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While the Tibetan plateau has been inhabited since pre-historic times, most of Tibet's history went unrecorded until the creation of Tibetan script in the 7th century. Tibetan texts refer to the kingdom of Zhangzhung as the precursor of later Tibetan kingdoms and the originators of the Bon religion. While mythical accounts of early rulers of the Yarlung Dynasty exist, historical accounts begin with the introduction of Tibetan script from the unified Tibetan Empire in the 7th century. Following the dissolution of the empire and a period of fragmentation in the 9th-10th centuries, a Buddhist revival in the 10th–12th centuries saw the development of three of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
Guge was an ancient dynastic kingdom in Western Tibet. The kingdom was centered in present-day Zanda County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region. At various points in history after the 10th century AD, the kingdom held sway over a vast area including south-eastern Zanskar, upper Kinnaur district, and Spiti Valley, either by conquest or as tributaries. The ruins of the former capital of the Guge kingdom are located at Tsaparang in the Sutlej valley, not far from Mount Kailash and 1,200 miles (1,900 km) west from Lhasa.
Songtsen Gampo, also Songzan Ganbu, was the 33rd Tibetan king of the Yarlung dynasty and he founded the Tibetan Empire. As also the first of three Dharma Kings of Tibet, he formally introduced Buddhism to Tibet, and built the Jokhang with the influence of his Nepali queen Bhrikuti, of Nepal's Licchavi dynasty. He unified several Tibetan kingdoms, conquered lands adjacent to Tibet, and moved the capital to the Red Fort in Lhasa. His minister Thonmi Sambhota created the Tibetan script and Classical Tibetan, the first literary and spoken language of Tibet.
Shannan, also known as Lhoka, is a prefecture-level city in the southeastern Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Shannan includes Gonggar County within its jurisdiction with Gongkar Chö Monastery, Gonggar Dzong, and Gonggar Airport all located near Gonggar town.
Pome County or Bomê County is a county of Nyingchi Prefecture in the south-east of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Historically known as Powo or Poyul, it was the seat of a quasi-independent kingdom until the early 20th century when troops of the Dalai Lama's Lhasa government integrated it into the central Tibetan realm. The population was 25,897 in 2004.
Lha Thothori gNyan bTsan was the 28th King of Tibet according to the Tibetan legendary tradition. Lha "divine, pertaining to the gods of the sky" is an honorary title and not a part of his proper name.
Darma U Dum Tsen, better known as Langdarma was the 42nd and last king of the Tibetan Empire who in 838 killed his brother, King Ralpachen, then reigned from 841 to 842 CE before he himself was assassinated. His reign led to the dissolution of the Tibetan Empire, which had extended beyond the Tibetan Plateau to include the Silk Roads with the Tibetan imperial manuscript center at Sachu (Dunhuang), and neighbouring regions in China, East Turkestan, Afghanistan, and India.
Tradruk Temple in the Yarlung Valley is the earliest great geomantic temple after the Jokhang and some sources say it predates that temple.
Tritsuk Detsen, better known by his nickname Ralpachen, was the 40th king of the Yarlung Dynasty of Tibet. He reigned after the death of his father, Sadnalegs, in c. 815, and grew the empire to its largest extent. He was murdered by his younger brother Langdarma in 838. Ralpachen is one of Tibet's three Dharma Kings, and referred to as "son of God" in the ancient Tibetan chronicle Testament of Ba.
Mangsong Mangtsen, Trimang Löntsen or Khri-mang-slon-rtsan succeeded to the Tibetan throne either after the death of his father Gungsong Gungtsen, or of his grandfather the 33rd Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo. He became the 34th king of Tibet's Yarlung Dynasty, and the second king during the Tibetan Empire era.
Namri Songtsen, also known as "Namri Löntsen" was according to tradition, the 32nd King of Tibet of the Yarlung dynasty. During his 48 years of reign, he expanded his kingdom to rule the central part of the Tibetan Plateau. He also had a good diplomatic partnership with other tribes and Empires. His actions were decisive in the setting up of the Tibetan Empire, to which he can be named co-founder with his son, Songtsen Gampo. He Sieged in Kingdom of Sumpa in early 7th century.
The Tibetan Empire was an empire centered on the Tibetan Plateau, formed as a result of imperial expansion under the Yarlung dynasty heralded by its 33rd king, Songtsen Gampo, in the 7th century. The empire further expanded under the 38th king, Trisong Detsen, and expanded to its greatest extent under the 41st king, Rapalchen, whose 821–823 treaty was concluded between the Tibetan Empire and the Tang dynasty. This treaty, carved into the Jokhang Pillar, delineated Tibet as being in possession of an area larger than the Tibetan Plateau, stretching east to Chang'an, west beyond modern Afghanistan.
Erik Haarh was a 20th-century Danish Tibetologist, most remembered for his pioneering work on the religious ethos of the Tibetan Empire and his contributions to the study of the Zhang Zhung language.
The Kingdom of Derge was a large kingdom in Kham, whose estate was founded in the 13th century by the Gar Clan of Sonam Rinchen in present day Pelyul County. The Gar Clan traces its lineage to minister Gar Tongtsen at Songsten Gampo's 7th century court, and the kingdom lasted until the 20th century. After the 1630s, the Derge Kingdom became a major center of Tibetan culture, printing, industry, Tibetan Buddhism, and politics, and the seat of its kingdom was in the town of Degé. The kings of Derge belonged to the 1300-year old Gar Clan lineage,
The Zhol outer pillar, or Doring Chima, is a stone pillar which stands outside the historical residential and administrative Zhol village below the Potala Palace, in Lhasa, Tibet. It was erected to commemorate a 783 border treaty between the Tibetan Empire and the Tang dynasty. The pillar is inscribed with an old example of Tibetan writing.
The Yarlung Valley is formed by Yarlung Chu, a tributary of the Tsangpo River in the Shannan Prefecture in the Tibet region of China. It refers especially to the district where Yarlung Chu joins with the Chongye River, and broadens out into a large plain about 2 km wide, before it flows into the Tsangpo River. It is situated in Nedong District of the Shannan Prefecture and includes the capital of the prefecture, Tsetang, one of Tibet's largest cities, 183 km southeast of Lhasa.
The Yarlung dynasty, or Pre-Imperial Tibet, was a proto-historical dynasty in Tibet before the rise of the historical Tibetan Empire in the 7th century.
The Era of Fragmentation was an era of disunity in Tibetan history lasting from the death of the Tibetan Empire's last emperor, Langdarma, in 842 until Drogön Chögyal Phagpa became the Imperial Preceptor of the three regions of Tibet in 1253, following the Mongol conquest in the 1240s. During this period, the political unity of the Tibetan Empire collapsed following a civil war between Yumtän and Ösung (’Od-srung), after which followed numerous rebellions against the remnants of imperial Tibet and the rise of regional warlords.
Buddhists, predominantly from India, first actively disseminated their practices in Tibet from the 6th to the 9th centuries CE. During the Era of Fragmentation, Buddhism waned in Tibet, only to rise again in the 11th century. With the Mongol invasion of Tibet and the establishment of the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) in China, Tibetan Buddhism spread beyond Tibet to Mongolia and China. From the 14th to the 20th centuries, Tibetan Buddhism was patronized by the Chinese Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and the Manchurian Qing dynasty (1644–1912) which ruled China.
Kyide Nyimagon, whose original name was Khri-skyid-lding, was a member of the Yarlung dynasty of Tibet and a descendant of emperor Langdarma. He migrated to Western Tibet and founded the kingdom of Ngari Khorsum around 912 CE. After his death, his large kingdom was divided among his three sons, giving rise to the three kingdoms of Maryul (Ladakh), Guge-Purang and Zanskar-Spiti.
References
- McKay, Alex (ed.). Tibet and Her Neighbors: A History (2003) Walther Konig. ISBN 3-88375-718-7