Drakpa Odzer

Last updated

Drakpa Odzer (Wylie : Grags pa 'od zer) (1246 - 1303) was a Tibetan Imperial Preceptor (Dishi) at the court of the Mongol Yuan dynasty. He hailed from Sakya which was the foremost monastic regime in Tibet in this period. He held the post from 1291 to his death in 1303.

Wylie transliteration Method for transliterating Tibetan script

The Wylie transliteration system is a method for transliterating Tibetan script using only the letters available on a typical English language typewriter. It bears the name of American tibetologist Turrell V. Wylie, who described the scheme in an article, A Standard System of Tibetan Transcription, published in 1959. It has subsequently become a standard transliteration scheme in Tibetan studies, especially in the United States.

Tibetan people ethnic group

The Tibetan people are an ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 6.5 million. In addition to living in Tibet Autonomous Region, significant numbers of Tibetans live in other parts of China, as well as in India, Nepal, Bhutan and the western world.

The Imperial Preceptor, or Dishi was a high title and powerful post created by Kublai Khan, founder of the Yuan dynasty. It was established as part of Mongol patronage of Tibetan Buddhism and Yuan administrative rule of Tibet.

Contents

Political background

Since the mid-13th century the abbots of the Sakya Monastery had been the main middlemen between Tibet and the Mongol conquerors. In 1270 one of their line, Phagpa was appointed Imperial Preceptor (Dishi). The Dishi resided near the emperor and had a major influence in the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs (Xuanzheng Yuan). [1] Up to 1286 the dignity was filled by members of the Khon family who were also usually hereditary abbots of Sakya. However, due to the lack of fully ordained members of the lineage after that date, persons from other clerical elite families of Sakya origins were appointed.

Sakya Monastery building in Peoples Republic of China

Sakya Monastery, also known as Pel Sakya is a Buddhist monastery situated 25 km southeast of a bridge which is about 127 km west of Shigatse on the road to Tingri in Tibet Autonomous Region.

Drogön Chögyal Phagpa Tibetan Lama

Drogön Chogyal Phagpa, was the fifth leader of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. He was also the first Imperial Preceptor of Kublai Khan's Yuan dynasty, division of the Mongol Empire, and was concurrently named the director of the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs. Historical tradition remembers him as the first vice-ruler of Tibet under the Mongol Khagan as well as one of the Five Sakya patriarchs. Although this is historically disputed, he played a very important political role.

Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs government agency and top-level administrative department set up in Khanbaliq (modern Beijing) that supervised Buddhist monks in addition to managing the territory of Tibet during the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) established by Kublai Khan.

The Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs, or Xuanzheng Yuan was a government agency and top-level administrative department set up in Khanbaliq that supervised Buddhist monks in addition to managing the territory of Tibet during the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) established by Kublai Khan. It was originally set up in 1264 as an autonomous office named Zongzhi Yuan or the Bureau of General Regulation, before it was renamed in 1288, which was named after the Xuanzheng Hall where Tibetan envoys were received in the Tang dynasty. In the Mongol Empire, Tibet was managed by the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs, separate from the other provinces of the Yuan dynasty such as those governed the former Song dynasty of China, but still under the administrative rule of the Yuan. While no modern equivalents remain, the political functions of the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs might have been analogous to the India Office in London during the British Raj. Besides holding the title of Imperial Preceptor or Dishi, Drogön Chögyal Phagpa, the fifth leader of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism, was concurrently named the director of the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs. One of the department's purposes was to select a dpon-chen, usually appointed by the lama and confirmed by the Mongol emperor in Beijing. Tibetan Buddhism was not only practiced within the capital Beijing but throughout the country. Apart from Tibetan affairs, the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs managed the entire Buddhist clergy throughout the realm, and supervised all temples, monasteries, and other Buddhist properties in the empire, at least in name. According to scholar Evelyn Rawski, it supervised 360 Buddhist monasteries. To emphasize its importance for Hangzhou, capital of the former Southern Song dynasty and the largest city in the Yuan realm, a branch Xuanzheng Yuan was established in that city in 1291, although Tibetan Buddhism took public or official precedence over Han Chinese Buddhism.

As imperial preceptor

One such family were the Khangsarpa. One of their line, Sumpa Drakpa Gyaltsen, begot two sons called Drakpa Odzer and Sanggye Pal. Drakpa Odzer became the general administrator in charge of Phagpa's property. Later on he accompanied Phagpa's nephew Dharmapala Raksita when he moved to Beijing to take up the Dishi dignity in 1282. [2] When the next Dishi Yeshe Rinchen vacated his position in 1291, Drakpa Odzer was appointed his successor. As such he was confronted with the issue of the succession to the abbot-ship of Sakya, which was kept strictly apart from the Dishi position. At this time a man of the Sharpa family, Jamyang Rinchen Gyaltsen, took care of the Sakya see. The administrator ( dpon-chen or ponchen) in Central Tibet, Aglen, took the initiative for summoning a council in Sakya where the leading clerics agreed to send a petition to Drakpa Odzer. There they requested that the only surviving member of the Khon family, Zangpo Pal, would be allowed to take up the position of abbot-ruler. Drakpa Odzer consented, possibly out of political necessity, and forwarded the petition to the emperor Temür who approved it. [3] Zangpo Pal returned to Sakya in 1298, although he was not fully installed until 1306. Drakpa Odzer died at the imperial court in 1303. [4] He was succeeded by the ex-abbot Jamyang Rinchen Gyaltsen. Later on, in 1305, his younger brother Sanggye Pal became Dishi.

Sanggye Pal was a Tibetan Imperial Preceptor (Dishi) at the court of the Mongol Yuan dynasty. He hailed from Sakya which was the foremost monastic regime in Tibet in this period. He held the dignity from 1305 to his death in 1314.

Dharmapala Raksita was the head of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism, which was the most powerful school in Tibet under the Yuan dynasty from 1280-1282. He also held the title of Imperial Preceptor (Dishi), from 1282-1286.

Beijing Municipality in Peoples Republic of China

Beijing, alternatively romanized as Peking, is the capital of the People's Republic of China, the world's third most populous city proper, and most populous capital city. The city, located in northern China, is governed as a municipality under the direct administration of central government with 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts. Beijing Municipality is surrounded by Hebei Province with the exception of neighboring Tianjin Municipality to the southeast; together the three divisions form the Jingjinji metropolitan region and the national capital region of China.

See also

Tibet under Yuan rule time period in Tibet from approximately 1270 to 1350

Tibet under Yuan rule refers to the Yuan dynasty's rule over Tibet from approximately 1270 to 1354. During the Yuan rule of Tibet, the region was structurally, militarily and administratively controlled by the Mongol Yuan dynasty, a division of the Mongol Empire. In the history of Tibet, The Mongol rule was established after Sakya Pandita got power in Tibet from the Mongols in 1244, following the 1240 Mongol conquest of Tibet led by the Mongol general with the title doord darkhan. It is also called the Sakya dynasty after the favored Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism.

History of Tibet aspect of history

Tibetan history, as it has been recorded, is particularly focused on the history of Buddhism in Tibet. This is partly due to the pivotal role this religion has played in the development of Tibetan and Mongol cultures and partly because almost all native historians of the country were Buddhist monks.

Mongol Empire former country in Asia and Europe

The Mongol Empire existed during the 13th and 14th centuries; it became the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in Mongolia, the Mongol Empire eventually stretched from Eastern Europe and parts of Central Europe to the Sea of Japan, extending northwards into Siberia; eastwards and southwards into the Indian subcontinent, Indochina and the Iranian Plateau; and westwards as far as the Levant and the Carpathian Mountains.

Related Research Articles

Sakya Pandita Tibetan Lama

Sakya PanditaKunga Gyeltsen 1182-28 November 1251) was a Tibetan spiritual leader and Buddhist scholar and the fourth of the Five Sakya Forefathers. Künga Gyeltsen is generally known simply as Sakya Pandita, a title given to him in recognition of his scholarly achievements and knowledge of Sanskrit. He is held in the tradition to have been an emanation of Manjusri, the embodiment of the wisdom of all the Buddhas.

Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen was a key figure in Tibetan History. He was the founder of the Phagmodrupa Dynasty which replaced the old Mongol-backed Sakya regime, ending the Tibet under Yuan rule. He ruled most of Tibet as desi (regent) from 1354 to 1364, and as a law-giver, politician and religious patron, he created a heritage that lasted for centuries.

Jamyang Rinchen Gyeltsen, was the ruler of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism, which had precedence in Tibet under the Yuan dynasty, in 1286-1303. He also held the title of Imperial Preceptor ( Dishi) from 1304 to his demise in 1305.

Zangpo Pal, in full Danyi Chenpo Zangpo Pal, was the ruler of Sakya, which held a precedence position in Tibet under the Yuan dynasty. He ruled nominally from 1298, in reality from 1306 to his death in 1323.

Khatsun Namkha Lekpa Gyaltsen, orthographic spelling mK'as btsun nam mk'a legs pa'i rgyal mts'an, was a ruler of Sakya, which had a precedence position in Tibet under the Yuan dynasty. He reigned from 1325 to 1341, but was more prominent in religious than in worldly affairs, and his time saw the beginning of the decline of the Sakya hegemony in Tibet.

Jamyang Donyo Gyaltsen, in orthographic spelling Jam dbyangs don yod rgyal mts'an, was a ruler of Sakya which had a precedence position in Tibet under the Yuan dynasty. He reigned from 1341 until his death in 1344.

Sönam Gyaltsen, the Sakya Lama Dampa was a ruler of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism, which had a precedence position in Tibet under the Yuan dynasty. He is considered the greatest Sakya scholar of the 14th century and served as ruler for a short term in 1344-1347.

Lotro Gyaltsen, in orthographic spelling bLo gros rgyal mts'an, was a ruler of Sakya, which had a precedence position in Tibet under the Yuan dynasty. He reigned from 1347 to 1365; however, Sakya lost its influence in Central Tibet in 1354. In that way he was the last Sakya lord before the ascension of the new Phagmodrupa Dynasty.

Rinchen Gyaltsen was a Tibetan imperial preceptor at the court of the Mongol Yuan dynasty. His tenure lasted from 1274 to his death in either 1279 or 1282.

Yeshe Rinchen was a Tibetan Imperial Preceptor (Dishi) at the court of the Mongol Yuan dynasty. He hailed from Sakya, the foremost monastic regime in Tibet in this period, and held the title from 1286 to 1291.

Kunga Lotro Gyaltsen was a Tibetan Imperial Preceptor (Dishi) at the court of the Mongol Yuan dynasty. He belonged to the abbot family Khon of Sakya which had a precedence position in Tibet in this era. He held the dignity from 1314 to his death in 1327.

Kunga Lekpa Jungne Gyaltsen was a Tibetan Imperial Preceptor (Dishi) at the court of the Mongol Yuan dynasty. He belonged to the abbot family Khon of Sakya which had a precedence position in Tibet in this era. He held the dignity from 1327 to 1330.

Kunga Gyaltsen was a Tibetan Imperial Preceptor (Dishi) at the court of the Mongol Yuan dynasty. He belonged to the abbot family Khon of Sakya which had a precedence position in Tibet in this era. He held the title from 1331 to 1358, being the last Dishi before the takeover of the Phagmodrupa Dynasty in Central Tibet in the 1350s.

References

  1. ↑ Luciano Petech, Central Tibet and the Mongols: The Yüan-Sa-skya period of Tibetan history. Rome 1990, p. 37.
  2. ↑ Shoju Inaba, 'The lineage of the Sa skya pa: A chapter of the Red Annals', Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko 22 1963, 112.
  3. ↑ Luciano Petech 1990, pp. 73-6.
  4. ↑ Shoju Inaba 1963, p. 111.
Preceded by
Yeshe Rinchen 		Tibetan Imperial Preceptor
1291–1303		Succeeded by
Jamyang Rinchen Gyaltsen
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.