Kunga Lotro Gyaltsen

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Kunga Lotro Gyaltsen (Wylie : Kun dga' blo gros rgyal mts'an) (1299 - 1327) 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.

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

Appointment as Imperial Preceptor

Kunga Lotro Gyaltsen was one of the 13 sons of the abbot-ruler (dansa chenpo) Zangpo Pal (d. 1323). His mother was Jomo Kunga Bumphulwa, the widow of the Tibetan administrator ( dpon-chen or ponchen) Aglen. [1] The position of Imperial Preceptor or Dishi was always kept separate from that of abbot-ruler, and since 1286 it had been held by members of the Sharpa and Khangsarpa families. However, after the demise of the Dishi Sanggye Pal in 1314, a member of the Khon family was once again appointed. Kunga Lotro Gyaltsen was summoned to the imperial court in North China by the great khan Ayurbarwada, and formally installed on 27 March 1315. [2] As Dishi he had a paramount influence in the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs or Xuanzheng Yuan, the department handling Buddhist and Tibetan affairs. His decrees carried the weight of the imperial authority. [3] A letter by his hand, issued in 1316, begins: "By the king's order, the words of Kunga Lotro Gyaltsen Palzangpo, imperial preceptor: To the officials of Pacification Commissioner rank, to generals, soldiers, administrators of the nang so, to judges, holders of golden letters, chiefs of districts, laymen and monks who collect taxes and go and come, to myriarchs, to dignitaries, a command." [4]

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.

Dpon-chen

The dpon-chen or pönchen, literally the "great authority" or "great administrator", was the chief administrator or governor of Tibet located at Sakya Monastery during the Yuan administrative rule of Tibet in the 13th and 14th centuries. In the Mongol Empire the office of the dpon-chen was established in the 1260s and functioned for all practical purposes as the Tibetan government at the pleasure of the Mongol emperors of the Yuan dynasty, unlike the Sakya Imperial Preceptors (Dishi) who were active at the Yuan court.

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.

Division of the Khon family

The period c. 1290-1330 was relatively stable, since the Yuan-Sakya system of governance had finally been accepted after much bloodshed. The serious decline of the Yuan Dynasty had still not set in. The tenure of Kunga Lotro Gyaltsen spanned over the reigns of the great khans Ayurbarwada, Gegeen Khan, and Yesün Temür Khan. However, this period also saw a family situation of the Khon family that planted the seeds of future dissent. In 1322 Kunga Lotro Gyaltsen returned to Sakya from Beijing in order to receive his final ordination as monk. On arrival he proceeded to bring order in the heritage of his aging father. The reason was either that the great khan had ordered him to do so, or the difficulties to discipline his numerous brothers. In the end he divided the brothers into four groups. Each group would receive part of the heritage and had their own residence (ladrang) in Sakya. They were the Zhitog, Lhakang, Rinchengang, and Ducho branches, each of which had its own abbot (dansa). The partition was finalized in late 1323 or early 1324, shortly after the death of the old Zangpo Pal. In practice it meant that the prestige and influence of Sakya was weakened. [5] One of the brothers, Khatsun Namkha Lekpa Gyaltsen was formal abbot-ruler after the death of his father, but seems to have exercised limited authority. As for Kunga Lotro Gyaltsen he returned to the imperial capital in the summer of 1324. In 1326 his health declined and he prepared to leave for his Tibetan homeland again. He did not actually leave the capital, however, possibly because of a revolt that broke out in Amdo in eastern Tibet. He died on 6 March 1327. His successor was a brother, Kunga Lekpa Jungne Gyaltsen. [6]

Gegeen Khan emperor of the Yuan Dynasty

Gegeen Khan, born Shidibala, also known by the temple name Yingzong, was the successor of Ayurbarwada to rule as Emperor of the Yuan dynasty. Apart from Emperor of China, he is regarded as the ninth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire or Mongols, although it was only nominal due to the division of the empire. His name means "enlightened/bright khan" in the Mongolian language.

Yesün Temür (Yuan dynasty) emperor of the Yuan Dynasty

Yesün Temür was a great-grandson of Kublai Khan and ruled as emperor of the Yuan dynasty from 1323 to 1328. Apart from Emperor of China, he is regarded as the 10th Khagan of the Mongol Empire or Mongols, although it was only nominal due to the division of the empire. In Chinese, Yesün Temür Khan, who was very fond of the traditional ways of the Mongols, is known as the Emperor Taiding of Yuan from his era's name. His name means "nine iron Khan" in the Mongolian language.

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.

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Sakya One of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism

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Drogön Chögyal Phagpa Tibetan Lama

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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.

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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. ↑ 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, 110.
  2. ↑ Luciano Petech, Central Tibet and the Mongols: The Yüan-Sa-skya period of Tibetan history. Rome 1990, p. 77.
  3. ↑ Luciano Petech 1990, p. 37.
  4. ↑ Kurtis Schaeffer et al. (eds), Sources of Tibetan tradition. New York 2013, p. 344.
  5. ↑ Luciano Petech 1990, p. 81.
  6. ↑ Luciano Petech 1990, p. 82-3.
Preceded by
Sanggye Pal 		Tibetan Imperial Preceptor
1314–1327		Succeeded by
Kunga Lekpa Jungne Gyaltsen
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