dKor and sPu are twin villages, separated by a rivulet,
situated on the right bank of the river Sutlej in
Kinnaur. A stēle inscription in question was first
noticed from dKor by A. H. Francke in 1909, and
subsequently by Giuseppe Tucci, in 1933 (Fig. i).
Unfortunately neither Francke nor Tucci translated
it in extenso. Francke, however,
has published its main contents and Tucci relied on
Francke's translation. Fragmentary it may be, but it
contains invaluable information about the activities
of Ye-shes-'od, a well-known monk-king of Western
Tibet (formerly of the Gu-ge kingdom). To our
knowledge, this seems to be the only Tibetan
inscription which can definitely be dated to
Ye-shes-'od's times. Fortunately, it mentions a
specific date, i.e. the dragon's year (‘brug
gi lo). In the year A.D. 1042 his
grand-nephew Byang-chub-'od indirectly recalls
Ye-shes-'od's deeds in the very first line of an
inscription at rTa-pho. Thus it runs:
spre'u'i lo la sngon mes byang chub sons
dpas/gtsug lag khang ‘di bzhengs …
[before, in the monkey year this temple
(vihāra) was constructed by the
grandfather the bodhisattva]. It is quite clear that
the grandfather referred to in the line is none
other than Ye-shes-'od. Another inscription also at
rTa-pho, belonging to a somewhat later period, again
records his name along with Byang-chub-'od and
Zhi-ba-'od.