Guge was an ancient kingdom in Western Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

. The kingdom was centered in present-day Zanda County

Zanda County

Zanda County is a county in the Ngari Prefecture to the extreme south west of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China....

, within Ngari Prefecture

Ngari Prefecture

Ngari Prefecture is a prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Its capital is Gar County. Its regional headquarters is in the town of Purang. The biggest town is Ali. It includes part of the Aksai Chin area, a disputed region claimed by India but over which China exercises administrative...

 of Tibet Autonomous Region

Tibet Autonomous Region

The Tibet Autonomous Region , Tibet or Xizang for short, also called the Xizang Autonomous Region is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China , created in 1965....

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. At various points in history after 10th century AD, the kingdom held sway over a vast area including south-eastern Zanskar

Zanskar

Zanskar is a subdistrict or tehsil of the Kargil district, which lies in the eastern half of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The administrative centre is Padum...

, Upper Kinnaur, and Spiti

Spiti

-Geographical locations:*Lahaul and Spiti, a district in the state of Himachal Pradesh in India.*Spiti Valley, former heartland of the former Spiti district now combined.*Spiti River, in the Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh.*Spitia River-Language:...

 valley either by conquest or as tributaries. The ruins of the former capital of Guge kingdom are located at Tsaparang

Tsaparang

Tsaparang was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Guge in the Garuda Valley, through which the upper Sutlej River flows, in Ngari Prefecture near the border of Ladakh. It is 278 km south-southwest of Ali and 26 km west of the 11th century monastery at Thöling, and not far west of Mount Kailash...

 in the Sutlej

Sutlej

The Sutlej River is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroad region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. It is located north of the Vindhya Range, south of the Hindu Kush segment of the Himalayas, and east of the Central Sulaiman Range in Pakistan.The Sutlej...

 valley, not far from Mount Kailash

Mount Kailash

Mount Kailash is a peak in the Gangdisê Mountains, which are part of the Himalayas in Tibet...

 and 1200 miles (1,931.2 km) westwards from Lhasa

Lhasa

Lhasa is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China and the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau, after Xining. At an altitude of , Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world...

.

History

Guge was founded in the 10th century. Its capitals were located at Tholing  and Tsaparang

Tsaparang

Tsaparang was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Guge in the Garuda Valley, through which the upper Sutlej River flows, in Ngari Prefecture near the border of Ladakh. It is 278 km south-southwest of Ali and 26 km west of the 11th century monastery at Thöling, and not far west of Mount Kailash...

. Nyi ma mgon, a great-grandson of Glang Darma, the last monarch of the Tibetan Empire

Tibetan Empire

The historic name for the Tibetan Empire is different from Tibet's present name.Traditional Tibetan history preserves a lengthy list of rulers, whose exploits become subject to external verification in the Chinese histories by the seventh century. From the 7th to the 11th century a series of...

 (Tubo), left insecure conditions in Central Tibet in 910. He established a kingdom in Ngari (West Tibet) in or after 912 and annexed Purang (Pu-hrang) and Guge. He established his capital in Guge.

Nyi ma mgon later divided his lands into three parts. The king's eldest son dPal gyi mgon became ruler of Mar-yul (Ladakh

Ladakh

Ladakh is a region of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of the Republic of India. It lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent...

), his second son bKra shis mgon received Guge-Purang, and the third son lDe gtsug mgon received Zanskar

Zanskar

Zanskar is a subdistrict or tehsil of the Kargil district, which lies in the eastern half of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The administrative centre is Padum...

. bKra shis mgon was succeeded by his son Srong nge or Ye shes 'Od (947-1024), who was a renowned Buddhist figure. In his time a Tibetan from Guge called Rin chen Bzang po (958-1055), after having studied in India, returned to his homeland as a monk to promote Buddhism. Together with the zeal of Ye shes 'Od, this marked the beginning of a new diffusion of Buddhist teachings in western Tibet. In 988 Ye shes 'Od took religious vows and left kingship to his younger brother Khor re.

In 1037, Khor re's eldest grandson 'Od lde was killed in a conflict with the Qarakhanids, who subsequently ravaged Ngari. His brother Byang chub 'Od (984-1078), a Buddhist monk, took power as secular ruler. He was responsible for inviting Atisha

Atisha

Atiśa Dipankara Shrijnana was a Buddhist teacher from the Pala Empire who, along with Konchog Gyalpo and Marpa, was one of the major figures in the establishment of the Sarma lineages in Tibet after the repression of Buddhism by King Langdarma .- Birth :Atisha is most commonly said to have been...

 to Tibet in 1040 and thus ushering in the so-called Phyi-dar phase of Buddhism in Tibet. Byang chub 'Od's son rTse lde was murdered by his nephew in 1088. This event marked the break-up of the Guge-Purang kingdom, since one of his brothers was established as separate king of Purang. The usurping nephew dBang lde continued the royal dynasty in Guge.

A new Qarakhanid invasion of Guge took place before 1137 and cost the life of the ruler, bKra shis rtse. Later in the same century the kingdom was temporarily divided. In 1240 the Mongol khagan, at least nominally, gave authority over the Ngari area to the Drigung monastery in Central Tibet.

Grags pa lde was an important ruler who united the Guge area around 1265 and subjugated the related Ya rtse kingdom. After his death in 1277 Guge was dominated by the Sakya

Sakya

The Sakya school is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug...

 monastic regime. After 1363, with the decline of the Mongol Yuan dynasty

Yuan Dynasty

The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...

 and their Sakya protegés, Guge was again strengthened and took over Purang in 1378. Purang was henceforth contested between Guge and the kingdom of Mustang

Mustang (kingdom)

Mustang is the former Kingdom of Lo and now part of Nepal, in the north-central part of that country, bordering the People's Republic of China on the Tibetan plateau between the Nepalese provinces of Dolpo and Manang...

, but was finally integrated in the former. Guge also briefly ruled over Ladakh in the late 14th century. From 1499 the Guge king had to acknowledge the Rinpungpa

Rinpungpa

Rinpungpa was a Tibetan regime that dominated much of Western Tibet and some of Central Tibet between 1440 and 1565...

 rulers of Tsang

Ü-Tsang

Ü-Tsang , or Tsang-Ü, is one of the three traditional provinces of Tibet, the other two being Amdo and Kham. Geographically Ü-Tsang covered the central and western portions of the Tibetan cultural area, including the Tsang-po watershed, the western districts surrounding and extending past Mount...

 (West Central Tibet). The 15th and 16th centuries were marked by a considerable Buddhist building activity by the kings, who frequently showed their devotion to the Gelugpa leaders later known as Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...

.

The first Westerners to reach Guge were a Jesuit missionary, António de Andrade

António de Andrade

Father António de Andrade was a Jesuit priest and explorer from Portugal. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1596. From 1600 until his death in 1634 he was engaged in missionary activity in India...

, and his companion, brother Manuel Marques, in 1624. De Andrade reported seeing irrigation canals and rich crops in what is now a dry and desolate land.
Perhaps as evidence of the kingdom's openness, de Andrade's party was allowed to construct a chapel in Tsaparang and instruct the people about Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

. This decision might have brought Guge to its end. A letter by De Andrade relates that some military commanders revolted and called the Ladakhis to overthrow the ruler. There had been friction between Guge and Ladakh for many years, and the invitation was heeded in 1630. The Ladakhi forces laid siege to the almost impenetrable Tsaparang. The king's brother, who was chief lama and thus a staunch Buddhist, advised the pro-Christian ruler to surrender against keeping the state as tributary ruler. This treacherous advice was eventually accepted. Tibetan sources suggest that the Guge population was maintained in their old status. A legend has it that the Ladakhi army slaughtered most of the people of Guge, about 200 of whom managed to survive and fled to Qulong. The last king Khri bKra shis Grags pa lde was brought to Ladakh as prisoner with his kin, and died there. The last male descendant of the dynasty moved to Lhasa where he died in 1743.

Tsaparang and the Guge kingdom were later conquered in 1679-80 by the Lhasa-based Central Tibetan government under the leadership of the 5th Dalai Lama, driving out the Ladakhis.

Western archeologists heard about Guge again in the 1930s through the work of Italian Giuseppe Tucci

Giuseppe Tucci

Giuseppe Tucci was an Italian scholar of oriental cultures, specialising in Tibet and history of Buddhism. During its zenith, Tucci was a supporter of Italian Fascism, and he used idealized portrayals of Asian traditions to support Italian ideological campaigns...

. Tucci's work was mainly about the fresco

Fresco

Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...

es of Guge.

Rulers

A list of rulers of Guge and the related Ya rtse kingdom has been established by the Tibetologists Luciano Petech and Roberto Vitali

A. Royal ancestors of the Tubo dynasty.

• 'Od srungs (in Central Tibet 842-905) son of Glang Darma
• dPal 'Khor btsan (in Central Tibet 905-910) son
• sKyid lde Nyi ma mgon (in Ngari Korsum c. 912-?) son
• dPal gyi mgon (received Ladakh, 10th century) son
• lDe gtsug mgon (received Zanskar, 10th century) brother

B. Kings of Guge and Purang.

• bKra shis mgon (received Guge and Purang, fl. 947) brother
• Srong nge Ye shes 'Od (?-988) son
• Nagaraja (religious leader, d. 1023) son
• Devaraja
  Devaraja
  "Devarāja" is a Sanskrit word which could have different meanings such as "god-king" or "king of the gods". In a Khmer context the term was used in the latter sense, but occurs only in the Sanskrit portion of the inscription K...
  
   (religious leader, d. 1026) brother
• Khor re (988-996) uncle
• Lha lde (996-1024) son
• 'Od lde btsan (1024–37) son
• Byang chub 'Od (1037–57) brother
• Zhi ba 'Od (religious leader, d. 1111) brother
• Che chen tsha rTse lde (1057–88) son of Byang chub 'od

C. Kings of Ya rtse.

• Naga lde (early 12th century)
• bTsan phyug lde (mid 12th century)
• bKra shis lde (12th century)
• Grags btsan lde (12th century) brother of bTsan phyug lde)
• Grags pa lde (Kradhicalla) (fl.
  Floruit
  Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...
  
   1225)
• A sog lde (Ashokacalla) (fl. 1255-78) son
• 'Ji dar sMal (Jitarimalla) (fl. 1287-93) son
• A nan sMal (Anandamalla) (late 13th century) brother
• Ri'u sMal (Ripumalla) (fl. 1312-14) son
• San gha sMal (Sangramamalla) (early 14th century) son
• Ajitamalla (1321–28) son of Jitarimalla
• Kalyanamalla (14th century)
• Pratapamalla (14th century)
• Pu ni sMal (Punyamalla) (fl. 1336-39) of Purang royalty
• sPri ti sMal (Prthivimalla) (fl. 1354-58) son

D. Kings of Guge.

• Bar lde (dBang lde) (1088-c. 1095) nephew of Che chen tsha rTse lde
• bSod nams rtse (c. 1095-early 12th century) son
• bKra shis rtse (before 1137) son
• Jo bo rGyal po (regent, mid 12th century) brother
• rTse 'bar btsan (12th century) son of bKra shis rtse
• sPyi lde btsan (12th century) son
• rNam lde btsan (12th/13th century) son
• Nyi ma lde (12th/13th century) son
• dGe 'bum (13th century) probably an outsider
• La ga (?-c. 1260) of foreign origin
• Chos rgyal Grags pa (c. 1260-65)
• Grags pa lde (c. 1265-77) prince from Lho stod
• unknown rulers
• rNam rgyal lde (1396?-1424) son of a Guge ruler
• Nam mkha'i dBang po Phun tshogs lde (1424–49) son
• rNam ri Sang rgyas lde (1449-?) son
• bLo bzang Rab brtan (?-c. 1485) son
• sTod tsha 'Phags pa lha (c. 1485-after 1499) son
• Shakya 'od (early 16th century) son
• Jig rten dBang phyug Pad kar lde (fl. 1537-55) son?
• Ngag gi dBang phyug (16th century) son
• Nam mkha dBang phyug (16th century) son
• Khri Nyi ma dBang phyug (late 16th century) son
• Khri Grags pa'i dBang phyug (c. 1600) son
• Khri Nam rgyal Grags pa lde (fl. 1618) son
• Khri bKra shis Grags pa lde (before 1622-1630) son
• Kingdom conquered by Ladakh (1630)
• Kingdom later conquered by Tibet under the Fifth Dalai Lama (1679-80)

Further reading

• Bellezza, John Vincent: Zhang Zhung. Foundations of Civilization in Tibet. A Historical and Ethnoarchaeological Study of the Monuments, Rock Art, Texts, and Oral Tradition of the Ancient Tibetan Upland. Denkschriften der phil.-hist. Klasse 368. Beitraege zur Kultur- und Geistesgeschichte Asiens 61, Verlag der Oesterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien 2008.
• Zeisler, Bettina. (2010). "East of the Moon and West of the Sun? Approaches to a Land with Many Names, North of Ancient India and South of Khotan." In: The Tibet Journal, Special issue. Autumn 2009 vol XXXIV n. 3-Summer 2010 vol XXXV n. 2. "The Earth Ox Papers", edited by Roberto Vitali, pp. 371–463.

External links

• "Unravelling the mysteries of Guge" by Xiong Lei, China Daily, May 8, 2003, retrieved November 24, 2005