Kunga Gyaltsen (Wylie : Kun dga' rgyal mts'an) (1310 - 1358) was a Tibetan Imperial Preceptor (Dishi) at the court of the Mongol-led 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.
In the four decades after the death of the abbot-ruler of Sakya Zangpo Pal in 1323, the functions of abbot-ruler (dansa chenpo) and Imperial Preceptor (Dishi) were held in turn by a number of his sons and grandsons. By this time, however, the ruling Khon family was split into four groups, each residing in a particular palace in Sakya. Kunga Gyaltsen was one of the younger sons of Zangpo Pal and belonged to the Lhakhang branch. His mother was Machig Yon Dagmo. During the reign of the great khan Yesün Temür he was appointed to the title chang guhi gung, the meaning of which is unclear. [1] After the death of his brother Kunga Lekpa Jungne Gyaltsen in 1330, Kunga Gyaltsen was selected by the great khan Tugh Temür to become the next Dishi. In 1331 the incarnated hierarch of the Karmapa sect, Rangjung Dorje, arrived with a number of imperial officials to fetch Kunga Gyaltsen and bring him to the capital. Arriving to Dadu (Beijing) he was duly confirmed in his office by the new great khan and last Yuan emperor Toghon Temür on 19 July 1333. [2]
At the beginning his authority as imperial preceptor was recognized in Tibet. This is seen by a set of religious rules that he issued in the great temple of Dadu in May 1336. A document preserved in the Zhalu Monastery in 1348 shows that he still had a say in Tibetan affairs at that time. [3] His position was also strengthened by the appointment of his son Lotro Gyaltsen as abbot-ruler of Sakya in 1347. [4] As common in the Khon family, he married and sired children before his full ordination as monk. However, he stayed in Dadu until his death in 1358 and was unable to interfere directly in the civil war that emerged from 1346. One of the 13 myriarchies of Central Tibet, Phagmodru, was headed by the strong-willed and ambitious Changchub Gyaltsen who involved in a complicated series of clashes with rival lords and the Sakya administrators ( dpon-chen or ponchen). As Changchub Gyaltsen got the upper hand he managed to dominate Ü (East Central Tibet) by c. 1350. In 1354 he reduced the power of the Sakya elite to its immediate estates in Tsang (West Central Tibet). [5] Kunga Gyaltsen's brother-in-law, the influential lama Kunpangpa, was murdered in 1357 and in the next year Changchub Gyaltsen arranged a conference in Sakya which confirmed the transfer of power over Central Tibet to the new Phagmodrupa regime. Dissatisfied elements within Sakya were ruthlessly defeated. [6] During all these events, Changchub Gyaltsen continued to formally adhere to the Yuan Dynasty and received the title Tai Situ from the great khan. When Kunga Gyaltsen died in Dadu in the same year, no successor was appointed for some years. His nephew Sonam Lotro Gyaltsen briefly served as such in 1361–1362, when the Yuan dynasty was in its death throes. [7]
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.
Sakya PanditaKunga Gyeltsen 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.
Tibet under Mongol rule refers to the Mongol Empire, and later the Yuan dynasty's rule over Tibet from 1244 to 1354. During the Yuan dynasty rule of Tibet, the region was structurally, militarily and administratively controlled by the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China, a division of the Mongol Empire. In the history of Tibet, 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.
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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.
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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-led 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-led Yuan dynasty. He hailed from Sakya, the foremost monastic regime in Tibet in this period, and held the title from 1286 to 1291.
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Sanggye Pal was a Tibetan Imperial Preceptor (Dishi) at the court of the Mongol-led 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.
Kunga Lotro Gyaltsen was a Tibetan Imperial Preceptor (Dishi) at the court of the Mongol-led 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-led 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.
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.
The Phagmo Drupa Kagyu or Phagdru Kagyu (ཕག་གྲུ་བཀའ་བརྒྱུད) is a subschool of the Tibetan Kagyu school.
Preceded by Kunga Lekpa Jungne Gyaltsen | Tibetan Imperial Preceptor 1331–1358 | Succeeded by none |