Wikipedia's Shey Palace page says Shey was the old capital of upper Ladakh and a summer capital, and that the first palace, now a ruin, was built near the village by Lhachen Palgyigon in the tenth century (an attribution it does not date or support).
The standing palace and monastery are of 1655, built for Deldan Namgyal in memory of his father Sengge Namgyal, and the great gilded copper Shakyamuni is of that age too. The Leh page adds an inscription supporting Nyimagon's ordering of sculptures at Shey. The ruins, rock carvings of the five Dhyani Buddhas and the chortens are undated. For 1200 the claim that a king of Maryul sat at Shey is a tradition and the seat's buildings are not recorded.
Who holds it
- Name
- Not known for 1200
- Title
- King of Maryul (Ladakh)
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
See the Maryul king record. The Ladakh chronicle has no king for the twelfth century that we could read.
What the town holds
- the old palace site and the royal village
- the Indus villages above Leh
Wealth
Barley and apricot villages of the middle Indus; the caravan road.
Military
No army is recorded and no number is known.
Communities
Tibetan-speaking farmers; the monks of the palace temple.
Walls and castle
The ruined first palace, undated; the fort above is conjectured by the page to belong to 1842.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Wikipedia's Shey Palace and Leh pages; the tenth century claim is unsupported there.
On the map: Approximate.
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
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.