The oldest great royal temple of the Second Spreading in the far west, on the Sutlej bank in the Zanda basin.
Wikipedia's Tholing page says the monastery was built in 997 by King Yeshe-O, the second king of Guge (the infobox names the translator Rinchen Zangpo as founder; our Guge record has 996 or 997), that the king invited Atisha in 1042 and that Atisha spent three years there, and that a Buddhist conference was held at the Yeshe-O temple in the later eleventh century (the year is not given). Tholing was the capital of Guge when it was built. The later sources make Tsaparang, up the river to the west, the royal seat, so by 1200 Tholing is best read as the religious centre of a small kingdom and the place its kings are tied to by their ancestors' foundation.
The wall paintings that survive in the Assembly Hall (Dukhang) and the White Chapel are dated by the page to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, a later phase; what the chapels held in 1200 is not recorded.
Who holds it
- Name
- The king of Guge (not named for 1200); the abbot is not known
- Title
- King of Guge, and the abbots of the royal temple
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
See the Guge king record. Wikipedia's Tholing page names no abbot or officer for the twelfth century.
What the town holds
- the royal temple and its chapels
- the Zanda basin farms and the Sutlej ferries
- the road to Kashmir by Spiti and Kinnaur, and the road to Kumaon by the Mana and Niti passes
How things stand that morning
No event is dated for the winter. The valley is closed to caravans by snow on the passes and open on the Sutlej.
Wealth
Barley, wool and the endowment of the temples; the toll on the roads that meet in the Sutlej gorge.
Military
No army is recorded and no number is known.
Council
The royal court and the temple's abbot and chapter; none named for 1200.
Communities
Tibetan-speaking farmers and herders; monks; Kashmiri and Indian visitors; Newar craftsmen are possible but are not attested here.
Walls and castle
The temple compound is of mud brick; the royal fortress is at Tsaparang, not here.
Trade and crafts
Painters and carvers in the Kashmiri manner worked at the temples of the Second Spreading; the town lives by the court and the pilgrim and caravan traffic.
Places of note
- Tholing monastery: Founded 996 or 997.
- Tsaparang: Up the river; the capital in the later sources.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Wikipedia's Tholing page gives the foundation and Atisha's stay; nothing is dated to the 1190s.
On the map: The farmland is a guess at the size of the Zanda basin's irrigated strip.
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
- Wikipedia (English): Tholing Monastery
- Wikipedia (English): Guge
- Roberto Vitali, The Kingdoms of Gu.ge Pu.hrang, Dharamsala 1996 (cited on Wikipedia, not read directly)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.