King of Maryul

Who he is

Name

Not known for 1 January 1200

Title

King (rgyal po) of Maryul (Ladakh)

Since

not pinned

Born

not known

Family

The Lhachen line of the Ladakh chronicle, descended from Kyide Nyimagon through Lhachen Palgyigon (c. 930) to Lhachen Utpala (c. 1080-1110), the fifth king of the line (Wikipedia: Lhachen Utpala and History of Ladakh).

Confidence

low

The Ladakh chronicle (La dwags rgyal rabs, seventeenth century; Francke 1907 and 1926, Petech 1977) gives no king for the twelfth and thirteenth centuries that we could read. The later split into Lower Ladakh (Takpabum at Basgo) and Upper Ladakh (Takbumde at Leh and Shey), and its reunion under Lhachen Bhagan (fifteenth century; the Namgyal dynasty), are not dated on Wikipedia and are later than 1200.

What it holds

• Shey and the Indus valley above Leh
• Nubra
• Thiksey, Nyarma, Hemis and the Indus villages
• the Rupshu and Changthang pastures
• Purig is listed with Maryul but has its own lords

Allies and rivals

Zanskar (the brother's line), Guge-Purang, the Kashmir road, the Alchi nobles, the Drikung lamas.

How things stand that morning

The seat and the lords are not documented. The Indus passes are open from about April; the Zoji La road from about June.

Wealth

Barley, apricots, wool and pashmina from the Changthang, tolls on the Kashmir, Yarkand and Tibet roads.

Military

No army is recorded and no number is known.

Threats

• Central Asian raiders (Wikipedia: 'around the 13th century' raids weakened Ladakh)
• the Drikung and other Tibetan hierarchs

Places of note

• Shey: Old royal seat on the Indus.
• Leh: A village on the Indus; not yet a capital.

Where the sources disagree

• The campaign board entry shey-maryul gives 'The Loharas of Kashmir' as the power. That label is wrong for this place: Kashmir ends at the Zoji La, and Shey and Leh are Maryul's, a Tibetan-speaking country with its own chronicle (see the Guge record, first note, for the six board places).

Evidence: A seventeenth century chronicle and monastery inscriptions only.

"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.

On the map: Maryul's real reach in 1200 is not known; the polygon is the chronicle's country.

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