A temple group on a flat above the Indus whose painters were Kashmiris working in the Kashmiri manner: the hardest evidence anywhere that the Zoji La road carried craftsmen as well as goods.
Wikipedia, following the 2023 translation of the inscriptions by Luczanits and others, says the Dukhang (assembly hall) was built no earlier than 1140 by an unnamed uncle of Tsultrim O, that the Sumtsek is early thirteenth century (inferred from the last inscribed priest, Jigten Gonpo of Drikung, 'Jig rten mgon po, 1143-1217), and that one inscription credits an unnamed king and queen with founding the monastery. So on 1 January 1200 the Dukhang stands, the Sumtsek is begun or yet to be begun, and the Manjushri temple and the chortens are not yet built. Alchi is named, with Mangyu and Sumda Chun, as one of three temples a tradition says Rinchen Zangpo founded in a night, a story, not a date.
Who holds it
- Name
- Tsultrim O (Tshul khrims 'od)
- Title
- Tsultrim O's house, as donors
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- medium
See the Alchi donors record.
How things stand that morning
Building; the Sumtsek may be under construction.
Wealth
The noble house's means.
Military
No army is recorded and no number is known.
Patron
Tsultrim O and his uncle; an unnamed king and queen on one inscription.
Estates
The Alchi flat; not itemised.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- c. 1200 to 1230The Sumtsek is completed and its inscriptions record Jigten Gonpo of Drikung.Depends on: The patron's means and Kashmiri-trained painters. Stopped by: A break in the Zoji La road.
Places of note
- Alchi: The temple group.
Where the sources disagree
- The campaign board entry alchi-choskor: 'whether the main shrine exists on this date is genuinely open'. Wikipedia: the Dukhang exists (after 1140); the Sumtsek is early thirteenth century and at best unfinished.
Evidence: Inscriptions and a 2023 translation, as Wikipedia summarises them.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
On the map: A point.
Primary sources for Guge and Maryul
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The River of Kings, with Jonaraja's continuation, Kalhana; continued by Jonaraja (Kalhana 1148 to 1150; Jonaraja about 1459). Kalhana's chronicle stops in 1149, so for 1200 the witness is Jonaraja, writing three centuries later and very briefly. Read online
- History of Buddhism in India and Tibet, Buton Rinchen Drub (Bu ston Rin chen grub) (1322). Optional background. Read online
- The Blue Annals, Go Lotsawa Zhonnu Pal ('Gos lo tsa ba gZhon nu dpal) (1476 to 1478). The fullest Tibetan account of who mattered around 1200, written three centuries later from earlier biographies and lineage records, many now lost. Read online
- The Sakya genealogy, and the works of the Sakya hierarch of 1200, Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen (Grags pa rgyal mtshan) and Sakya Pandita; the genealogy by Ngawang Kunga Sonam (the hierarchs' writings about 1170 to 1250; the genealogy 1629). Sakya in 1200 was ruled by Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen, the third of the five founders, with his nephew Kunga Gyaltsen (later Sakya Pandita, born 1182) under his teaching. Read online
- Indo-Tibetica (the temples and inscriptions of western Tibet), with the Royal Genealogy of Ngari, Giuseppe Tucci (editor and translator); the genealogy by Ngawang Drakpa (Ngag dbang grags pa) (the inscriptions and temple records of the 11th to 15th centuries; Indo-Tibetica published 1932 to 1941; the genealogy about 1497). Guge, Purang and Ladakh in 1200 are among the least documented kingdoms in the atlas. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.