Phagmodrupa dynasty

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Phagmodrupa dynasty
ཕག་མོ་གྲུ་པ་
帕木竹巴
1354–1618
Nêdong
Common languagesTibetan
Religion
Tibetan Buddhism
GovernmentBuddhist theocracy
Monarch 
• 1354-1364
Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen (first)
• c.1600-1618
Mipham Sonam Wangchuk Drakpa Namgyal Palzang (last)
History 
• Established
1354
• Disestablished
1618
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Tibet under Yuan rule
Tsangpa
Today part ofChina
Part of a series on the
History of Tibet
Potala Palace
See also
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The Phagmodrupa dynasty or Pagmodru (

Sakya, Rinpung and Phagmodrupa to the "Great Fifth".[1]

History

The foundation of the Phagmodrupa

Founder

Sakya regime, centered in Tsang (West Central Tibet) had hitherto wielded power over Tibet on behalf of the Mongols.[4] However, Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen superseded Sakya in the period 1354–1358, thereby recreating an autonomous Tibetan state.[5]

Mongol ruler Toghon Temür was beset by inner troubles, and so preferred to confirm the acquisitions of Changchub Gyaltsen, and conferred the titles darakache and tai situ (grand tutor) on him. The Ming dynasty made no attempt to reinstate the tight grip on Tibet once exercised by the Mongols. In 1372 the Hongwu Emperor conferred the title Guanding Guoshi on Changchub Gyaltsen's successor Jamyang Shakya Gyaltsen (r. 1364–1373) together with a jade seal.[6]

Administrative renewal

The new regime governed from their palace in

Central Tibet (Ü and Tsang).[8]

After 1373 the rulers periodically dispatched formal tributes to the emperors of the

Eastern Tibet) and Ü-Tsang (Central Tibet). However, there is no trace of this office in the Tibetan chronicles or documents. Tibetan sources show that the titles and seals sent by the Chinese authorities were valued by the Phagmodrupa as adding to their prestige,[10] but that no ordinances, taxes or laws were imposed by the Ming.[11] The emperor clearly preferred to issue formal appointments of Tibetans as rulers rather than to try to send officials or military commanders. Only essential matters, for instance the ownership of Sakya Monastery, were to be judged by the emperor.[12] Overall, as argued by Martin Slobodník, "the Phag-mo-gru did not represent an important ally or a dangerous enemy of the Ming Dynasty in its Inner Asian policy. The amount of information on these relations available in Chinese and Tibetan sources reflects the fact that at any time it did not represent a priority either for the Chinese or the Tibetan side. In relations with China Tibet was only one of numerous peripheral regions".[13]

Period of political stability

The first rulers were lamas who did not marry, and the succession up to 1481 went via collateral kinsmen. The dynasty was divided into three branches or rather functionaries: the ruling desi, the spiritual masters (chen-nga) of the Dansa Thil and

Gedun Drub, posthumously counted as the first Dalai Lama.[16]
The rulers in the first century of the dynasty were as follows:

  1. Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen (Wylie: ta'i si tu byang chub rgyal mtshan) (1302–1364, r. 1354–1364)
  2. Desi Shakya Gyaltsen (Wylie: sde srid sh'akya rgyal mtshan, ZYPY: Sagya Gyaincain) (1340–1373, r. 1364–1373) nephew
  3. Desi Drakpa Changchub (Wylie: sde srid grags pa byang chub) (1356–1386, r. 1373–1381) nephew
  4. Desi Sonam Drakpa (Wylie: sde srid bsod nams grags pa) (1359–1408, r. 1381–1385) brother
  5. Gongma Drakpa Gyaltsen (Wylie: gong ma grags pa rgyal mtshan) (1374–1432, r. 1385–1432) cousin
  6. Gongma Drakpa Jungne (Wylie: gong ma grags pa 'byung gnas) (1414–1445, r. 1432–1445) nephew

Renewed political fragmentation

At length the Phagmodrupa were crippled by internal dissent in the Lang family. A brief civil war in 1434 weakened their position. Powerful

Karmapa sect.[20]

The history of the Phagmodrupa after the death of Ngawang Drakpa Gyaltsen in 1603/04 is very obscure since they were by now entirely eclipsed by other political factions. They were defeated by the Tsangpa in 1613 and again in 1620, and the final incumbent was expelled from Lhasa in 1635.

Fifth Dalai Lama entertained friendly relations with the last titular lord of the line. Some years after the latter's death in 1671, Nêdong was however given to an outsider and the Lang family lapsed into obscurity.[22] In spite of its inglorious later history, the dynasty has a good reputation in traditional historiography. A history translated by Sarat Chandra Das in 1905 says: "During the reign of the Phag[mo]du dynasty all Tibet enjoyed peace and prosperity. People became rich in money and cattle. The country enjoyed immunity from famine and murrain, and was not harassed by foreign invasion. Although some petty fights and quarrels with some of the disaffected and rapacious ministers now and then disturbed the peace of the country, yet on the whole, the dynasty was beneficial to Tibet".[23]

The last eight rulers were:

  1. Gongma Kunga Lekpa (Wylie: gong ma kun dga' legs pa) (1433–1483, r. 1448–1481) brother
  2. Gongma Ngagi Wangpo (Wylie: gong ma ngag gi dbang po) (1439–1491, r. 1481–1491) nephew
  3. Tsokye Dorje (Wylie: mTs'o skyes rdo rje) (1450–1510, r. 1491–1499) regent from the Rinpungpa line
  4. Gongma Ngawang Tashi Drakpa (Wylie: gong ma ngag dbang bkra shis grags pa) (1488–1564, r. 1499–1554, 1556/57–1564) son of Gongma Ngagi Wangpo
  5. Gongma Drowai Gonpo (Wylie: gong ma gro ba'i mgon po) (1508–1548, r. 1524–1548) son
  6. Gongma Ngawang Drakpa (Wylie: gong ma ngag dbang grags pa) (d. 1603/04, r. 1554–1556/57, 1576–1603/04) son
  7. Mipham Wanggyur Gyalpo (Wylie: mi pham dbang sgyur rgyal po) (c. 1589–1613, r. 1604–1613) grandnephew (?)
  8. Mipham Sonam Wangchuk Drakpa Namgyal Palzang (Wylie: mi pham bsod nams dbang phyug grags pa rnam rgyal pal bzang) (d. 1671, r. after 1613) grandson of Ngawang Drakpa Gyaltsen[24]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ Zahiruddin Ahmad, Sino-Tibetan relations in the seventeenth century. Rome 1970, p. 102.
  2. ^ David Snellgrove & Hugh Richardson (1986) A Cultural History of Tibet, Boston & London: Shambhala, pp, 135-6.
  3. ^ "The Monastery of Densatil". Archived from the original on 2014-09-22. Retrieved 2014-10-07.
  4. ^ Luciano Petech (1990) Central Tibet and the Mongols, Rome: ISMEO.
  5. ^ David Snellgrove & Hugh Richardson, (1986), pp. 152-4.
  6. ^ Giuseppe Tucci (1949) Tibetan Painted Scrolls, 2 Volumes, Rome: La Libreria dello Stato, p. 22, 692.
  7. ^ Giuseppe Tucci (1949) p. 23.
  8. ^ However, they did hold authority over the three regions of Tibet (Ü, Tsang and Kham-Amdo) according to Tsepon W. D. Shakbpa (1967) Tibet: A Political History. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, p. 89; and W.. Rockhill (1910) 'The Dalai Lamas of Lhasa and their relations with the Manchu Emperors of China, 1644-1908', T'oung pao 11, p. 7.
  9. ^ Giuseppe Tucci (1949) pp. 692-4.
  10. ^ Peter Schwieger (2009/10) 'Significance of Ming titles conferred upon the Phag mo gru rulers: A reevaluation of Chinese-Tibetan relations during the Ming Dynasty', The Tibet Journal 34-35, http://www.ltwa.net/library/images/downloads/publication/procedings2009.pdf
  11. ^ Elliot Sperling (2004) The Tibet-China Conflict: History and polemics, Washington: East-West Center, p. 27.
  12. ^ Chinese perspectives on this may be found in Ya Hanzhang [] (1991) The Biographies of the Dalai Lamas, Beijing: Foreign Language Press, pp. 12-3; Chenqing Ying (2003) Tibetan History, Beijing: China Intercontinental Press, pp. 42-52.
  13. ^ Martin Slobodník, "The relations between the Chinese Ming Dynasty and the Tibetan ruling house of Phag-mo-gru in the years 1368-1434: political and religious aspects", Asian and African Studies 13, [1] p. 168.
  14. ^ Giuseppe Tucci (1949 p. 28.
  15. ^ Sam van Schaik (2011) Tibet: A History, New Haven & London: Yale University Press, pp. 85–113.
  16. ^ David Snellgrove & Hugh Richardson (1986) pp. 153-4, 180-2; Laurent Deshayes (1997) Histoire du Tibet, Paris: Fayard, p. 120
  17. ^ Giuseppe Tucci (1971)Deb t'er mar po gsar ma: Tibetan chronicles by bSod nams grags pa, Roma: IsMEO, p. 225-6.
  18. ^ Giuseppe Tucci (1971) pp. 231-2.
  19. ^ Olaf Czaja (2013) Medieval rule in Tibet: The Rlangs Clan and the political and religious history of the ruling house of Phag mo gru pa, Vol. I-II, Wien: ÖAW, p.291-2.
  20. ^ Laurent Deshayes (1997) pp. 122-3, 134-46.
  21. ^ Günther Schulemann (1958) Geschichte der Dalai-Lamas, Leipzig: Harassowitz, p. 230.
  22. ^ Olaf Czaja (2013) pp. 327-42.
  23. ^ Sarat Chandra Das (1905) 'A short history of the house of Phagdu, which ruled over Tibet on the decline of Sakya till 1432', Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 1:8 1905, p. 207.
  24. ^ List of rulers culled from Ngag-dBang Blo-bZang rGya-mTSHo (1995) A History of Tibet, Indiana University, Bloomington, pp. 126-60; Giuseppe Tucci (1971) Deb t'er dmar po gsar ma. Tibetan chronicles by bSod nams grags pa, Roma: IsMEO; Giuseppe Tucci (1949) Tibetan Painted Scrolls, 2 Vols., Rome: La Libreria dello Stato; Olaf Czaja (2013), Medieval rule in Tibet: The Rlangs Clan and the political and religious history of the ruling house of Phag mo gru pa, Vol. I-II, Wien: ÖAW. A list, questionable in some details, is found in Sarat Chandra Das, 'Contributions on the religion, history &c, of Tibet', Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 1881, p. 242.

Sources

  • Dung-dkar blo-zang 'phrim-las (1991) The Merging of Religious and Secular Rule in Tibet, Beijing: Foreign Language Press.
  • Rossabi, Morris. China Among Equals: The Middle Kingdom and Its Neighbors, 10th-14th Centuries (1983) Univ. of California Press.
    ISBN 0-520-04383-9
  • Shakapa, Tsepon W. D. (1981) 'The rise of Changchub Gyaltsen and the Phagmo Drupa Period', Bulletin of Tibetology, 1981 Gangtok: Namgyal Institute of Tibetology [2]
  • Shakapa, Tsepon W. D. (1967) Tibet: A Political History, New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
  • Sorensen, Per, & Hazod, Guntram (2007) Rulers of the Celestial Plain: Ecclesiastic and Secular Hegemony in Medieval Tibet. A Study of Tshal Gung-thang. Vol. I-II. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
  • Tucci, Giuseppe (1949) Tibetan Painted Scrolls, 2 Volumes, Rome: La Libreria dello Stato.
  • Tucci, Giuseppe (1971) Deb t'er dmar po gsar ma. Tibetan Chronicles by bSod nams grags pa. Roma: IsMEO.

External links

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