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'Songtsän Gampo' (605? - 650 CE) was the first emperor of a unified Tibet.
After his father, Namri Löntsen (Wylie: Gnam-ri-slon-mtshan), was poisoned circa 618, he ascended the throne while still a minor.^[1]
Songtsän Gampo was adept at diplomacy as well as on the field of battle. The king's minister, Myang Mang-po-rje, with the aid of troops from Zhang Zhung (Tang Chinese: 羊同 Yangtong), defeated the Sumpa (Chinese: Subi) people in north-eastern Tibet circa 627 (''Old Tibetan Annals'' [''OTA''] l. 2).

Contents

630s

640s

Tibetan Traditions about Songtsän Gampo and his cultural importance

References

External Links

630s

Six years later (c. 632/633) Myang Mang-po-rje Zhang-shang was accused of treason and executed (''OTA'' l. 4-5, Richardson 1965). Minister Mgar-srong-rtsan succeeded him.
Probably in 637 or 638, the , with the help of troops from Zhang Zhung, attacked and defeated the 'A zha people (Chinese: Tuyuhun),^[2] who lived around Koko Nor in the northeast corner of Tibet, and controlled important trade routes into China.
He next attacked and defeated the Dangxian or "Western Xia" people (who later formed the Tangut state in 942 CE), the Bailan, and other Qiang tribes.^[3][4] The Bailan people, were bounded on the east by the Tanguts and on the west by the Domi. They had been subject to the Chinese since 624.^[5]
After a successful campaign against China in the frontier province of Songzhou in 635–6 (''OTA'' l. 607),^[6] the Chinese emperor agreed to marry Songtsän Gampo to a Chinese princess.
In about 639, after Songtsän Gampo had a dispute with his younger brother Brtsan srong, the younger brother was burnt to death by his own minister Mkha’s sregs, presumably at the behest of the king (cf. Richardson 1965, ''OTA'' l. 8-10).

640s

The ''(Jiu) Tangshu'', or ''Book of Tang'', records that when the the king of 泥婆羅 Nipoluo Nepal,^[7] the father of Licchavi king Naling Deva (or Narendradeva), died, an uncle (Yu.sna kug.ti = Vishnagupta) usurped the throne.^[8] "The Tibetans gave him refuge and reestablished him on his throne [in 641]; that is how he became subject to Tibet."^[9][10][11]
Sometime later, but still within the Zhenguan period (627-650 CE), the Tibetans sent an envoy to Nepal where the king received him "joyfully" and, later, when a Tibetan mission was attacked in India around 647,^[12] the Nepalese king came to their aid.^[13]

The Chinese Princess Wencheng (Tibetan: Mung-chang Kungco), niece of the powerful Emperor Taizong of Tang China, left China in 640 to marry Songtsän Gampo, arriving the next year. Peace between China and Tibet prevailed for the remainder of Songtsän Gampo's reign.
The ''Tangshu'' or ''Book of Tang'' adds that Songstän Gampo thereupon built a city for the Chinese princess, and palace for her within its walls.
:"As the princess disliked their custom of painting their faces red, Lungstan (Songtsän Gampo) ordered his people to put a stop to the practice, and it was no longer done. He also discarded his felt and skins, put on brocade and silk, and gradually copied Chinese civilization. He also sent the children of his chiefs and rich men to request admittance into the national school to be taught the classics, and invited learned scholars from China to compose his official reports to the emperor." ^[14]
Songtsän Gampo’s sister Sad-mar-kar was sent to marry Lig-myi-rhya, the king of Zhang-zhung. However, when the king refused to consummate the marriage, she then helped Songtsän Gampo to defeat Lig myi-rhya and incorporate the Zhang-zhung of Western Tibet into the Tibetan Empire in 645,^[15] thus gaining control of most, if not all, of the Tibetan plateau.
Following the visit by the famous Chinese pilgrim monk, Xuanzang, to the court of Harsha, the king of Magadha, Harsha sent a mission to China which, in turn, responded by sending an embassy consisting of Li Yibiao and Wang Xuanze who probably travelled through Tibet, and whose journey is commemorated in inscriptions at Rajagrha - modern Rajgir, and Bodhgaya.
Wang Xuanze made a second journey in 648 but he was badly treated by Harsha's successor and his mission plundered. This elicited a response from Tibetan and Nepalese troops who, together, soundly defeated the Indians.^[16][17]
Songtsän Gampo died in 650, and was succeeded by his infant grandson Trimang Löntsen or ''Khri-mang-slon-rtsan'', 650-677 CE. Real power was left in the hands of the minister Mgar-srong-rtsan. ^[18][19]

Tibetan Traditions about Songtsän Gampo and his cultural importance

It is said that 'Songtsän Gampo' was born at Gyama in Maldro (a region to the northeast of modern Lhasa), the son of the Yarlung king, Namri Löntsen (Wylie: Gnam-ri-slon-mtshan). According to Tibetan tradition Songstän Gampo was enthroned as the thirty-third king of the Yarlung Dynasty, after his father was poisoned circa 618,^[20] He is said to have been born in an unspecified Ox year and was thirteen (that is 14 by Western reckoning), when he took the throne. This accords with the tradition that the Yarlung kings took the throne when they were thirteen and supposedly old enough to ride a horse and rule the kingdom.^[21] If these traditions are correct, he was probably born in the Ox year 605 CE. The ''Jiu Tangshu'' or ''Book of Tang'' confirms that he "was still a minor when he succeeded to the throne." ^[9][1].
Songtsän Gampo is said to have sent his minister Thonmi Sambhota to India to devise a script for the Tibetan language, which led to the creation of the first Tibetan literary works and translations, court records and a constitution. ^[24]
Songtsän Gampo is also credited with bringing many new cultural and technological advances to Tibet. The ''Tangshu'' or ''Book of Tang'' states that after the defeat in 648 of an Indian army in support of Chinese envoys, the Chinese Emperor, Gaozong, a devout Buddhist, gave him the title (variously written Binwang "Guest King" or Zongwang "Cloth-tribute King") and 3,000 rolls of multicoloured silk in 649,^[25] and granted the Tibetan king's request for:
:". . . silkworms' eggs, mortars and presses for making wine, and workmen to manufacture paper and ink."^[18]
He is traditionally credited with bringing Buddhism to the Tibetan people, and invited Buddhist teachers to Tibet. Songtsän Gampo is said to have built many Buddhist temples, including the Jokhang in Lhasa and Changzhug in Nêdong over two different lakes. He was initiated by the Indian Master Samantabhadra and it is claimed that the actual form of Amitabha Buddha arose on his head (and this is how he is usually depicted in artworks).
Songtsän Gampo is said to have had five wives, the Nepalese princess, Khri b'Tsun, or "Royal Lady" (Bhrikuti Devi),^[27] and the Chinese princess, Wencheng, both devout Buddhists, are the best known, but there were also daughters of the King of Zhang-zhung and the King of Minyak, as well as one each from the Ruyong and Mong clans (although other lists exist).^[28]

References

1. Bushell, S. W. "The Early History of Tibet. From Chinese Sources." ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', Vol. XII, 1880, p. 443.
2. Beckwith, Christopher I. 1987. ''The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia: A History of the Struggle for Great Power among Tibetans, Turks, Arabs, and Chinese during the Early Middle Ages''. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-02469-3, p. 22
3. Bushell, S. W. "The Early History of Tibet. From Chinese Sources." ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', Vol. XII, 1880, pp. 443-444.
4. Beckwith, Christopher I. 1987. ''The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia: A History of the Struggle for Great Power among Tibetans, Turks, Arabs, and Chinese during the Early Middle Ages''. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-02469-3, pp. 22-23.
5. Bushell, S. W. "The Early History of Tibet. From Chinese Sources." ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', Vol. XII, 1880, p. 528, n. 13
6. Bushell, S. W. "The Early History of Tibet. From Chinese Sources." ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', Vol. XII, 1880, p. 444.
7. Pelliot, Paul. Histoire Ancienne du Tibet. Paris. Libraire d'amérique et d'orient. 1961, p. 12.
8. Vitali, Roberto. 1990. ''Early Temples of Central Tibet''. Serindia Publications, London, p. 71. ISBN 0-906026-25-3
9. Snellgrove, David. 1987. ''Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists and Their Tibetan Successors''. 2 Vols. Shambhala, Boston, Vol. II, p. 372.
10. Chavannes, Édouard . ''Documents sur les Tou-kiue (Turcs) occidentaux''. 1900. Paris, Librairie d’Amérique et d’Orient. Reprint: Taipei. Cheng Wen Publishing Co. 1969, p. 186.
11. Bushell, S. W. "The Early History of Tibet. From Chinese Sources." ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', Vol. XII, 1880, pp. 529, n. 31.
12. Stein, R. A. ''Tibetan Civilization'' 1962. Revised English edition, 1972, Faber & Faber, London. Reprint, 1972. Stanford University Press, p. 62. ISBN 0-8047-0806-1 cloth; ISBN 0-8047-0901-7 pbk., p. 59
13. Bushell, S. W. "The Early History of Tibet. From Chinese Sources." ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', Vol. XII, 1880, pp. 529-530, n. 31.
14. Bushell, S. W. "The Early History of Tibet. From Chinese Sources." ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', Vol. XII, 1880, p. 545.
15. Stein, R. A. ''Tibetan Civilization'' 1962. Revised English edition, 1972, Faber & Faber, London. Reprint, 1972. Stanford University Press, p. 62. ISBN 0-8047-0806-1 cloth; ISBN 0-8047-0901-7 pbk., p. 59.
16. Stein, R. A. ''Tibetan Civilization'' 1962. Revised English edition, 1972, Faber & Faber, London. Reprint, 1972. Stanford University Press, p. 62. ISBN 0-8047-0806-1 cloth; ISBN 0-8047-0901-7 pbk., pp. 58-59
17. Bushell, S. W. "The Early History of Tibet. From Chinese Sources." ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', Vol. XII, 1880, p. 446
18. Bushell, S. W. "The Early History of Tibet. From Chinese Sources." ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', Vol. XII, 1880, p. 446.
19. Ancient Tibet: Research materials from the Yeshe De Project. 1986. Dharma Publishing, California. ISBN 0-89800-146-3, p. 230.
20. Beckwith, Christopher I. 1987. ''The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia: A History of the Struggle for Great Power among Tibetans, Turks, Arabs, and Chinese during the Early Middle Ages''. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-02469-3, pp. 19-20 (OTC, vi).
21. Vitali, Roberto. 1990. ''Early Temples of Central Tibet''. Serindia Publications, London, p. 70. ISBN 0-906026-25-3
22. Snellgrove, David. 1987. ''Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists and Their Tibetan Successors''. 2 Vols. Shambhala, Boston, Vol. II, p. 372.
23. Bushell, S. W. "The Early History of Tibet. From Chinese Sources." ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', Vol. XII, 1880, p. 443.
24. Dudjom Rinpoche and Jikdrel Yeshe Dorje. ''The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: its Fundamentals and History''. Two Volumes. 1991. Translated and edited by Gyurme Dorje with Matthew Kapstein. Wisdom Publications, Boston. ISBN 0-86171-087-8
25. Beckwith, Christopher I. 1987. ''The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia: A History of the Struggle for Great Power among Tibetans, Turks, Arabs, and Chinese during the Early Middle Ages''. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-02469-3, p. 25, n. 71.
26. Bushell, S. W. "The Early History of Tibet. From Chinese Sources." ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', Vol. XII, 1880, p. 446.
27. Snellgrove, David. 1987. ''Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists and Their Tibetan Successors''. 2 Vols. Shambhala, Boston, Vol. II, p. 416.
28. Stein, R. A. ''Tibetan Civilization'' 1962. Revised English edition, 1972, Faber & Faber, London. Reprint, 1972. Stanford University Press, p. 62. ISBN 0-8047-0806-1 cloth; ISBN 0-8047-0901-7 pbk.


★ Richardson, Hugh E. (1965). "How Old was Srong Brtsan Sgampo" ''Bulletin of Tibetology'' 2.1. pp 5-8.

External Links

★ [1] A list of Licchavi kings and their attributed dates, from: "A Kushan-period Sculpture from the reign of Jaya Varma-, A.D. 184/185. Kathmandu, Nepal." Kashinath Tamot and Ian Alsop. See: [2]