A high Tibetan-speaking country behind the Dhaulagiri range, with Bon and Buddhist villages and monasteries.
On Wikipedia's account Dolpo belonged to the Purang kings after the collapse of Tibet in 842, was briefly part of Guge in the tenth century and separated again when Guge was divided among three sons, and was lost with Serib to Gonpo De (mGon po lde) of Gungthang about 1253, in the time of Asog De (A sog lde). Mongol troops reached it in their conquest of Tibet. The Lo kingdom takes it in the fourteenth century.
On that account the lords of Purang are its overlords on 1 January 1200, as the Purang record says nothing against it, but the page does not give a dated act for the twelfth century.
Who holds it
- Name
- Not known by name for 1200
- Title
- Lords of Purang, at a distance
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
Wikipedia's Dolpo page: Dolpa fell under the kingdom of Purang in the ninth century, was part of Guge for a time in the tenth and passed to Gungthang about 1253 during A-sog-lde's reign.
What it holds
- the Tarap, Shey and Saldang country
- the passes into the Karnali basin
How things stand that morning
Under Purang's reach on Wikipedia's account; nothing is dated for the winter.
Wealth
Salt, wool, barley and the caravan trade to the Karnali basin.
Military
No army is recorded and no number is known.
Customs
Bon and Buddhist.
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 1253 (later)Dolpo and Serib are lost to Gungthang.Depends on: The rise of the Gungthang house in Mangyul. Stopped by: Given only as a later event.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: One Wikipedia page with a list of dates and no source named in the lines we read.
On the map: Approximate.
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.