Chobar gorge

Who holds it

Name

The single narrow cut in the southern rim through which the Bagmati and every other river of the valley drains. Newar tradition says Manjushri struck it open with his sword and let the lake out, a story about a real fact: the valley floor is an old lake bed. An army coming up the Bagmati arrives here and finds it will have to climb.

Title

Lord or keeper

Since

not pinned

Born

not known

Family

not known

Confidence

low

Lord in 1200

The single narrow cut in the southern rim through which the Bagmati and every other river of the valley drains. Newar tradition says Manjushri struck it open with his sword and let the lake out, a story about a real fact: the valley floor is an old lake bed. An army coming up the Bagmati arrives here and finds it will have to climb.

How things stand that morning

Nothing dated.

Military

No army is recorded and no number is known.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Geology and tradition.

On the map: Approximate.

Primary sources for Nepal valley

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 Gopala Raja Chronicle, and the Nepalese colophons, Anonymous (chronicle); various scribes (colophons) (the chronicle about 1389; the colophons are contemporary notes of the 11th to 14th centuries). The Nepal valley in 1200 is known chiefly from dated manuscript colophons and short inscriptions, which name the reigning king with the Nepal era year, and from the Gopalarajavamsavali, a chronicle written about 1389 that lists the kings with regnal years.
• 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