Songtsen Gampo
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Image:King Songsten Gampo's statue in his meditation cave at Yerpa.jpg Songtsen Gampo (སྲོང་བཙན་སྒམ་པོ་ Wylie: Srong-btsan Sgam-po) (604–650 CE) was the thirty-third king of the Yarlung Dynasty of Tibet. Born at Gyama at Maldro to Namri Löntsen (Wylie: Gnam-ri-slon-mtshan), he is traditionally credited with bringing Buddhism to the Tibetan people.
Songtsen Gampo was adept at diplomacy as well as on the field of battle. The king's minister Myang Mang-po-rje Zhang-shang defeated Sum pa circa 627 (Old Tibetan Annals [OTA] l. 2). 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.
The Chinese records record receiving an envoy in 634. On that occasion the king requested marriage to a Chinese princess and was refused. In 635/636 the emperor attacked and defeated the 'A zha people (Chinese: Tüyühün), who lived around Lake Koko Nor in the northeast corner of Tibet, and who controlled important trade routes into China. After a successful campaign against China in 635–6 (OTA l. 607) the Chinese emperor agreed to marry Songtsen Gampo to a Chinese princess.
In about 639, after Songtsen Gampo had 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).
The Chinese princess Wencheng (Tibetan: Mung-chang Kungco), daughter of the powerful Emperor Taizong of Tang China, left China in 640 to marry Songtsen Gampo, arriving a year latter. Peace between China and Tibet prevailed for the remainder of Songtsen Gampo's reign.
Songtsen 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 her brother to defeat Lig myi-rhya and to incorporate the Zhang-zhung into the Tibetan Empire.
In 645, Songtsen Gampo overran the kingdom of Zhang-zhung in what is now Western Tibet.
Songtsen Gampo died in 650, and was succeeded by his infant grandson Khri-mang-slon. Real power was left in the hands of the minister Mgar-srong-rtsan.
Myths about Songtsen Gampo and his cultural importance
Songtsen Gampo has become a cultural hero for Tibetans, based largely on myths that grew up around him during the Middle Ages. For example it is said that his Nepalese princess Bhrikuti and his Chinese princess Wencheng brought Buddhism to Tibet. No historical evidence supports the existence of this Nepalese princess or the faith of Wencheng, although Buddhism would have been known in China at the time. These stories are included in such medieval romances as the Mani-bka'-'bum, and historiographies such as the Rgyal-rabs Gsel-ba'i Me-long.
The stories of Thonmi Sambhota, who is supposed to have invented the Tibetan script, and of the original Jowo statue at Lhasa have similar late medieval origins.
References
- Beckwith, Christopher I (1987). The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Richardson, Hugh E. (1965). "How Old was Srong Brtsan Sgampo" Bulletin of Tibetology 2.1. pp 5-8.
