Katok stands in Baiyu, 17 km south of the town of Horpo and at about 4,000 m (Wikipedia, Kathok Monastery).
Katok Dampa Deshek founded it in 1159, 'above Horpo' (Rigpa Wiki). It is the oldest of the 'six mother monasteries' of the Nyingma school and the home of the Kama (oral) lineages and of the Anuyoga; the Compendium of the Intentions Sutra was central to its early teaching. In 1200 it is forty-one years old. The later Kama revival under Longsel Nyingpo, the 1656 rebuilding by the tertons Duddul Dorje and Longsal Nyingpo, and the 300 or so branch houses of the 20th century are later.
No branch house, estate or patron of 1200 is named in any source we could reach.
Who holds it
- Title
- Throne-holder (khri pa) of Katok
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
See Katok throne: Katok Dampa Deshek (1122-1192) founded it; the third throne-holder Jampa Bum (1179-1252) took the throne about 1226; the holder of 1200 is not named in anything we could reach.
What it holds
- The monastery and its hill above Horpo
- Gifts of the Dege valley chiefs (patrons not named)
- A teaching line that draws pupils from Kham
How it was acquired
Founded in 1159 by Dampa Deshek, brother of Phagmo Drupa.
Allies and rivals
The Dege valley chiefs (patrons); the Karma Kagyu (Dampa Deshek was a disciple of Dusum Khyenpa); the Phagmodru Kagyu of Densa Thil (his brother's house, tic sheet).
How things stand that morning
A young house of high repute; the holder of the throne is not known.
Wealth
Gifts and the produce of its valley lands; no estates documented.
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.
- about 1226 to 1252Jampa Bum holds the throne for 26 years, ending 1252 (Wikipedia, Kathok Monastery).Depends on: His survival and no rival succession. Stopped by: His early death.
Places of note
- Katok monastery: The house.
Where the sources disagree
- Wikipedia places Katok in Baiyu County 'in the Kingdom of Derge' and Horpo 17 km north; Rigpa Wiki says 'above Horpo'. Coordinates 31.313 N, 98.941 E are those we recorded earlier (Wikipedia, Katok). The ownership tool gives the place to this sheet.
Evidence: Founding, founder, place and school from two sources that agree; nothing on its estates or 1200 life.
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
- Wikipedia, Kathok Monastery (read this session)
- Rigpa Wiki, Katok Monastery (read this session)
- Wikipedia, Phagmo Drupa Dorje Gyalpo (read this session)
- Wikipedia, Dusum Khyenpa (read this session)
- Treasury of Lives (treasuryoflives.org), Tibetan biographies: recalled, and as cited in the OMNIA txi_REPORT; the site refused the fetch, so not read
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.