The Old Tibetan Annals contain Tibet's oldest extant history. Primarily a bureaucratic register of events, it is the single most reliable source for the history of the first half of the Tibetan Empire (c. 600-850 CE). This record was maintained more or less contemporaneously with the events it describes, with entries added at the end of each year from 650 to 764. In each yearly entry, the Old Tibetan Annals records information such as the summer and winter residences of the Tibetan emperor, where the summer and winter political councils were convened, who convened them, and what measures were taken. Visits from foreign dignitaries, military engagements, dynastic marriages, the birth of a future sovereign, deaths of important figures, and the performance of funeral rites for the royal family are also recorded. This volume offers an annotated translation of the Old Tibetan Annals along with a transliteration of the Tibetan text and photographic reproductions of the original Dunhuang documents. A long introduction serves to place the Old Tibetan Annals within its cultural and historical context by exploring the history of the Tibetan Empire, as well as its political geography and administrative practices. A set of appendices follows the translation, of which an index of the place names mentioned in the Annals is especially useful. The indices and a glossary render the Annals easily accessible, and the photographic reproductions give scholars access to the original text.
Old Tibetan Annals: An Annotated Translation of Tibet's First History, Brandon Dotson, Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, Paperback (8.25 x 11.75 inches), 325 pp, $112.00

BRANDON DOTSON is British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Oriental Institute, University of Oxford.

Foreword by Per K. Sorensen. 1
Preface and Acknowledgements. 3
PART 1: INTRODUCTION
- Introducing the Old Tibetan Annals. 9
- Succession and Marriage and the Tibetan Royal Line. 25
- Historical Geography and the Old Tibetan Annals. 37
- Administration and Administrators in the Old Tibetan Annals. 46
- Class and Rank in the Tibetan Empire. 59
- Linguistic and Orthographic Features of the Old Tibetan Annals. 74
PART 2: THE OLD TIBETAN ANNALS
- The Old Tibetan Annals, version 1: PT 1288, IOL Tib J 750. 79
- The Old Tibetan Annals, Version 2: OR 8212 (187). 126
APPENDICES
Appendix One - Annalistic Entries in Other Documents. 141
Appendix Two - The Royal Succession. 143
Appendix Three - The Sack of the Chinese Capital in the Old Tibetan Chronicle and the Zhol Pillar. 147
Appendix Four - The "Succession of Chief Ministers" in the Old Tibetan Chronicle. 150
Appendix Five - The Regimes of Khri Srong-lde-btsan, Khri Lde-srong-btsan, and Khri Gtsug-lde-btsan Based on their Edicts. 154
PART 3: IMPERIAL CENTRAL TIBET
An Annotated Cartographical Survey of its Territorial Divisions and Key Political Sites by Guntram Hazod
1. Introductory Remarks. 163
2. Principal Provinces. 166
3. The Ancient Principalities. 170
4. The Eighteen Shares of Power. 193
5. The Borders and Centers of the Four Horns. 197
6. The Districts of the Four Horns. 200
7. The Place Names of the Annals in Central Tibet. 212
TABLE AND GLOSSARY
Table of Royal Residences, Council Sites, Foreign Visits, and "Royal Events". 235
Glossary. 257
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Abbreviations. 265
- Cited Old Tibetan Documents. 269
- References. 270
INDICES
- Index of Place Names in the Old Tibetan Annals. 289
- Index of Personal Names in the Old Tibetan Annals. 296
Photographic Reproductions of the Old Tibetan Annals: PT 1288, IOL Tib J 750, and Or. 8212 (187). 301