Ngawang Drakpa Gyaltsen

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Ngawang Drakpa (Gyaltsen) (Tibetan : ངག་དབང་གྲགས་པ་རྒྱལ་མཚན,  Wylie : Ngag dbang grags pa rgyal mts'an, d. 1603 or 1604) was a king in Central Tibet who ruled from 1554 to 1556/57, and again from 1576 to 1603/04. He belonged to the Phagmodrupa Dynasty which held power in Tibet or parts of it from 1354 to the early 17th century. Due to the internal family feuds that preceded his reign most of the powers of his predecessor slipped from his hands. [1]

Wylie transliteration

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 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.

Contents

Rising against his grandfather

Ngawang Drakpa Gyaltsen was the son of Drowai Gonpo (1508–1548), a sub-ruler who resided in Gongri Karpo to the south-west of Lhasa. His grandfather was Ngawang Tashi Drakpa (1488–1564), the last effective king of the Phagmodrupa line. The main palace of the dynasty was Nêdong southeast of Lhasa. In 1554 Ngawang Drakpa Gyaltsen temporarily took over the throne of his old grandfather, when the latter was forced to step down for a while. [2] However, new turmoil broke out in Central Tibet in 1555. A council was headed by the religious hierarchs of Drigung Kagyu and Shamarpa, and it was decided to put the old ex-king back on the throne. Ngawang Drakpa Gyaltsen had to return to Gongri Karpo. [3] Some years later he rose against the 75-year-old ruler and tried to acquire the throne permanently. He was aided in his ambitions by the ruler of Ganden. He also kept good relations with Sonam Gyatso, later known as the Third Dalai Lama. A number of Buddhist dignitaries tried to intervene in the rebellion, to no avail. In the next year 1564, his grandfather died. New disturbances broke out between the Nêdong and Gongri Karpo branches of the dynasty. Sonam Gyatso was asked to mediate in the conflict. Eventually Ngawang Drakpa Gyaltsen became the new gongma or king in 1576. However, the executive authority of the Phagmodrupa was now almost depleted. [4] Nevertheless, the Phagmodrupa still filled a role as a focal point around which politics in Ü (East Central Tibet) revolved and different groups balanced each other. Conditions in this part of Tibet tended to be relatively peaceful in the decades of the late sixteenth century, and relations between the main religious sects Karmapa and Gelugpa were amiable for the moment. [5]

Drowai Gonpo (1508–1548) was a king who wielded power in parts of Central Tibet from 1524 to 1548. He belonged to the Phagmodrupa dynasty which reigned over Tibet or parts of it from 1354 to the early 17th century.

Gonggar County County in Tibet, Peoples Republic of China

Gonggar County, also Gongkar, is a county of Shannan in the Tibet Autonomous Region, one of the 12 counties of the prefecture. It has under its jurisdiction 5 towns, 3 townships, 43 administrative villages and 168 village development committees and contains notable landmarks such as the Gonggar Choide Monastery, the Gonggar Dzong, and the Gonggar Airport and the Gonggar town.

Lhasa District in Tibet, China

Lhasa or Chengguan is a district and administrative capital of Lhasa City in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. The inner urban area of Lhasa City is equivalent to the administrative borders of Chengguan District, which is part of the wider prefectural Lhasa City.

Contacts with Altan Khan

The Chinese dynastic annals, the Mingshi , assert that a new Phagmodrupa ruler sought investiture from the Emperor in 1564, but in fact China had very little interest in Tibet at this time. According to the Mingshi a certain Phagmodrupa ruler called Tashi Zangpo ruled after 1579. [6] However, indigenous Tibetan sourced indicate that Ngawang Drakpa Gyaltsen reigned from 1576 until his death in 1603 or 1604. The Chinese might have been ill-informed about local affairs. On the other hand, there was an intense interest from the Tümed Mongols to make contact with the religious leaders of Central Tibet. In 1577 envoys from the Tümed leader Altan Khan arrived to Sonam Gyatso, with an invitation to visit him in Kokonor. Ngawang Drakpa Gyaltsen was supportive of the project, and sent representatives to accompany Sonam Gyatso on his journey. [7] The result of the visit was that the Gelugpa sect established lasting relations with the Mongols, and that their leader acquired the title Dalai Lama.

China Country in East Asia

China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia and the world's most populous country, with a population of around 1.404 billion. Covering approximately 9,600,000 square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the third- or fourth-largest country by total area. Governed by the Communist Party of China, the state exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities, and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.

Investiture, from the Latin, is the formal installation of an incumbent. In the United States and other countries, the ceremonial signing in of judges, including those of the Supreme Court, is called investiture.

The Mongols are an East-Central Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia and to China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. They also live as minorities in other regions of China, as well as in Russia. Mongolian people belonging to the Buryat and Kalmyk subgroups live predominantly in the Russian federal subjects of Buryatia and Kalmykia.

Relations with Dalai Lama and demise

Although the Phagmodrupa led a Kagyu school of Buddhism, Ngawang Drakpa Gyaltsen supported Sonam Gyatso and the Gelugpa. The Fifth Dalai Lama (1617–1682) wrote enthusiastically in his chronicles about the gongma: "He was particularly a devotee both of the Gelugpa and of the Drukpa and heard [from them] many holy teachings. As his thoughts had been purified, because he was bound to the omniscient Sonam Gyatso by the links which pass between a chaplain and a giver of oblations, similar to those uniting the moon and the sun, the Chinese Emperor's court was constantly sending offerings to Gong[ri] Kar[po]." [8] In 1601 the Phagmodrupa sent a representative with a delegation of Gelugpa dignitaries that journeyed to Mongolia. The delegation received the young Fourth Dalai Lama, Yonten Gyatso, who was a Mongol prince, and brought him to Tibet. [9] Ngawang Drakpa Gyaltsen died a few years later, in late 1603 or early 1604. He had two sons called Kagyud Nampar Gyalwa (d. 1623) and Namgyal Drakpa (d. 1590). However, for unknown reasons a scion of the rival Kyormolung line of the dynasty took over the by now insignificant title. This was Mipham Wanggyur Gyalpo, possibly a grandson of his half-brother Namgyal Rabten. [10]

Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism

The Kagyu, Kagyü, or Kagyud school, which translates to "Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission" school, is one of the main schools of Himalayan or Tibetan Buddhism. The Kagyu lineages trace themselves back to the 11th century Indian Mahasiddhas Naropa, Maitripa and the yogini Niguma, via their student Marpa Lotsawa (1012–1097), who brought their teachings to Tibet. Marpa's student Milarepa was also an influential poet and teacher.

Buddhism World religion, founded by the Buddha

Buddhism is the world's fourth-largest religion with over 520 million followers, or over 7% of the global population, known as Buddhists. Buddhism encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on original teachings attributed to the Buddha and resulting interpreted philosophies. Buddhism originated in ancient India as a Sramana tradition sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, spreading through much of Asia. Two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars: Theravada and Mahayana.

Mongolia Landlocked country in East Asia

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia. Its area is roughly equivalent with the historical territory of Outer Mongolia, and that term is sometimes used to refer to the current state. It is sandwiched between Russia to the north and China to the south, where it neighbours the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, although only 37 kilometres (23 mi) separates them.

See also

Sino-Tibetan relations during the Ming dynasty analysis of relations between China and Tibet during the Ming Dynasty

The exact nature of relations between Tibet and the Ming dynasty of China (1368–1644) is unclear. Analysis of the relationship is further complicated by modern political conflicts and the application of Westphalian sovereignty to a time when the concept did not exist. Some Mainland Chinese scholars such as Wang Jiawei and Tibetan scholars such as Nyima Gyaincain, assert that the Ming dynasty had unquestioned sovereignty over Tibet, pointing to the Ming court's issuing of various titles to Tibetan leaders, Tibetans' full acceptance of these titles, and a renewal process for successors of these titles that involved traveling to the Ming capital. Scholars within China also argue that Tibet has been an integral part of China since the 13th century and that it was thus a part of the Ming Empire. But most scholars outside China, such as Turrell V. Wylie, Melvin C. Goldstein, and Helmut Hoffman, say that the relationship was one of suzerainty, that Ming titles were only nominal, that Tibet remained an independent region outside Ming control, and that it simply paid tribute until the Jiajing Emperor (1521–1566), who ceased relations with Tibet.

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.

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References

  1. ↑ Giuseppe Tucci, Tibetan Painted Scrolls. Rome 1949, Vol. I, pp. 44–5.
  2. ↑ Per K. Sorensen & Guntram Hazod, Rulers on the Celestial Plain. Wien 2007, p. 516.
  3. ↑ Olaf Czaja, Medieval rule in Tibet, Vol. I. Wien 2013, p. 271.
  4. ↑ Giuseppe Tucci, 1949, Vol. I, p. 45.
  5. ↑ Olaf Czaja, 2013, p. 291–2.
  6. ↑ Giuseppe Tucci, 1949, Vol. II, p. 693.
  7. ↑ Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa, Tibet. A Political History. Yale 1967, p. 93.
  8. ↑ Giuseppe Tucci, 1949, Vol. II, p. 641.
  9. ↑ David Snellgrove & Hugh Richardson, A Cultural History of Tibet. New York 1968, pp. 184–93.
  10. ↑ Olaf Czaja, 2013, p. 460, 562.
Preceded by
Ngawang Tashi Drakpa 		Ruler in Tibet
1554–1556/57 		Succeeded by
Ngawang Tashi Drakpa
Preceded by
Ngawang Tashi Drakpa 		Ruler in Tibet
1576–1603/04 		Succeeded by
Mipham Wanggyur Gyalpo
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