 Tile NG 46-2 Towang.jpg, Map showing the border with Bhutan and Tawang, India ( AMS, 1955) File:NH-46-14 Lungtzutsung China.jpg, Map including part of Tsona, labeled as TS'O-NA-TSUNG (TS'O-NA) ( DMA, 1974)

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

Tsona County
marked on OpenStreetMap
Cona County Annals
{{Coord, 27, 59, 19, N, 91, 57, 31, E, region:CN-54_type:adm2nd_source:dewiki, display=title Counties of Tibet Shannan, Tibet Territorial disputes of China Territorial disputes of India