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a tree of physiology festival thangka mani stone history and overview history timeline outline culture index of articles v t e songtsen gampo tibetan སྲོང བཙན སྒམ པོ wylie srong btsan sgam po 1 was the 33rd king tsenpo of tibet from 618 or 629 until his death in 650 and the founder of the tibetan empire a the first of the three dharma kings of tibet he formally introduced buddhism to tibet and built the jokhang under the influence of his queen bhrikuti from the licchavi kingdom of nepal 2 he unified the tibetan plateau 3 conquered lands adjacent to tibet and moved the capital to the potala palace in lhasa 4 his queen mother is identified as driza thökar tibetan འབྲི བཟའ ཐོད དཀར wylie bri bza thod dkar 5 the exact date of his birth and his enthronement are not certain and in tibetan history it is generally accepted that he was born in an ox year of the tibetan calendar 6 according to tsepon w d shakabpa he ascended the throne at age thirteen in 614 and reigned at least until 648 3 7 as tibetan kings usually ascended to the throne around age 13 several earlier dates are also suggested for the birth of songtsen gampo include 569 593 or 605 8 the songtsen library in dehradun india collects preserves and makes accessible ancient tibetan and himalayan religious cultural and historical documents according to traditional beliefs his legendary minister thonmi sambhota was credited for creating the tibetan script and classical tibetan the first literary language of tibet 4 however it is difficult to verify the historical existence of thönmi sambhoṭa and the legend of his invention of the tibetan script 9 which is in any case now usually seen as developing later early life and cultural background edit the burial mound of songtsen gampo surrounded by cultivated fields chyongye valley 1949 it is said that songtsen gampo was born at gyama in meldro a region to the northeast of modern lhasa the son of the yarlung king namri songtsen the book the holder of the white lotus says that it is believed that he was a manifestation of avalokiteśvara of whom the dalai lamas are similarly believed to be a manifestation 10 his identification as a cakravartin and incarnation of avalokiteśvara began in earnest in the indigenous buddhist literary histories of the 11th century 11 family edit songtsen gampo center bhrikuti devi of nepal left and princess wencheng right songtsen gampo s mother the queen was a member of the prominent tsépong clan wylie tshe spong tibetan annals wylie tshes pong which played an important part in the unification of tibet her name is recorded variously but is identified as driza tökar the bri wife named white skull woman wylie bri bza thod dkar tibetan annals wylie bring ma tog dgos 12 songtsen gampo had six consort queens of whom four were tibetan and two were foreign born 13 the highest ranking consort was pogong mongza tricham wylie pho gong mong bza khri lcam also called mongza the mong clan wife who is said to have been the mother of gungsong gungtsen 14 other notable wives include a noble woman of the western xia known as minyakza western xia wife wylie mi nyag bza 15 and a noble woman from zhangzhung well known even today are his two foreign wives the nepali princess bhrikuti the great lady the nepalese wife wylie bal mo bza khri btsun ma as well as the chinese princess wencheng chinese wife wylie rgya mo bza 13 songtsen sponsored the building of two temples to house the images of buddha brought by his nepalese and chinese wives however he showed little interest in propagating buddhism otherwise and was buried according to pre buddhist protocols and rituals when he died 16 songtsen gampo s heir gungsong gungtsen died before his father so his younger son mangsong mangtsen inherited the throne two dunhuang sources give different mothers for mangsong mangtsen the tibetan annals say the mother was the tsenmo princess wencheng of songtsen while the genealogy says it was mangmoje trikar wylie mang mo rje khri skar it is unlikely that the mother was the tsenmo because the annals did not use the honorific kinship term yum mother for her 17 18 tibetan empire era documents found at dunhuang say that songtsen gampo also had a sister sad mar kar or sadmarkar and a younger brother btzan srong who was betrayed and died in a fire c 641 according to one partially damaged scroll from dunhuang there was hostility between sadmarkar and btzan srong who was then forced to settle in gnyal southeast of the yarlung river and across the 5 090 metres 16 700 ft yartö tra pass which borders on modern bhutan and arunachal pradesh in india 19 20 when the prince gungsong gungtsen reached the age of thirteen twelve by western reckoning his father songtsen gampo retired and the prince ruled for five years which could have corresponded to the period when songtsen gampo was working on a new tibetan constitution gungsong gungtsen is also said to have married azha mang mo rje when he was thirteen and they had a son mangsong mangtsen r 650 676 ce gungsong gungtsen is said to have only ruled for these five years and died at eighteen songtsen gampo returned to the throne 21 gungsong 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 22 23 24 according to tibetan tradition songtsen gampo was enthroned while still a minor as the thirty third king of the yarlung dynasty after his father was poisoned circa 618 25 26 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 27 if these traditions are correct he was probably born in the ox year 605 ce the old book of tang notes that he was still a minor when he succeeded to the throne 25 28 the current head of the royal house of tibet and king in exile is a direct descendant of the dharma kings 29 and has been crowned king of tibet by tenzin gyatso 14th dalai lama 30 his majesty king lhagyari trichen namgyal wangchuk 31 lives in the united states and travels the world speaking out for the human and religious rights of the tibetan people under the occupation of the people s republic of china 32 cultural accomplishments edit songtsen gampo sent his minister thonmi sambhota and other young tibetans 33 to india to devise a script for classical tibetan which led to the creation of the first tibetan literary works and translations court records and a constitution 34 after thonmi sambhota returned from india he stayed in retreat at kukhamaru palace in lhasa while creating the tibetan script 33 he then presented the script to the court and taught the king songtsen gampo then retired for four years to learn the written language after which he translated twenty one tantric texts on avalokiteshvara and the mani kumbum 33 tibetan thangka with songtsen gampo wovensouls collection singapore songtsen gampo moved the seat of his newly unified kingdom from the yarlung valley to the kyichu valley site of the future city of lhasa the site itself was originally a herding ground called rasa the place of goats but the name was changed to lhasa the place of gods on the king s founding of the jokhang temple 35 the name lhasa itself originally referred simply to the temple precincts he is also credited with bringing many new cultural and technological advances to tibet the jiu tangshu or old book of tang states that after the defeat in 648 of an indian 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 36 and granted the tibetan king s request for silkworms eggs mortars and presses for making wine and workmen to manufacture paper and ink 37 traditional accounts say that during the reign of songtsen gampo examples of handicrafts and astrological systems were imported from china and the western xia the 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 uyghurs of the second turkic khaganate to the north 38 introduction of mahayana buddhism edit a statue of songtsen gampo in his traditional meditation cave at yerpa songtsen gampo is traditionally credited with being the first to bring mahayana 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 39 40 and tradruk temple in nêdong during his reign the translation of buddhist texts from sanskrit into tibetan began 41 songtsen gampo is considered to be the first of the three dharma kings wylie chos rgyal songtsen gampo trisong detsen and ralpachen who established buddhism in tibet the inscription on the skar cung pillar erected by sadnalegs who ruled c 800 815 reports that during songtsen gampo s reign shrines of the three jewels were established by building the temple of ra sa lhasa and so on 42 the first edict of trisong detsen mentions a community of monks at this vihara 43 620s edit songtsen gampo was adept at diplomacy as well as on the field of battle the king s minister nyang mangpoje shangnang with the aid of troops from zhangzhung defeated the sumpa in northeastern tibet circa 627 tibetan annals ota l 2 630s edit six years later c 632 633 nyang mangpoje shangnang was accused of treason and executed ota l 4 5 richardson 1965 minister gar tongtsen succeeded him the jiu tangshu records that the first ever embassy from tibet arrived in china from songtsen gampo in the 8th zhenguan year or 634 ce 44 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 45 the conquest of zhang zhung edit emperor songtsen gampo with princesses wencheng and bhrikuti there is some confusion as to whether central tibet conquered zhangzhung during the reign of songtsen gampo or in the reign of trisong detsen r 755 until 797 or 804 ce 46 the old book of tang do seems to place these events clearly in the reign of songtsen gampo for they say that in 634 yangtong zhangzhung and various qiang peoples 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 47 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 48 49 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 47 king songtsen gampo sculpture from central tibet 17th century gilt brass with traces of paint early tibetan accounts say that the tibetan king and the king of zhangzhung had married each other s sisters in a political alliance however the tibetan wife of the king of the zhangzhung 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 songtsen 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 50 51 52 r a stein places the conquest of zhangzhung in 645 53 further campaigns edit he next attacked and defeated the tangut people who later formed the western xia state in 942 ce the bailang and qiang tribes 54 55 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 56 after a successful campaign against china in the frontier province of songzhou in 635 36 ota l 607 57 the chinese emperor agreed to send a chinese princess for songtsen gampo to marry around 639 after songtsen gampo had a dispute with his younger brother tsensong wylie brtsan srong the younger brother was burnt to death by his own minister khasek wylie mkha sregs possibly at the behest of the emperor 58 59 640s edit the old book of tang records that when the king of 泥婆羅 nipoluo nepal 60 the father of licchavi king naling deva or narendradeva died an uncle yu sna kug ti vishnagupta usurped the throne 61 the tibetans gave him refuge and reestablished him on his throne in 641 that is how he became subject to tibet 28 62 63 sometime later but still within the zhenguan period 627 650 ce the tibetans sent an envoy to present day nepal where the king received him joyfully and later when a tibetan mission was attacked in present day india by then minister of emperor harshavardhan who had usurped the throne after emperor harshavardhan s death around 647 ce 64 the licchavi king came to their aid 65 songtsen gampo married princess bhrikuti the daughter of king licchavi the chinese princess wencheng niece of the emperor taizong of tang left china in 640 to marry songtsen gampo arriving the next year peace between china and tibet prevailed for the remainder of songtsen gampo s reign both wives are considered to have been incarnations of tara standard tibetan drolma the goddess of compassion the female aspect of chenrezig where dolma or drolma sanskrit means tara as sarat chaundra explains the two wives of emperor songtsen gampo are venerated under this name the chinese princess is called dolkar of the white dolma and the nepalese princess doljang or the green dolma the latter is prayed to by women for fecundity 66 the jokhang temple home of the most venerated statue in tibet the original complex built by this emperor the jiu tangshu adds that songtsen gampo thereupon built a city for the chinese princess and a palace for her within its walls according to chinese sources as the princess disliked their custom of painting their faces red songtsen 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 67 however according to tibetologist john powers such accounts of tibet embracing chinese culture through wenchen...