Valley, district or people · The Tibetan lands: houses, monasteries and clan chiefs, with no king · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Dagpo

Dagpo (Dwags po) is the country on the Tsangpo below Kongpo where Gampopa (1079-1153) founded Daklha Gampo in 1121.

The four great Dagpo Kagyu branches (Karma, Tsalpa, Barom, Phagdru) and the eight lesser ones all descend from Gampopa's pupils. In 1200 it is the family seat of a famous lineage, with the abbacy in the family of Gampopa's nephew. No war, quarrel or lay lord is named.

Who holds it

Title
Throne-holders of Daklha Gampo and lords of Dagpo
Since
not pinned
Confidence
low

The Chinese page on Daklha Gampo says the abbacy passed mostly to monks of Gampopa's family; no holder of 1200 is named.

Overlord

none: no one rules Tibet in 1200; the house answers to its own patrons and to the custom of the valleys

What it holds

Allies and rivals

The pupils' houses throughout Ü, Tsang and Kham.

How things stand that morning

A mother house at ease.

Wealth

No source we could open gives figures; the usual base is estates and serfs, herds, pass tolls, trade in salt, wool, tea and barley, and the gifts of patrons.

Military

No standing army; the house or lord calls on retainers, tenants and kin. No troop numbers are given by any source we could open.

Customs

Tibetan Buddhist, with Bon communities and village cults; barley, peas and butter farmers in the valleys and herders on the heights; the people on a house's or lord's estate are bound to it as serfs (mi ser). Disputes go to the lord or the lama of the nearest great house; no code or court of 1200 is described by any source we could open.

Assemblies

not described for 1200; the monks of the great houses meet as an assembly (tshogs) and the village headmen settle local matters, but no source we could open records either.

Tribute

none known; the people owe labour, grain and butter to their lord or house, but no figure or rate is given by any source we could open.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: One Chinese page on the monastery. Treasury of Lives, the Blue Annals, the Red Annals, Petech, Sorensen and Hazod and Davidson could not be opened in this session (treasuryoflives.org and rigpawiki.org refused the fetch; the archive.org full texts were refused or cut off), so facts marked 'recalled' are from memory of those works and unchecked.

On the map: Modern-unit polygon; the monastery's true position is not pinned.

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.

Sources and studies

  1. Chinese Wikipedia, 达拉岗布寺
  2. Wikipedia, Gampopa
  3. Wikipedia, Kagyu

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.