Pome County
()
or Bomê County ( zh, s=波密县)
is a county of
Nyingchi Prefecture
Nyingchi (), also known as Linzhi ( zh, s=林芝, p=Linzhi) or Nyingtri, is a prefecture-level city in the southeast of the Tibet Autonomous Region in China. The administrative seat of Nyingchi is Bayi District.
Nyingchi is the location of Buch ...
in the south-east of the
Tibet Autonomous Region
The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), often shortened to Tibet in English or Xizang in Pinyin, Hanyu Pinyin, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China. It was established in 1965 to replace the ...
.
Historically known as Powo or Poyul, it was the seat of a quasi-independent kingdom until the early 20th century when troops of the Dalai Lama's Lhasa government integrated it into the central Tibetan realm.
The population was 25,897 in 2004.
Geography
The region of Powo or Poyul, which is now constituted as the Pome County, lies to the northeast of the Tsangpo gorge, where the
Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) river turns abruptly to the south on its course towards India.
Two major rivers
Yi'ong Tsangpo and
Parlung Tsangpo
Parlung Tsangpo or Parlung Zangbo (; ), also known as Palongzangbu River, is a river in Nyingchi, Tibet, China. It is the largest tributary on the left side of Yarlung Tsangpo. Its source is the Arza Gongla Glacier, at an elevation of 4900m. It f ...
flow into the Pome County from opposite directions to join near Tang-me. The combined river (called Yi'ong Tsangpo) exits the Pome County to the south to join Yarlung Tsangpo near Mount
Gyala Peri.
The lower reaches of these two rivers constitute ''Po-me'' or Lower Powo.
''Po-to'' or Upper Powo consists of the basin of another river
Poto Tsangpo, which originates within the Pome County, along with its tributary Yarlung Chu. Poto Tsangpo joins Parlung Tsangpo to the west of the "Pome Town" (
Tramog).
History
The
Kingdom of Powo, or ''sPo yul'' (“country of ''sPo''”) was an offshoot of the ancient dynasty of the first Tibetan kings of the
Yarlung Valley. Its inhabitants had a reputation as fearsome savages, which meant most travelers kept clear of it and so it was one of the least known areas in the Tibetan traditional feudal establishment.
Its isolation was also enhanced by the belief by a great number of Tibetans that in its borders was one of the 'hidden lands' or
beyul () referred to in the prophecies of
Guru Rinpoche. Poba's area of control far exceeded the boundaries of Pome County. The kingdom acted as a protecting power for the streams of Tibetan pilgrims searching for this Promised Land in the
East Himalayas from the
Lopa tribes (
Assam Himalayan tribes) from the mid-seventeenth century. Its power extended south over the Doshong La pass, to include the location of one of these earthly paradises called "Padma bkod" (written variously Pema köd, Pemakö and Pemako), literally 'Lotus Array', a region in the North-Eastern Province of
Upper Siang
Upper Siang (Pron:/ˈsjæŋ or ˈsɪæŋ/) is an administrative district in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India. It is the fourth least populous district in the country (out of 640).
History
The majority of the people are of the Adi tribe ...
of
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...
. Accounts of this terrestrial paradise influenced
James Hilton's
Shangri-La
Shangri-La is a fictional place in Tibet's Kunlun Mountains, Uses the spelling 'Kuen-Lun'. described in the 1933 novel '' Lost Horizon'' by the British author James Hilton. Hilton portrays Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, gently ...
.
A period of instability overtook the kingdom after Chinese incursions in 1905 and 1911.
The Bomi region has predominantly been semi-autonomous since the Tubo era. During the Qing Dynasty, governance was effectively under the authority of the King of Bomi. In 1910, the last
Qing amban , dispatched forces to eradicate the Bomê soil king. In 1911, nine counties were established in Bomê In 1928, the
Kashag government dispatched forces to evict the son-in-law of the Bomê soil monarch, resulting in the complete integration of the Bomê region into Tibet.
By 1931 the Lhasa government had expelled the last ''Ka gnam sde pa'' ('king') and established two garrisons.
In 1951, the People's Republic of China established the Second office in Chamdo, and in 1960, the three dzongs of Dzongdor, Boqu, and Yigong were consolidated and restructured into Bomê County.
Climate
Pome has a
monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...
-influenced
oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
''Cwb''). The average annual temperature in Pome is . The average annual rainfall is with June as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around , and lowest in January, at around .
Administrative divisions
Bomê County contains 3
towns
A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city.
The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
and 7
townships.
Transport
*
China National Highway 318
Tourism
*
Red Building of the Zamu Central County Committee
References
Bibliography
*
*
External links
Pome County OpenStreetMap, retrieved 21 September 2022.
Yi'ong Tsangpo basinParlung Tsangpo basin
and both the rivers as part of th
Yarlung Tsangpo basin
OpenStreetMap, retrieved 21 September 2022.
*
Official Website of Pome County
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bome County
Counties of Tibet
Nyingchi