Karma Gon is on the east bank of the Dzachu in the Karub district of Chamdo, at 31 degrees 49 minutes 50 seconds N, 96 degrees 54 minutes 51 seconds E (Wikipedia).
Dusum Khyenpa, the first Karmapa (1110-1193), founded it at age 76, about 1185; the Karma Gon page's infobox says 1147 and adds that some sources give 1184 and credit Chodzin Gemphel. He moved his main seat to Tsurphu in central Tibet at about 80 and died there. Early heads named without dates: Yehse Nyingpo and Ringowa Ratnabhadra. The Situ line of later centuries and the Ming enlargement are not yet.
Who holds it
- Title
- Head of Karma Gon
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
See Karma Gon heads; Dusum Khyenpa founded it, then moved to Tsurphu and died in 1193. The head of 1200 is not known.
Overlord
None; the Karma Kagyu's centre is Tsurphu (tic sheet).
What it holds
- The monastery and its valley lands
- The patronage of the Chamdo and Lhatog valley lords (unnamed)
How it was acquired
Founded by Dusum Khyenpa.
Allies and rivals
Tsurphu (tic); Pamphuk at Litang; the Taklung and Drukpa houses (fellow disciples' foundations).
How things stand that morning
A young house whose founder has moved to central Tibet and died; head not known.
Wealth
No estates documented.
Places of note
- Karma Gon: The house.
Where the sources disagree
- Wikipedia's Karma Gon page: 1147 (infobox), 1184 per some sources; its Dusum Khyenpa page: age 76, so about 1185. We use about 1185.
Evidence: Place and founder are firm; the date differs between Wikipedia pages.
On the map: Marker only.
Primary sources for Tibet (centre)
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.
- 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 collected works of Lama Zhang, and the early Kagyu lives, Lama Zhang (Zhang Yudrakpa Tsondru Drakpa) and his disciples; the biographers of Drigung, Taklung and Phagmodru (the 1160s to the early 13th century). The nearest contemporary witnesses to the lords of central Tibet in 1200. 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
- History of the Song, the chapters on Xia and on foreign states, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office (1343 to 1345). The Song court's accounts of its neighbours, each arranged as an annal of embassies and wars. 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.