Lhasa, Gadan Kansar Palace, the old palace

A set of 50 photographs and associated handwritten descriptive notes, acquired from the Imperial Russian Geographical Society in St. Petersburg. The complete notes, "1904 View of Great Tibet", are available at: http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/u?/tibet,94Gadan Kansar [Gadan-Khangsar] Palace. [N.]"Among other curious buildings in Lhasa, Norzunof was able to photograph the ancient palace of the kings of Tibet. This is falling into ruin, but is still occupied by private persons. The eastern façade is lower than the western one. The latter is more remarkable from an architectural point of view, but it was impossible to get a photograph of it. This is the only building in Lhasa which is not whitewashed, and this commemorates one of the most important events in the history of Tibet. The building was the residence of Gyur-me-nam-gyal, the last king of Tibet. He waged war against the Dalai-Lama, who was then spiritual leader only, but who was already ambitious for civil power. The Chinese intervened in this civil war, and in 1706 the king was assassinated. Then the seventh Dalai-Lama, named Kal-zang-gyamtso (1708-58), was proclaimed by the Chinese both King of Tibet and spiritual leader of the orthodox Buddhists." Deniker, J. (1903). New light on Lhasa, the forbidden City. The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine LXVI or 66, 544-554. Available through Google Books at: http://books.google.com/books?id=V_YLAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA544&lpg=PA544&dqGrayscal