Ganden Lhaze Palace, used to be the winter palace (known as Lhagali Mansion) of the Chichin, the chieftain of Lhagali in Shannan.
Who was Lhagali? Legend has it that in the 10th century, Zhaleg Namgyi, grandson of the last Tibet King Namdamar returned to Yanaon Valley and built monasteries and a palace by the Gyari Mountain with the support of local aristocrats. He added the character "Lha" (god) before the characters "Gali", praising himself as the genuine descendant of the holy Tubo Tsampo. He called himself "Prince of Dharma", while his subject people hailed him as "Lhagali King". Until the late 1950s, Lhagali had special status. During the rule of the 5th Dalai Lama, Lhagali Prince of Dharma was given the title of "Chichin". Official documents stipulated that, when meeting with the Dalai Lama, Chichin did not have to kneel and worship. People described the difference between them in this way, saying that "His status is a cushion just lower than the Dalai Lama." Lhagali Prince of Dharma did not pay tax to the Gashag government and mo Zongboin or other local officials were based in the area; instead, Lhagali Prince of Dharma directly appointed his own officials. Every time he went to Lhasa to handle affairs, the Gashag government sent officials to greet him at the ferry of the Lhasa River in a grand ceremony. When a new Lhagali Prince of Dharma took the throne or married, the Gashag government sent a fourth-ranked official to offer congratulations. Ambans also dispatched officials to proclaim any relevant Qing government orders or sent teachers to help the royal children learn Han Chinese.
No member of this aristocrat family ever occupied an official position in the Gashag government, but the Lhagali Prince of Dharma, enjoyed the real power in the area. He might enact laws, set up prisons, make instruments of torture and judge law cases. I once saw two law sticks, each six to seven centimeters in diameter and over a meter in length, covered with tiger skin used for terrorizing serfs. Lhagali Prince of Dharma, like many aristocrats, idled away his life in pleasure-seeking. He did not handle the detailed affairs, but ordered trusted aides to set up a Chamzokang (administrative office) in charge of all political, financial, judicatory and other manorial affairs in his territory. There were four Zong (county), including Sangri, and Lhunze in Shannan, under his jurisdiction, each 150 to 200 km in circumference. He owned 19 manors and more than 2,000 serf households. In addition there were 15 handicraft workshops directly serving the royal households, and 400 Nangsan (house slave).(1961)
