Tracing the Chol kha gsum Reexamining a Sa skya Yuan Period Administrative Geography
common understanding of the geo political divisions of the chol kha gsum (i.e. dBus gtsang, mDo stod, and mDo smad) is that they were geo administrative units introduced during the Sa skya Yuan administration of Tibetan areas. The concept of dBus gtsang, mDo stod, and mDo smad as geographic (but not administrative) regions can be found in Tibetan literature prior to the incorporation of those areas into the Mongol Yuan militaryadministrative system. The geo administrative term, chol kha, on the other hand, was introduced during the Sa skya Yuan period. However, its precise meaning in the Tibetan context of this period remains unclear: How did it fit into the broader Mongol Yuan administrative system? What other uses and meanings may have developed from it specific to the Tibetan context? By tracing the etymology of this geo administrative term through a study of Tibetan, Chinese, and Mongol sources from the Yuan and Ming periods, this paper will pose the possibility that the chol kha gsum and its donation to 'Phags pa Blo gros rgyal mtshan was a later creation that can be better understood as part of an aggrandized remembering of Sa skya history rather than a geo administrative term with concrete administrative applications during its time.