Lords of Purang

Who he is

Name

Not known by name for 1 January 1200

Title

Kings or lords (rgyal po, dpon) of Purang

Since

not pinned

Born

not known

Family

After rTse lde was murdered in 1088 'a brother became a separate king of Purang' (Wikipedia, Guge, after Vitali); the Tibetan king list of the 'Ya rtse' kings (Naga lde, bTsan phyug lde, bKra shis lde, Grags btsan lde, Grags pa lde, A sog lde) is linked to Purang and Kailash in the sources and to the Khasa kings of Sinja by Tucci; whether the lord of Purang in 1200 is of the Guge house or the Ya rtse house is not pinned.

Confidence

low

Wikipedia's Taklakot page: Tegla Kar 'became the main fort of the Purang Kingdom in the 10th century, under King Kori', and 'the Purang kingdom is believed to have ended in the 15th century'.

What it holds

• Taklakot (Takla Khar) and its fort
• Khorchag monastery
• the Karnali head and the Manasarovar pastures
• the Kailash circuit
• the Lipu Lekh and Limi roads on the Purang side

Allies and rivals

The kings of Guge (kinsmen and sometime rivals); the Khasa kings at Sinja, with whom the Tibetan lists tie the house of Ya rtse; the hill rajas of Kumaon.

How things stand that morning

A kingdom on the pilgrim and salt road; the lord is not named; the pilgrims (Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Bon) come in June to September.

Wealth

Tolls on the salt, wool, borax and grain road between Tibet, Humla and Kumaon; pasture; the pilgrim trade.

Military

No army is recorded and no number is known.

Threats

• a Khasa or Guge move for the road
• snow

Places of note

• Taklakot: Fort and trade post of Purang.

Where the sources disagree

• Wikipedia's Guge page notes two rulers named Grags pa lde, one in Guge and one in Ya rtse, and does not say they are the same man.

Evidence: The Purang line is known from Vitali's study in outline only.

On the map: Purang's eastern and northern limits are not pinned.

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