Other lordship · Self-governing peoples of North China and Manchuria · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Tibetan chiefs of Lintao

The headmen of the Tibetan herding and farming tribes round He zhou and Tao zhou, who follow their own customs and take Jin titles as tributary officers (from the general pattern of Jin frontier rule; not documented for these tribes).

The Jin governs the towns and the roads; the chiefs hold the uplands. The old Tsongkha chiefs of Kokonor beyond (the Tibet sheet) are their kin and neighbours; their last Qingtang lord Zhao Huai'en fled to the Southern Song in 1134 when the Jin occupied the Huangshui basin, and the Jin gave the Kokonor area to the Xia in 1136 (Wikipedia, Song-Tibet relations and Tsongkha).

Who he is

Title
Tribal chiefs of the Tibetan tribes of the Tao and Daxia valleys
Since
not pinned
Confidence
low

No source we could open names a chief of these tribes in 1199-1200.

Overlord

The Jin, loosely, through the Lintao circuit commander

What it holds

  • The Tibetan uplands round He zhou and Tao zhou

How it was acquired

By appointment of the Jin court; the date of the present appointment is not known.

Allies and rivals

Works with the neighbouring circuit commands; no quarrel is known to me.

How things stand that morning

Under loose Jin supervision. No chief's name or loyalty that winter is known to me; we know of no revolt.

Wealth

Herds of yak and sheep, horses, barley; tea and salt bought at the He zhou market.

Military

Tribal levies under their own chiefs; no numbers.

Threats

  • A quarrel with the Jin over tribute or the horse trade; none known.

Places of note

  • Guanghe: Upland county of the Tibetan tribes

Where the sources disagree

  • The assignment asks for "its Tibetan chiefs". The chiefs are not named in any source we could read; the territory is the province record "Tibetan tribes of Lintao".

Evidence: The existence and general role of this office follow the standard Jin administrative accounts (the Jinshi Baiguan zhi and Dili zhi, via the secondary literature). We could not open the Jinshi text in this session. No source we could read names the holder in the winter of 1199-1200, so the holder is "not known".

On the map: The command is drawn on the seat prefecture; its authority ran over the whole circuit, shown in the province records.

Sources and studies

  1. Jinshi (History of the Jin), juan 24 to 26, Dili zhi (geography); cited from the standard reference, the text itself could not be opened in this session
  2. Wikipedia, Tsongkha
  3. Wikipedia, Song-Tibet relations

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