Songtsen Gampo
Encyclopedia
Songtsän Gampo He is thought to have ascended the throne at age thirteen (twelve by Western reckoning), by this reckoning c. 629 CE.
There are difficulties with this position, however, and several earlier dates for the birth of Songtsän Gampo have been suggested, including 569, 593 or 605. The question must remain open.
), the son of the Yarlung
king Namri Songtsen
. The book The Holder of the White Lotus says that it is believed that he was the reincarnation of the Buddhist saint Avalokiteshvara, of whom the Dalai Lama are similarly believed to be the reincarnation. He is also said to have had webbed hands and feet, a deformed face and odd skin; the early Tibetans saw him as a god and enthroned him. His identification as a cakravartin
or incarnation of Avalokiteśvara
began in earnest in the indigenous Buddhist literary histories of the 11th. century.
He is said to have been born in an unspecified Ox year and was 13 years old (12 by Western reckoning) when he took the throne. This accords with the tradition that the Yarlung kings took the throne when they were 13, and supposedly old enough to ride a horse and rule the kingdom. If these traditions are correct, he was probably born in the Ox year 605 CE. The Jiu Tangshu, or Book of Tang
, notes that he "was still a minor when he succeeded to the throne.".
Songtsän Gampo's mother was, according to tradition, Dringma Togo of the Tsepong clan, which played an important part in the unification of Tibet. He also married Trimonyen Dongsten of the Mong clan, who is said to have been the mother of Gungsong Gungsten; and is said to have had several other wives: a noble woman from Minyak, the Nepal
i princess Bhrikuti Devi (whom many modern scholars are doubtful about), and a princess from Zhangzhung (while his sister, Princess Semarkar, married the king of Zhangzhung - which ultimately led to the conquest of Zhangzhung as described below), as well as the Chinese Princess Wencheng
, or Munchang Kongcho .
Songtsän Gampo's heir, Gungsong Gungsten, died before his father, so his son, Manglon Mangsten, or Mangsong Mangtsen
, took the throne. His mother is sometimes said to have been the Chinese princess, Munchang Koncho, but this is thought to be highly unlikely. His mother was most probably Mangmoje Trikar, who is mentioned in the Genealogy found in the "hidden library" in the caves in Dunhuang
(which lists the names of the Tibetan emperors and the names of their consorts who bore future emperors, and the clans they came from).
to India to devise a script for the Tibetan language
, which led to the creation of the first Tibetan literary works and translations, court records and a constitution
.
Songtsän Gampo moved the seat of his newly unified kingdom from the Yarlung Valley
to Lhasa
.
He is also credited with bringing many new cultural and technological advances to Tibet. The Jiu Tangshu, or Book of Tang
, states that after the defeat in 648 of an India
n army in support of Chinese envoys, the Chinese Emperor, Gaozong
, a devout Buddhist, gave him the title variously written Binwang, "Guest King" or Zongwang, "Cloth-tribute King" and 3,000 rolls of multicoloured silk
in 649 and granted the Tibetan king's request for:
Traditional accounts say that, during the reign of Songtsän Gampo, examples of handicrafts and astrological
systems were imported from China and Minyag; Dharma
and the art of writing came from India; material wealth and treasures from the Nepalis and the lands of the Mongols, while model laws and administration were imported from the Uighurs
to the North.
Songtsän Gampo is traditionally credited with being the first to bring Buddhism
to the Tibetan people
. He is also said to have built many Buddhist temples, including the Jokhang
in Lhasa
, the city in which he is credited in one tradition with founding and establishing as his capital, and Changzhug
in Nêdong
. During his reign, the translation of Buddhist texts from Sanskrit into Tibetan began.
Songtsän Gampo is considered to be the first of the three Dharma Kings (chosgyal) — Songtsän Gampo, Trisong Detsen
, and Ralpacan
— who established Buddhism in Tibet.
The inscription on the Skar-cung pillar (erected by Ralpacan, who ruled c. 800-815) reports that during Songtsän Gampo's reign, "shrines of the Three Jewels were established by building the temple of Ra-sa [Lhasa] and so on." The first edict of Trisong Detsen mentions a community of monks at this vihara
.
(Chinese: Supi) people in north-eastern Tibet circa 627 (Old Tibetan Annals [OTA] l. 2).
Songtsän Gampo is traditionally said to have married the Nepalese princess Bhrikuti
Devi (which, if true, probably took place sometime before 624). Although the story of this marriage is legendary, it is widely believed by Tibetans and some scholars acknowledge "it is quite likely to have taken place."
The Jiu Tangshu records that the first ever embassy from Tibet arrived in China from Songtsän Gampo in the 8th Zhenguan year, or 634 CE. Tang dynasty chronicles describe this as a tribute mission, but it brought an ultimatum demanding a marriage alliance, not subservient rituals. After this demand was refused, Tibet launched victorious military attacks against Tang affiliates in 637 and 638.
There is some confusion as to whether Central Tibet conquered Zhang Zhung during the reign of Songtsän Gampo or in the reign of Trisong Detsän (r. 755 until 797 or 804 CE). The records of the Tang Annals do, however, seem to place these events clearly in the reign of Songtsän Gampo, for they say that in 634, Yangtong (Zhang Zhung) and various Qiang tribes "altogether submitted to him." Following this, he united with the country of Yangtong to defeat the 'Azha, or Tuyuhun, and then conquered two more tribes of Qiang before threatening Songzhou with an army of (according to the Chinese) more than 200,000 men (100,000 according to Tibetan sources). He then sent an envoy with gifts of gold and silk to the Chinese emperor to ask for a Chinese princess in marriage and, when refused, attacked Songzhou. According to the Tang annals, he finally retreated and apologised, and, later, the emperor granted his request, but the histories written in Tibet all say that the Tibetan army defeated the Chinese and that the Tang emperor delivered a bride under threat of force.
Early Tibetan accounts say that the Tibetan king and the king of Zhang Zhung had married each other's sisters in a political alliance. However, the Tibetan wife of the king of the Zhang Zhung complained of poor treatment by the king's principal wife. War ensued, and, through the treachery of the Tibetan princess, "King Ligmikya of Zhangzhung, while on his way to Sum-ba (Amdo
province) was ambushed and killed by King Srongtsen Gampo's soldiers. As a consequence, The Zhangzhung kingdom was annexed to Bod [Central Tibet]. Thereafter the new kingdom born of the unification of Zhangzhung and Bod was known as Bod rGyal-khab." R. A. Stein places the conquest of Zhang Zhung in 645.
, and other Qiang tribes. The Bailan people were bounded on the east by the Tanguts and on the west by the Domi
. They had been subject to the Chinese since 624.
After a successful campaign against China in the frontier province of Songzhou in 635–36 (OTA l. 607), the Chinese emperor agreed to send a Chinese princess for Songtsän Gampo to marry.
Circa 639, after Songtsän Gampo had a dispute with his younger brother Tsänsong (Brtsan-srong), the younger brother was burnt to death by his own minister Khäsreg (Mkha’s sregs) (possibly at the behest of his older brother, the emperor).
"), the father of Licchavi
, king Naling Deva (or Narendradeva), died, an uncle, Yu.sna kug.ti, Vishnagupta) usurped the throne. "The Tibetans gave him refuge and reestablished him on his throne [in 641]; that is how he became subject to Tibet."
Sometime later, but still within the Zhenguan period (627-650 CE), the Tibetans sent an envoy to Nepal, where the king received him "joyfully", and, later, when a Tibetan mission was attacked in India around 647, the Nepalese king came to their aid.
The Chinese Princess Wencheng
, niece of the Emperor Taizong of Tang China, left China in 640 to marry Songtsän Gampo, arriving the next year. Peace between China and Tibet prevailed for the remainder of Songtsän Gampo's reign.
Both wives are considered to have been incarnations of Tara
, the Goddess
of Compassion
, the female aspect of Chenrezig:
The Jiu Tangshu adds that Songtsän Gampo thereupon built a city for the Chinese princess, and a palace for her within its walls.
However, according to Tibetologist John Powers, such accounts of Tibet embracing Chinese culture through Wencheng are not corroborated by Tibetan histories.
Songtsän Gampo's sister Sad-mar-kar was sent to marry Lig-myi-rhya, the king of Zhang-zhung
. However, when the king refused to consummate the marriage, she then helped Songtsän Gampo to defeat Lig myi-rhya and incorporate the Zhang-zhung of Western Tibet into the Tibetan Empire in 645, thus gaining control of most, if not all, of the Tibetan plateau.
Following the visit by the famous Chinese pilgrim monk Xuanzang
to the court of Harsha
, the king of Magadha
, Harsha sent a mission to China which, in turn, responded by sending an embassy consisting of Li Yibiao and Wang Xuance
, who probably travelled through Tibet and whose journey is commemorated in inscriptions at Rajagrha - modern Rajgir
– and Bodhgaya.
Wang Xuanze made a second journey in 648, but he was badly treated by Harsha's successor and his mission plundered. This elicited a response from Tibetan and Nepalese troops who, together, soundly defeated the Indians.
In 649, the King of Xihai Jun
was conferred upon Songtsen Gampo by Tang Gaozong, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty
.
According to the Tibetan Annals
, Songtsän Gampo must have died in 649, and, in 650, the Tang emperor sent an envoy with a "letter of mourning and condolences". His tomb is in the Chongyas Valley near Yalung.
Songtsän Gampo was succeeded by his infant grandson Mangsong Mangtsen
, or Khri-mang-slon-rtsan, 650-676 CE. Real power was left in the hands of the minister Mgar-srong-rtsan. After this point, the dates in Tibetan history become somewhat firmer.
Some Dunhuang
documents say that, as well as his sister Sad-mar-kar (or Sa-tha-ma-kar), Songtsän Gampo had a younger brother who was betrayed and died in a fire, sometime after 641. Apparently, according to one partially damaged scroll from Dunhuang, there was hostility between Sa-tha-ma-kar and Songtsän Gampo's younger brother, bTzan-srong, who, as a result, was forced to settle in gNyal (an old district to the southeast of Yarlung and across the 5,090 metre (16,700 ft) Yartö Tra Pass, which bordered on modern Bhutan
and Arunachal Pradesh
in India). Little, if anything, else is known about this brother.
Songtsän Gampo is said to have had five wives. Nepalese princess Khri b'Tsun, or "Royal Lady" (Bhrikuti Devi), and the Chinese Princess Wencheng
, both devout Buddhists, are the best known, but he also married daughters of the King of Zhang-zhung and the King of Minyak, as well as one each from the Ruyong and Mong (or Mang) clans (although other lists exist).
Songtsän Gampo's only son, Gungsrong Gungtsen
(Gung-srong gung-btsan), was born to Mangza Tricham (Mang bza' Khri lcham or Mang bza' Khri-mo-mnyen lDong-steng), Princess of Mang, from Tolung (sTod lung), a valley to the west of Lhasa.
Some accounts say that when Gungsrong Gungtsen reached the age of thirteen (twelve by Western reckoning), his father, Songtsän Gampo, retired, and he ruled for five years (which could have been the period when Songtsän Gampo was working on the new constitution). Gungsrong Gungtsen is also said to have married 'A-zha Mang-mo-rje when he was thirteen, and they had a son, Mangsong Mangtsen
(r. 650-676 CE). Gungsrong Gungtsen is said to have only ruled for five years when he died at eighteen. His father, Songtsän Gampo, took the throne again. Gungsrong Gungtsen is said to have been buried at Donkhorda, the site of the royal tombs, to the left of the tomb of his grandfather Namri Songtsen
(gNam-ri Srong-btsan). The dates for these events are very unclear.
Songtsän Gampo was succeeded by his grandson, Mangsong Mangtsen
, probably in 650 CE.
There are difficulties with this position, however, and several earlier dates for the birth of Songtsän Gampo have been suggested, including 569, 593 or 605. The question must remain open.
Early life and cultural background
It is said that Songtsän Gampo was born at Gyama, in Maldro (a region to the northeast of modern LhasaLhasa
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...
), the son of the Yarlung
Yarlung
Yarlung can refer to:*Yarlung Kingdom, see also: Tibetan empire*Yarlung Dynasty, see also: List of emperors of Tibet*Yarlung Valley, formed by the Yarlung River and refers especially to the district where it joins with the Chongye River, and broadens out into a large plain about 2 km wide, before...
king Namri Songtsen
Namri Songtsen
Namri Songtsen , also known as "Namri Löntsen" was, according to tradition, the 32nd King of Tibet , despite the fact he formerly ruled only the Yarlung valley, and later the central part of the Tibetan plateau...
. The book The Holder of the White Lotus says that it is believed that he was the reincarnation of the Buddhist saint Avalokiteshvara, of whom the Dalai Lama are similarly believed to be the reincarnation. He is also said to have had webbed hands and feet, a deformed face and odd skin; the early Tibetans saw him as a god and enthroned him. His identification as a cakravartin
Chakravartin
Chakravartin , is a term used in Indian religions for an ideal universal ruler, who rules ethically and benevolently over the entire world. Such a ruler's reign is called sarvabhauma. It is a bahuvrīhi, literally meaning "whose wheels are moving", in the sense of "whose chariot is rolling...
or incarnation of Avalokiteśvara
Avalokitesvara
Avalokiteśvara is a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. He is one of the more widely revered bodhisattvas in mainstream Mahayana Buddhism....
began in earnest in the indigenous Buddhist literary histories of the 11th. century.
Family
According to Tibetan tradition, Songstän Gampo was enthroned while still a minor as the thirty-third king of the Yarlung Dynasty after his father was poisoned circa 618 (i.e. before he was 13 - or 12 years old by Western reckoning).He is said to have been born in an unspecified Ox year and was 13 years old (12 by Western reckoning) when he took the throne. This accords with the tradition that the Yarlung kings took the throne when they were 13, and supposedly old enough to ride a horse and rule the kingdom. If these traditions are correct, he was probably born in the Ox year 605 CE. The Jiu Tangshu, or Book of Tang
Book of Tang
The Book of Tang , Jiu Tangshu or the Old Book of Tang is the first classic work about the Tang Dynasty. The book began when Gaozu of Later Jin ordered its commencement in 941...
, notes that he "was still a minor when he succeeded to the throne.".
Songtsän Gampo's mother was, according to tradition, Dringma Togo of the Tsepong clan, which played an important part in the unification of Tibet. He also married Trimonyen Dongsten of the Mong clan, who is said to have been the mother of Gungsong Gungsten; and is said to have had several other wives: a noble woman from Minyak, the Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
i princess Bhrikuti Devi (whom many modern scholars are doubtful about), and a princess from Zhangzhung (while his sister, Princess Semarkar, married the king of Zhangzhung - which ultimately led to the conquest of Zhangzhung as described below), as well as the Chinese Princess Wencheng
Princess Wencheng
Princess Wencheng was a niece of the powerful Emperor Taizong of China's Tang Dynasty, who left China in 640, according to records, arriving the next year in Tibet to marry the thirty-seven year old Songtsän Gampo the thirty-third king of the Yarlung Dynasty of Tibet, in a marriage of...
, or Munchang Kongcho .
Songtsän Gampo's heir, Gungsong Gungsten, died before his father, so his son, Manglon Mangsten, or Mangsong Mangtsen
Mangsong Mangtsen
Mangsong Mangtsen, Trimang Löntsen or Khri-mang-slon-rtsan succeeded to the throne after the death of his grandfather, Songtsän Gampo, and was the second emperor of the newly created Tibetan Empire....
, took the throne. His mother is sometimes said to have been the Chinese princess, Munchang Koncho, but this is thought to be highly unlikely. His mother was most probably Mangmoje Trikar, who is mentioned in the Genealogy found in the "hidden library" in the caves in Dunhuang
Dunhuang
Dunhuang is a city in northwestern Gansu province, Western China. It was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road. It was also known at times as Shāzhōu , or 'City of Sands', a name still used today...
(which lists the names of the Tibetan emperors and the names of their consorts who bore future emperors, and the clans they came from).
Cultural activities
Songtsän Gampo is said to have sent his minister Thonmi SambhotaThonmi Sambhota
Thonmi Sambhota [bhrahmi samhita; localized form of ]is traditionally regarded as the creator of the Tibetan script and author of the Sum cu pa and Rtags kyi 'jug pa in the 7th century AD. Thonmi Sambhota is not mentioned in any of the Old Tibetan Annals or other ancient texts, although the Annals...
to India to devise a script for the Tibetan language
Tibetan language
The Tibetan languages are a cluster of mutually-unintelligible Tibeto-Burman languages spoken primarily by Tibetan peoples who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering the Indian subcontinent, including the Tibetan Plateau and the northern Indian subcontinent in Baltistan, Ladakh,...
, which led to the creation of the first Tibetan literary works and translations, court records and a constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
.
Songtsän Gampo moved the seat of his newly unified kingdom from the Yarlung Valley
Yarlung Valley
The Yarlung Valley is formed by the Yarlung River and refers especially to the district where it joins with the Chongye River, and broadens out into a large plain about 2 km wide, before they flow north into the Yarlung Zangbo River or Brahmaputra. It is situated in Nedong County of Lhokha...
to 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...
.
He is also credited with bringing many new cultural and technological advances to Tibet. The Jiu Tangshu, or Book of Tang
Book of Tang
The Book of Tang , Jiu Tangshu or the Old Book of Tang is the first classic work about the Tang Dynasty. The book began when Gaozu of Later Jin ordered its commencement in 941...
, states that after the defeat in 648 of an India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n army in support of Chinese envoys, the Chinese Emperor, Gaozong
Gaozong
Gaozong is the temple name of several Chinese Emperors. It can refer to:* Emperor Yuan of Han * Emperor Gaozong of Tang * Emperor Gaozong of Song...
, a devout Buddhist, gave him the title variously written Binwang, "Guest King" or Zongwang, "Cloth-tribute King" and 3,000 rolls of multicoloured silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
in 649 and granted the Tibetan king's request for:
- "... silkworms' eggs, mortars and presses for making wine, and workmen to manufacture paper and ink."
Traditional accounts say that, during the reign of Songtsän Gampo, examples of handicrafts and astrological
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
systems were imported from China and Minyag; Dharma
Dharma
Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
and the art of writing came from India; material wealth and treasures from the Nepalis and the lands of the Mongols, while model laws and administration were imported from the Uighurs
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
to the North.
Introduction of Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
to the Tibetan people
Tibetan people
The Tibetan people are an ethnic group that is native to Tibet, which is mostly in the People's Republic of China. They number 5.4 million and are the 10th largest ethnic group in the country. Significant Tibetan minorities also live in India, Nepal, and Bhutan...
. He is also said to have built many Buddhist temples, including the Jokhang
Jokhang
The Jokhang, , also called the Qokang Monastery, Jokang, Jokhang Temple, Jokhang Monastery or Zuglagkang , is located on Barkhor Square in Lhasa. For most Tibetans it is the most sacred and important temple in Tibet. It is in some regards pan-sectarian, but is presently controlled by the Gelug school...
in 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...
, the city in which he is credited in one tradition with founding and establishing as his capital, and Changzhug
Changzhug
Tradruk Temple, also written Changzhug Monastery , in the Yarlung Valley is the earliest great geomantic temple after the Jokhang - and some sources say it is even pre-dates the Jokhang....
in Nêdong
Nêdong County
Nêdong County, is a county of the Shannan Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region....
. During his reign, the translation of Buddhist texts from Sanskrit into Tibetan began.
Songtsän Gampo is considered to be the first of the three Dharma Kings (chosgyal) — Songtsän Gampo, Trisong Detsen
Trisong Detsen
Trisong Detsän or Trisong Detsen ཁྲི་སྲོང་ལྡེ་བཙན , was the son of Me Agtsom and one of the emperors of Tibet and ruled...
, and Ralpacan
Ralpacan
Ralpacan , born c. 806, the Year of the Dog was, according to traditional sources, the 41st King of Tibet, ruling from the death of his father, Sadnalegs, in c. 815, until 838 CE...
— who established Buddhism in Tibet.
The inscription on the Skar-cung pillar (erected by Ralpacan, who ruled c. 800-815) reports that during Songtsän Gampo's reign, "shrines of the Three Jewels were established by building the temple of Ra-sa [Lhasa] and so on." The first edict of Trisong Detsen mentions a community of monks at this vihara
Vihara
Vihara is the Sanskrit and Pali term for a Buddhist monastery. It originally meant "a secluded place in which to walk", and referred to "dwellings" or "refuges" used by wandering monks during the rainy season....
.
620s
Songtsän Gampo was adept at diplomacy as well as on the field of battle. The king's minister, Myang Mang-po-rje, with the aid of troops from Zhang Zhung, defeated the SumpaSumpa
The Sumpa were a tribe living in northeastern Tibet from ancient times. According to historical sources they descended from the Qiang people, and they likely spoke a Tibetan dialect. Their territory was absorbed by the Tibetan Empire in the late 7th century, after which point they gradually lost...
(Chinese: Supi) people in north-eastern Tibet circa 627 (Old Tibetan Annals [OTA] l. 2).
Songtsän Gampo is traditionally said to have married the Nepalese princess Bhrikuti
Bhrikuti
The Nepali Princess Bhrikuti Devi, known to Tibetans as Bal-mo-bza' Khri-btsun, Bhelsa Tritsun or, simply, Khri bTsun , is traditionally considered to have been the first wife of the earliest emperor of Tibet, Songtsän Gampo , and an incarnation of Tara...
Devi (which, if true, probably took place sometime before 624). Although the story of this marriage is legendary, it is widely believed by Tibetans and some scholars acknowledge "it is quite likely to have taken place."
630s
Six years later (c. 632/633), Myang Mang-po-rje Zhang-shang was accused of treason and executed (OTA l. 4-5, Richardson 1965). Minister Mgar-srong-rtsan succeeded him.The Jiu Tangshu records that the first ever embassy from Tibet arrived in China from Songtsän Gampo in the 8th Zhenguan year, or 634 CE. Tang dynasty chronicles describe this as a tribute mission, but it brought an ultimatum demanding a marriage alliance, not subservient rituals. After this demand was refused, Tibet launched victorious military attacks against Tang affiliates in 637 and 638.
The conquest of Zhang Zhung
Early Tibetan accounts say that the Tibetan king and the king of Zhang Zhung had married each other's sisters in a political alliance. However, the Tibetan wife of the king of the Zhang Zhung complained of poor treatment by the king's principal wife. War ensued, and, through the treachery of the Tibetan princess, "King Ligmikya of Zhangzhung, while on his way to Sum-ba (Amdo
Amdo
Amdo is one of the three traditional regions of Tibet, the other two being Ü-Tsang and Kham; it is also the birth place of the 14th Dalai Lama. Amdo encompasses a large area from the Machu River to the Drichu river . While culturally and ethnically a Tibetan area, Amdo has been administered by a...
province) was ambushed and killed by King Srongtsen Gampo's soldiers. As a consequence, The Zhangzhung kingdom was annexed to Bod [Central Tibet]. Thereafter the new kingdom born of the unification of Zhangzhung and Bod was known as Bod rGyal-khab." R. A. Stein places the conquest of Zhang Zhung in 645.
Further campaigns
He next attacked and defeated the Dangxian, or "Western Xia" people (who later formed the Tangut state in 942 CE), the BailanBailan
The Bailan are an early Tibeto-Burman people known from 6th century BC transcriptions of songs in their language, and their translation into Chinese.-References:...
, and other Qiang tribes. The Bailan people were bounded on the east by the Tanguts and on the west by the Domi
Domi
Domi may refer to:*Binə, Khojavend, Azerbaijan*DOM Inspector, software*Didier Domi, French footballer*Mahir Domi, Albanian linguist.*Tie Domi, Canadian ice hockey player*Dominika Cibulková, Slovakian tennis player...
. They had been subject to the Chinese since 624.
After a successful campaign against China in the frontier province of Songzhou in 635–36 (OTA l. 607), the Chinese emperor agreed to send a Chinese princess for Songtsän Gampo to marry.
Circa 639, after Songtsän Gampo had a dispute with his younger brother Tsänsong (Brtsan-srong), the younger brother was burnt to death by his own minister Khäsreg (Mkha’s sregs) (possibly at the behest of his older brother, the emperor).
640s
The Jiu Tangshu records that when the king of 泥婆羅, Nipoluo ("NepalNepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
"), the father of Licchavi
Licchavi
Licchavi was an ancient kingdom in Nepal, which existed in the Kathmandu Valley from approximately 400 to 750. Centuries earlier, at the start of the Buddhist era a powerful republic known as Licchavi existed in what is today Bihar. There is no conclusive evidence of any ethnic or historic links...
, king Naling Deva (or Narendradeva), died, an uncle, Yu.sna kug.ti, Vishnagupta) usurped the throne. "The Tibetans gave him refuge and reestablished him on his throne [in 641]; that is how he became subject to Tibet."
Sometime later, but still within the Zhenguan period (627-650 CE), the Tibetans sent an envoy to Nepal, where the king received him "joyfully", and, later, when a Tibetan mission was attacked in India around 647, the Nepalese king came to their aid.
The Chinese Princess Wencheng
Princess Wencheng
Princess Wencheng was a niece of the powerful Emperor Taizong of China's Tang Dynasty, who left China in 640, according to records, arriving the next year in Tibet to marry the thirty-seven year old Songtsän Gampo the thirty-third king of the Yarlung Dynasty of Tibet, in a marriage of...
, niece of the Emperor Taizong of Tang China, left China in 640 to marry Songtsän Gampo, arriving the next year. Peace between China and Tibet prevailed for the remainder of Songtsän Gampo's reign.
Both wives are considered to have been incarnations of Tara
Tara (Buddhism)
Tara or Ārya Tārā, also known as Jetsun Dolma in Tibetan Buddhism, is a female Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism who appears as a female Buddha in Vajrayana Buddhism. She is known as the "mother of liberation", and represents the virtues of success in work and achievements...
, the Goddess
Deity
A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
of Compassion
Compassion
Compassion is a virtue — one in which the emotional capacities of empathy and sympathy are regarded as a part of love itself, and a cornerstone of greater social interconnection and humanism — foundational to the highest principles in philosophy, society, and personhood.There is an aspect of...
, the female aspect of Chenrezig:
- "Dolma, or Drolma (Sanskrit Tara). The two wives of Emperor Srong-btsan gambo are worshipped under this name. The Chinese princess is called Dol-kar, of 'the white Dolma,' and the Nepalese princess Dol-jang, or 'the green Dolma.' The latter is prayed to by women for fecundity."
- "As the princess disliked their custom of painting their faces red, Lungstan (Songtsän Gampo) ordered his people to put a stop to the practice, and it was no longer done. He also discarded his felt and skins, put on brocade and silk, and gradually copied Chinese civilization. He also sent the children of his chiefs and rich men to request admittance into the national school to be taught the classics, and invited learned scholars from China to compose his official reports to the emperor."
However, according to Tibetologist John Powers, such accounts of Tibet embracing Chinese culture through Wencheng are not corroborated by Tibetan histories.
Songtsän Gampo's sister Sad-mar-kar was sent to marry Lig-myi-rhya, the king of Zhang-zhung
Zhang Zhung culture
Zhang Zhung, Shang Shung, or Tibetan Pinyin Xang Xung, was an ancient culture and kingdom of western and northwestern Tibet, which pre-dates the culture of Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet. Zhang Zhung culture is associated with the Bon religion, which in turn, has influenced the philosophies and...
. However, when the king refused to consummate the marriage, she then helped Songtsän Gampo to defeat Lig myi-rhya and incorporate the Zhang-zhung of Western Tibet into the Tibetan Empire in 645, thus gaining control of most, if not all, of the Tibetan plateau.
Following the visit by the famous Chinese pilgrim monk Xuanzang
Xuanzang
Xuanzang was a famous Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator who described the interaction between China and India in the early Tang period...
to the court of Harsha
Harsha
Harsha or Harsha Vardhana or Harshvardhan was an Indian emperor who ruled northern India from 606 to 647 AD. He was the son of Prabhakara Vardhana and younger brother of Rajya Vardhana, a king of Thanesar, Haryana...
, the king of Magadha
Magadha
Magadha formed one of the sixteen Mahājanapadas or kingdoms in ancient India. The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganga; its first capital was Rajagriha then Pataliputra...
, Harsha sent a mission to China which, in turn, responded by sending an embassy consisting of Li Yibiao and Wang Xuance
Wang Xuance
Wang Xuance , fl. 7th century) was a Tang Dynasty guard officer and diplomat. In 648, Tang Taizong sent him to India in response to Harshavardhana sending an ambassador to China. However once in India he discovered Harshavardhana had died and the new king attacked Wang and his 30 mounted subordinates...
, who probably travelled through Tibet and whose journey is commemorated in inscriptions at Rajagrha - modern Rajgir
Rajgir
Rajgir is a city and a notified area in Nalanda district in the Indian state of Bihar. The city of Rajgir was the first capital of the kingdom of Magadha, a state that would eventually evolve into the Mauryan Empire. Its date of origin is unknown, although ceramics dating to about 1000 BC have...
– and Bodhgaya.
Wang Xuanze made a second journey in 648, but he was badly treated by Harsha's successor and his mission plundered. This elicited a response from Tibetan and Nepalese troops who, together, soundly defeated the Indians.
In 649, the King of Xihai Jun
Xihai Jun
Xihai Jun is a prefecture of ancient China located in Qingzang Plateau. Xi means west, Hai means sea, and Jun is a kind of administrative unit above county in ancient China and may be translated as prefecture or province....
was conferred upon Songtsen Gampo by Tang Gaozong, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
.
According to the Tibetan Annals
Tibetan Annals
The Tibetan Annals, or Old Tibetan Annals , are composed of two manuscripts written in Old Tibetan language found in the early 20th century in the "hidden library", the Mogao Grottoes near Dunhuang, which is believed to have been sealed in the 11th century CE...
, Songtsän Gampo must have died in 649, and, in 650, the Tang emperor sent an envoy with a "letter of mourning and condolences". His tomb is in the Chongyas Valley near Yalung.
Songtsän Gampo was succeeded by his infant grandson Mangsong Mangtsen
Mangsong Mangtsen
Mangsong Mangtsen, Trimang Löntsen or Khri-mang-slon-rtsan succeeded to the throne after the death of his grandfather, Songtsän Gampo, and was the second emperor of the newly created Tibetan Empire....
, or Khri-mang-slon-rtsan, 650-676 CE. Real power was left in the hands of the minister Mgar-srong-rtsan. After this point, the dates in Tibetan history become somewhat firmer.
Songtsän Gampo's family and wives
Dunhuang
Dunhuang is a city in northwestern Gansu province, Western China. It was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road. It was also known at times as Shāzhōu , or 'City of Sands', a name still used today...
documents say that, as well as his sister Sad-mar-kar (or Sa-tha-ma-kar), Songtsän Gampo had a younger brother who was betrayed and died in a fire, sometime after 641. Apparently, according to one partially damaged scroll from Dunhuang, there was hostility between Sa-tha-ma-kar and Songtsän Gampo's younger brother, bTzan-srong, who, as a result, was forced to settle in gNyal (an old district to the southeast of Yarlung and across the 5,090 metre (16,700 ft) Yartö Tra Pass, which bordered on modern Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
and Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh is a state of India, located in the far northeast. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south, and shares international borders with Burma in the east, Bhutan in the west, and the People's Republic of China in the north. The majority of the territory is claimed by...
in India). Little, if anything, else is known about this brother.
Songtsän Gampo is said to have had five wives. Nepalese princess Khri b'Tsun, or "Royal Lady" (Bhrikuti Devi), and the Chinese Princess Wencheng
Princess Wencheng
Princess Wencheng was a niece of the powerful Emperor Taizong of China's Tang Dynasty, who left China in 640, according to records, arriving the next year in Tibet to marry the thirty-seven year old Songtsän Gampo the thirty-third king of the Yarlung Dynasty of Tibet, in a marriage of...
, both devout Buddhists, are the best known, but he also married daughters of the King of Zhang-zhung and the King of Minyak, as well as one each from the Ruyong and Mong (or Mang) clans (although other lists exist).
Songtsän Gampo's only son, Gungsrong Gungtsen
Gungsrong Gungtsen
Gungsrong Gungtsen, Gungsong Gungsten, or Kungsong Kungtsen was the only known son of Songtsän Gampo , the first Tibetan emperor....
(Gung-srong gung-btsan), was born to Mangza Tricham (Mang bza' Khri lcham or Mang bza' Khri-mo-mnyen lDong-steng), Princess of Mang, from Tolung (sTod lung), a valley to the west of Lhasa.
Mangsong Mangtsen
Mangsong Mangtsen, Trimang Löntsen or Khri-mang-slon-rtsan succeeded to the throne after the death of his grandfather, Songtsän Gampo, and was the second emperor of the newly created Tibetan Empire....
(r. 650-676 CE). Gungsrong Gungtsen is said to have only ruled for five years when he died at eighteen. His father, Songtsän Gampo, took the throne again. Gungsrong Gungtsen is said to have been buried at Donkhorda, the site of the royal tombs, to the left of the tomb of his grandfather Namri Songtsen
Namri Songtsen
Namri Songtsen , also known as "Namri Löntsen" was, according to tradition, the 32nd King of Tibet , despite the fact he formerly ruled only the Yarlung valley, and later the central part of the Tibetan plateau...
(gNam-ri Srong-btsan). The dates for these events are very unclear.
Songtsän Gampo was succeeded by his grandson, Mangsong Mangtsen
Mangsong Mangtsen
Mangsong Mangtsen, Trimang Löntsen or Khri-mang-slon-rtsan succeeded to the throne after the death of his grandfather, Songtsän Gampo, and was the second emperor of the newly created Tibetan Empire....
, probably in 650 CE.
External links
- http://www.asianart.com/articles/jaya/kings.html A list of LicchaviLicchaviLicchavi was an ancient kingdom in Nepal, which existed in the Kathmandu Valley from approximately 400 to 750. Centuries earlier, at the start of the Buddhist era a powerful republic known as Licchavi existed in what is today Bihar. There is no conclusive evidence of any ethnic or historic links...
kings and their attributed dates, from: "A Kushan-period Sculpture from the reign of Jaya Varma-, A.D. 184/185. Kathmandu, Nepal." Kashinath Tamot and Ian Alsop. See: http://www.asianart.com/articles/jaya/index01_12.html