Year 618 (DCXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 618 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
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.
Songtsen Gampo, also Songzan Ganbu, was the 33rd Tibetan king of the Yarlung dynasty and the founder of the Tibetan Empire. 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.
Tri Songdetsen was the son of Me Agtsom, the 38th emperor of Tibet. He ruled from AD 755 until 797 or 804. Tri Songdetsen was the second of the Three Dharma Kings of Tibet, playing a pivotal role in the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet and the establishment of the Nyingma or "Ancient" school of Tibetan Buddhism.
'Taktsé Castle was a castle located in the Chingwa district of Chonggyä in central Tibet. According to legend, it was home to the kings of Tibet before Songtsen Gampo (604–650) moved his capital to Lhasa. It later became the birthplace of the Great Fifth Dalai Lama (1617–1682), whose aristocratic family had made their home there.
Qonggyai County or Chongye is a county of Shannan in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China.
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.
Yumbu Lakhang or Yumbu Lakhar is an ancient structure in the Yarlung Valley in the vicinity of Tsetang, Nêdong County, the seat of Lhoka Prefecture, in Tibet.
The first military conflict between China and Tibet occurred in 638. In the early 7th century, the westward conquests of the Tang dynasty brought it into contact with the rising Tibetan Empire. When Emperor Taizong of Tang refused a marriage alliance, the Tibetan emperor Songtsen Gampo sent an army to attack the Chinese frontier city of Songzhou. After a Tang army inflicted heavy casualties on the Tibetans in a night-time attack, Songtsen Gampo withdrew. He sent emissaries and tributes to Chang'an to apologize, and to again request marriage. Taizong decided to give Songtsen Gampo a distant niece, Princess Wencheng, in marriage. The peace held for the remainder of the reigns of Taizong and Songtsen Gampo, although Tibet would pose major military threats for most of the rest of the Tang period.
Gungsong Gungtsen was the only known son of Songtsen Gampo, the 33rd king of the Tibetan Empire.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Tibet:
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.
The Sumpa were a tribe living in northeastern Tibet from ancient times. Chinese historical sources refer to them as "Qiang", a term for people living in what is now southwest China, and their actual ethnic identity is not known. Their territory was absorbed by the Tibetan Empire in the late 7th century, after which point they gradually lost their independent identity.
The Valley of the Kings or Chongye Valley branches off the Yarlung Valley to the southwest and contains a series of graveyard tumuli, approximately 27 kilometres (17 mi) south of Tsetang, Tibet, near the town of Qonggyai on Mure Mountain in Qonggyai County of the Shannan Prefecture.
The Old Tibetan Chronicle is a collection of narrative accounts and songs relating to Tibet's Yarlung dynasty and the Tibetan Empire. The three manuscripts that comprise the only extant copies of the Chronicle are among the Dunhuang Manuscripts found in the early 20th century in the so-called "hidden library" at the Mogao Grottoes near Dunhuang, which is believed to have been sealed in the 11th century CE. The Chronicle, together with the Old Tibetan Annals comprise Tibet's earliest extant history.
Gyama Palace or Gyama Mingyur Ling in Maizhokunggar County, Lhasa, Tibet, now ruined, was built by Namri Songtsen in the 6th century as the new capital of the expanding Tibetan Empire. His son, Songtsen Gampo, was born there but later moved the capital to Lhasa. The palace is now in ruins.
Gar Tongtsen Yulsung was a general of the Tibetan Empire who served as Lönchen during the reign of Songtsen Gampo. In many Chinese records, his name was given as Lù Dōngzàn or Lùn Dōngzàn ; both are attempts to transliterate the short form of his title and name, Lön Tongtsen.
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