The Gannan edge is the high green country between the Yellow River bend and the Tao river: the Daxia river at Xiahe (Sangchu), the Luqu and Hezuo valleys and the pastures above them.
The farmers and herders of these valleys are the western kin of the tribes the North China sheet writes round Hezhou and Taozhou, and they sell horses at the Jin and Song markets. There is no Labrang (founded 1709, later) and no town; the authority is the clan chief, the headman and the camp. The North China sheet anchors Hezuo, Xiahe, Zhuoni, Luqu and Diebu as Tibetan; we follow it.
Who he is
- Title
- Clan chiefs and village headmen of the Gannan Tibetans
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
No chief is named for 1200 in any source reached.
Overlord
None to the west; on the east edge the Jin's Lintao circuit supervises the Tibetan tribes of the Tao and Daxia valleys loosely (North China sheet, Lintao circuit command).
What it holds
- Barley terraces and villages on the Daxia, Luqu and Hezuo rivers
- Summer grass on the Gannan plateau
- Horse sales at the Jin market towns (Hezhou, Taozhou) and, further south, the Song fair at Danchang (South China sheet)
How it was acquired
By custom.
Allies and rivals
The Jin prefects of Hezhou and Taozhou (supervisors on the east); the Tibetan tribes of the Tao valley; the Rebgong clans; the Ngawa herders to the south.
How things stand that morning
Self-governing; no incident known.
Wealth
Horses, yaks, barley, wool, butter.
Military
Clan levies; no numbers.
Places of note
- Xiahe (Sangchu), approximate: Valley centre; not a town in 1200.
- Luqu: Valley centre.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Geography and trade pattern only.
On the map: Ground is drawn in the province record Gannan Tibetans.
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, Amdo (read this session)
- Author's recall of the secondary literature (Petech, Tucci, Stein, Davidson, Smith, Kapstein, Dunnell): not re-read this session, so marked 'recalled' in the text
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.