藏巴"},"conventional_long_name":{"wt":"Tsangpa"},"common_name":{"wt":"Tsangpa\n"},"year_start":{"wt":"1565"},"event_start":{"wt":""},"year_end":{"wt":"1642"},"event_end":{"wt":""},"event1":{"wt":""},"date_event1":{"wt":""},"event2":{"wt":""},"date_event2":{"wt":""},"event3":{"wt":""},"date_event3":{"wt":""},"p1":{"wt":"Phagmodrupa dynasty"},"flag_p1":{"wt":""},"p2":{"wt":"Rinpungpa"},"flag_p2":{"wt":""},"s1":{"wt":"Khoshut Khanate"},"flag_s1":{"wt":""},"s2":{"wt":"Ganden Phodrang"},"flag_s2":{"wt":"Flag of Tibet.svg"},"flag":{"wt":""},"flag_type":{"wt":""},"image_coat":{"wt":""},"symbol":{"wt":""},"symbol_type":{"wt":""},"image_map":{"wt":""},"image_map_caption":{"wt":""},"capital":{"wt":"[[Shigatse]]"},"national_motto":{"wt":""},"common_languages":{"wt":"[[Tibetic languages|Tibetan]]"},"religion":{"wt":"[[Tibetan Buddhism]]"},"currency":{"wt":""},"government_type":{"wt":"[[Tibetan Buddhism|Buddhist]] [[theocracy]]"},"title_leader":{"wt":"[[Monarch]]"},"leader1":{"wt":"[[Karma Tseten]] (first)"},"year_leader1":{"wt":"1565–1599"},"leader2":{"wt":"[[Karma Tensung]]"},"year_leader2":{"wt":"1599–1611"},"leader3":{"wt":"[[Karma Tenkyong]] (last)"},"year_leader3":{"wt":"1620–1642"},"today":{"wt":"[[China]]"}},"i":0}}]}" id="mwBA">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-header,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-subheader,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-above,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-title,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-image,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-below{text-align:center}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme) div:not(.notheme){background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table tr{display:table-row!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}
Tsangpa གཙང་པ 藏巴 | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1565–1642 | |||||||||||||
Capital | Shigatse | ||||||||||||
Common languages | Tibetan | ||||||||||||
Religion | Tibetan Buddhism | ||||||||||||
Government | Buddhist theocracy | ||||||||||||
Monarch | |||||||||||||
• 1565–1599 | Karma Tseten (first) | ||||||||||||
• 1599–1611 | Karma Tensung | ||||||||||||
• 1620–1642 | Karma Tenkyong (last) | ||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||
• Established | 1565 | ||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1642 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Today part of | China |
History of Tibet |
---|
![]() |
See also |
![]() ![]() |
Tsangpa (Tibetan : གཙང་པ, Wylie : gTsang pa; Chinese :藏巴) was a dynasty that dominated large parts of Tibet from 1565 to 1642. It was the last Tibetan royal dynasty to rule in their own name. [1] The regime was founded by Karma Tseten, a low-born retainer of the prince of the Rinpungpa dynasty and governor of Samdrubtsé (also called Shigatse) in Tsang (West-Central Tibet) since 1548. [2]
During the 16th century Tibet was fragmented among rivaling factions along religious as well as dynastic lines. The Phagmodrupa dynasty lost any semblance of power after 1564 and its rival Rinpungpa was also unable to achieve unity. Among the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, the Karma Kagyu school competed against the Gelug, which was headed by the Dalai Lama. According to tradition, Karma Tseten obtained a troop of horsemen by altering a document issued by his master, the Rinpungpa lord. He then raised the standard of rebellion in 1557 and managed to supersede the Rinpungpa by a surprise attack in 1565. [3] This was facilitated by the simmering discontent with the Rinpungpa among several vassals. Known as the Depa Tsangpa or Tsang Desi, he became the king of Upper Tsang and allied with Köncho Yenlak, the 5th Shamarpa of the Karma Kagyu. Wangchuk Dorje, 9th Karmapa Lama, met him on several occasions and transferred tutelary deities to the ruler. This was a ritually important act to legitimize the new regime. Karma Tseten also patronized the Nyingma, Sakya and Jonang sects.
The rise of the dynasty should be seen against the backdrop of anxiety about outside intervention in the deeply divided country. The alliance between the 3rd Dalai Lama and the Tumed leader Altan Khan (1578) likely aroused the fear of some aristocratic families in Ü-Tsang and of the non-Gelug schools. This motivated the Karmapa to seek protection from the Tsangpa rulers. [4] The new dynasty strove to keep Tibet free from the recurring Mongol incursions which plagued the land on several occasions in the late 16th and early 17th century. [5] The further aim was to revive the glories of the old Tibetan Empire and create a peaceful and well-ordered Tsang. [6] This was partly successful; the last remains of Rinpungpa authority vanished in 1590 as they were forced to capitulate their heartland Rong to Karma Tseten. There is nothing to suggest that the regime kept any relations with the declining Ming dynasty of China.
Our sources from this period are mainly concerned with religious affairs and do not disclose much about the administrative structure of the Tsangpa realm. The basis of their power is therefore still insufficiently understood. Nor is the history of Karma Tseten's closest successors well known, but in the early 17th century the dynasty is frequently mentioned as a competitor for power over Tibet. The family was generally opposed to the Gelugpa and Dalai Lamas, whose power meanwhile increased in Ü. The Tsangpa ruler Karma Tensung (or, in another account, his nephew Karma Phuntsok Namgyal) reacted by invading Ü from his base in Tsang in 1605 and attacking the Drepung and Sera Monasteries. 5,000 monks are said to have been massacred on this occasion. [7] The Tsangpa army expelled the Mongol troops that assisted the 4th Dalai Lama, himself a Mongol prince by birth. The Dalai Lama had to flee and the Tsangpa ruler was close to becoming the king of Tibet. [8]
In 1612 and 1613, the Tsangpa ruler subjugated a number of local regimes in West Tibet: the Ngari Gyelpo, Lhopa and Changpa. There were also spectacular successes in the east. The new acquisitions included Dagpo in the far southeast, Phanyul (north of Lhasa) and Neu (southeast of Lhasa). [9] He was less successful against Bhutan, where his enemy, Ngawang Namgyal, the prince abbot of Ralung Monastery and the 4th incarnation of Kuenkhyen Padma KarpoFounder of the Drukpa Kagyu Sect in Tsang had taken refuge. The Tsang Desi had politically backed the other incarnation Passam WangpoGyalwang Drukpa, forcing Ngawang Namgyal to flee to Bhutan and establish his regency there.
In 1618, the Tsangpa Gyelpo pushed further into Ü and defeated the local leaders of Kyishö and Tsal. By now, Karma Phuntsok Namgyal was virtually the ruler of Central Tibet and was consecrated as such by Chöying Dorje, 10th Karmapa. [10] In the following year 1619, the West Tibetan kingdom of Mangyül Gungthang was conquered. In the next year again Karma Phuntsok Namgyal returned to Ü in order to eliminate the last possible obstacle to his authority. Nêdong, the seat of the impotent Phagmodrupa dynasty, was besieged and forced to yield to his power. Tsang forces occupied the entire Yarlung Valley. [11]
The hegemony of Tsangpa was, however, only of a brief nature – their position as an upstart family without aristocratic roots made their authority tenuous. After Yonten Gyatso's death, his successor, the 5th Dalai Lama (1617–1682), received help from the Mongols, who pushed into Ü in 1621. The new Tsangpa king Karma Tenkyong was defeated and besieged at Chakpori Hill by Lhasa, and his army only escaped annihilation through the intervention of the Panchen Lama. An agreement was made whereby the Gelugpa regained much of their former authority in Ü. The abbot of the important Drigung Monastery in Ü, allied to the Tsangpa, was abducted by the Tumed Mongols in 1623, which was a further blow. In retaliation, Karma Tenkyong brought his troops to Ü and occupied the Lhasa region. [12] The following years saw a lull in the fighting while both sides tried to attract allies. Karma Tenkyong sought the assistance of the Choghtu Mongols, and a troop under prince Arsalan invaded Tibet in 1635 in order to attack the Gelugpa positions. However, in the end Arsalan declined to actually support the Tsangpa, leading to an entirely unsatisfactory conclusion of the enterprise for Karma Tenkyong and the Karmapa and Shamarpa hierarchs. [13] At the same time, Karma Tenkyong was threatened by Ladakh in the west, although it never came to open warfare. [14]
In 1641, the leader of the Khoshut Mongols of the Kokonor region, Güshi Khan, set out from his home area and attacked the king of Beri in Kham, who was a practitioner of the Bon religion and persecuted Buddhist lamas. Güshi Khan had been in contact with "the Great Fifth" since 1637 and was a major champion for his cause. After having defeated Beri, he proceeded to invade Tsang. Justification for this was found in the alliance between Beri and Tsang, which allegedly aimed at eradicating the Gelugpa. The Dalai Lama was opposed to a Mongol invasion which would have devastating effects on Central Tibet, but was not able to change the course of events. Güshi Khan's reputation as an invincible commander rendered resistance weak. The Tsangpa stronghold, Shigatse, was captured after a long and bloody siege in March 1642. Karma Tenkyong was taken prisoner with his foremost ministers and kept in custody in Neu near Lhasa. After a revolt by Tsangpa supporters in the same year, the incensed Güshi Khan ordered Karma Tenkyong placed in an oxhide bag and drowned in a river. [15] Güshi Khan, who founded the Khoshut Khanate, presented Ü, Tsang and part of East Tibet to the Dalai Lama to rule. In that way began the religious Ganden Phodrang regime that lasted until 1950.
Dalai Lama is a title given by Altan Khan, the first Shunyi King of Ming China, in A.D. 1578 at Yanghua Monastery to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and incumbent Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyatso, who lives in exile as a refugee in India. The Dalai Lama is considered to be the successor in a line of tulkus who are believed to be incarnations of Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion.
Güshi Khan was a Khoshut prince and founder of the Khoshut Khanate, who supplanted the Tumed descendants of Altan Khan as the main benefactor of the Dalai Lama and the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1637, Güshi Khan defeated a rival Mongol prince Choghtu Khong Tayiji, a Kagyu follower, near Qinghai Lake and established his khanate in Tibet over the next years. His military assistance to the Gelug school enabled the 5th Dalai Lama to establish political control over Tibet.
Ü-Tsang is one of the three Tibetan regions, the others being Amdo in the north-east, and Kham in the east. The region of Ngari in the north-west was incorporated into Ü-Tsang after the Tibet–Ladakh–Mughal War. Geographically Ü-Tsang covered the south-central part of the Tibetan cultural area, including the Brahmaputra River watershed. The western districts surrounding and extending past Mount Kailash are included in Ngari, and much of the vast Changtang plateau to the north. The Himalayas defined Ü-Tsang's southern border. The present Tibet Autonomous Region corresponds approximately to Ü-Tsang and the western part of Kham.
The 5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso was recognized as the 5th Dalai Lama, and he became the first Dalai Lama to hold both Tibet's political and spiritual leadership roles. He is often referred to simply as the Great Fifth, being the key religious and temporal leader of Tibetan Buddhism and Tibet. He is credited with unifying all of Tibet under the Ganden Phodrang, after Gushri Khan's successful military interventions. As an independent head of state, he established priest and patron relations with both Mongolia and the Qing dynasty simultaneously, and had positive relations with other neighboring countries. He began the custom of meeting early European explorers. The 5th Dalai Lama built the Potala Palace, and also wrote 24 volumes' worth of scholarly and religious works on a wide range of subjects.
The Ming dynasty considered Tibet to be part of the Western Regions. While the Ming dynasty at its height had some degree of influence in Tibet, the exact nature of their relations is under dispute by modern scholars. 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. The Historical Status of China's Tibet, a book published by the People's Republic of China, asserts that the Ming dynasty had unquestioned sovereignty over Tibet by pointing to the Ming court's issuing of various titles to Tibetan leaders, Tibetans' full acceptance of the titles, and a renewal process for successors of these titles that involved traveling to the Ming capital. Scholars in China also argue that Tibet has been an integral part of China since the 13th century and so it was a part of the Ming Empire. However, most scholars outside China, such as Turrell V. Wylie, Melvyn C. Goldstein, and Helmut Hoffman, say that the relationship was one of suzerainty, Ming titles were only nominal, Tibet remained an independent region outside Ming control, and it simply paid tribute until the Jiajing Emperor, who ceased relations with Tibet.
The Phagmodrupa dynasty or Pagmodru was a dynastic regime that held sway over Tibet or parts thereof from 1354 to the early 17th century. It was established by Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen of the Lang family at the end of the Yuan dynasty. The dynasty had a lasting importance on the history of Tibet; it created an autonomous kingdom after Yuan rule, revitalized the national culture, and brought about a new legislation that survived until the 1950s. Nevertheless, the Phagmodrupa had a turbulent history due to internal family feuding and the strong localism among noble lineages and fiefs. Its power receded after 1435 and was reduced to Ü in the 16th century due to the rise of the ministerial family of the Rinpungpa. It was defeated by the rival Tsangpa dynasty in 1613 and 1620, and was formally superseded by the Ganden Phodrang regime founded by the 5th Dalai Lama in 1642. In that year, Güshi Khan of the Khoshut formally transferred the old possessions of Sakya, Rinpung and Phagmodrupa to the "Great Fifth".
Rinpungpa was a Tibetan dynastic regime that dominated much of Western Tibet between 1435 and 1565. During one period around 1500 the Rinpungpa lords came close to assembling the Tibetan lands around the Yarlung Tsangpo River under one authority, but their powers receded after 1512.
Sönam Rapten, initially known as Gyalé Chödze and later on as Sönam Chöpel, was born in the Tholung valley in the Central Tibetan province of Ü. He started off as a monk-administrator of the Ganden Phodrang, the early Dalai Lamas' residence at Drepung Monastery, outside Lhasa, Tibet. From around or before the age of 20 he became the Treasurer and the "Chagdzo" of the Fourth (1589-1617) and, subsequently, the Fifth Dalai Lama (1617-1682). He presided as the most senior official of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism for over 40 years.
Tsokye Dorje was a regent of Tibet who ruled in 1491–1499. He belonged to the Rinpungpa family and headed the central government in Nêdong during the minority of the heir of the Phagmodrupa Dynasty.
Ngawang Tashi Drakpa was a king of Tibet who ruled in 1499–1554 and 1556/57–1564. He belonged to the Phagmodrupa Dynasty which was the dominating regime in Tibet from 1354 to 1435 and maintained a degree of authority until the early 17th century. His rule is sometimes considered to be the last of importance in the history of the dynasty.
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.
Mipham Sonam Wangchuk Drakpa Namgyal Palzang was a king in Central Tibet. He belonged to the Phagmodrupa Dynasty which reigned in Tibet, or parts of it, from 1354 to the early 17th century, and was the last prince of the dynasty.
Ngawang Namgyal was a prince of the Rinpungpa Dynasty that dominated the Tsang region in West Central Tibet between 1435 and 1565. He reigned from 1512 to 1544, and was a patron of the Karma Kagyu school as was the Rinpungpa Dynasty.
Dondup Tseten Dorje was the penultimate prince of the Rinpungpa Dynasty which held power in Tsang between 1435 and 1565. The details about his reign, and his exact years in power, are relatively obscure.
Karma Tseten, also known as Zhingshak Tseten Dorje was a king of Upper Tsang in West Central Tibet. He was the founder of the Tsangpa Dynasty, that had an important role in the history of Tibet from 1565 to 1642. Karma ruled during the period 1565–1599.
Karma Thutob Namgyal was a prince of the Tsangpa Dynasty that ruled parts of Central Tibet from 1565 to 1642.
Karma Tensung, in full Karma Tensung Wangpo, was a king of Tsang who probably reigned from 1599 to 1611. He belonged to the Tsangpa Dynasty that ruled parts of Tibet from 1565 to 1642.
Karma Phuntsok Namgyal was a king of Tibet who ruled from 1618 to 1620. He belonged to the Tsangpa Dynasty that held power in Tsang since 1565 and was the foremost political and military power in Tibet until 1642.
Karma Tenkyong, in full Karma Tenkyong Wangpo, was a king of Tibet who ruled from 1620 to 1642. He belonged to the Tsangpa Dynasty which had been prominent in Tsang since 1565. His reign was marked by the increasingly bitter struggle against the Gelugpa sect and its leader the Dalai Lama. The outcome was the crushing of the Tsangpa regime and the establishment of the Dharma-based Tibetan state that endured until 1950.