Guge, Purang and Maryul: the royal houses of the west

Who rules

Name

Not known for 1 January 1200. Guge: one of rTse 'bar btsan, sPyi lde btsan, rNam lde btsan or Nyi ma lde, whose order Vitali does not settle. Maryul: no king can be named; the last dated name is Lhachen Utpala (c. 1080-1110).

Title

Kings (rgyal po) of Guge, Purang and Maryul: no common overlord

Since

not pinned

Born

not known

Family

Descendants of Kyide Nyimagon (c. 900), whose three sons shared Maryul, Guge-Purang and Zanskar; the Guge line runs Trashigon, Yeshe-O (Ye shes 'od), Khor re, Lha lde, 'Od lde btsan, Byang chub 'od, rTse lde, until the murder of rTse lde in 1088 broke the kingdom into Guge and Purang.

Confidence

low

Wikipedia's Guge page (after Vitali) lists the twelfth and early thirteenth century kings of Guge: bSod nams rtse (c. 1095), bKra shis rtse (before 1137, killed in a Karakhanid raid), Jo bo rGyal po (regent), then rTse 'bar btsan, sPyi lde btsan, rNam lde btsan and Nyi ma lde (twelfth to early thirteenth century, order uncertain), then dGe 'bum, La ga (d. c. 1260) and Grags pa lde (c. 1265-1277). The Ladakh chronicle is a seventeenth century text; Lhachen Utpala is dated c.

1080-1110 and credited with Kulu, Purang and Mustang.

What the realm holds

• Guge: Tholing, Tsaparang and the upper Sutlej (Zanda)
• Purang: Taklakot (Khorchag), the Karnali head and the Kailash country
• Maryul: the Indus valley of Ladakh, Nubra and Shey
• Zanskar, with Karsha and Padum
• Purig: Kargil, Drass and the Suru (reckoned part of Maryul)
• the Changthang pastures of Rupshu and Rutog

How it was acquired

By the division of Kyide Nyimagon's lands among his sons (c. 900) and the later divisions of 1057 and 1088.

Allies and rivals

Kashmir (Jagadeva, since 1198 or 1199 on the Persia map) sends artists by the Zoji La road; the Khasa kings of Sinja across the Limi passes; the Tibetan hierarchs of Drikung, who gain ground in Ladakh; the Dard and Balti chiefs to the north-west; Lahul and Spiti and the hill rajas to the south (the Northern India map).

The realm that morning

Each valley is held by whoever can put a man at its head. No overlord is shown and no war or truce is dated for the winter. The passes (Zoji La, Fotu La, Khardung La, Mayum La and the Himalayan passes) are shut by snow from about November.

Wealth

Wool and pashmina from the Changthang, salt and borax, barley, apricots in the Indus valley, grazing, tolls on the caravan roads, and the patronage revenue of temples and noble houses. Gold of the Changthang is reported in later sources only.

Military

No standing forces are recorded; kings and nobles raise retainers and herders. No number is known.

Threats

• Karakhanid or Central Asian raiders from the north (the eleventh and twelfth century raids on Guge are over, later raids on Ladakh are Wikipedia's 'around the thirteenth century')
• Drikung and other Tibetan hierarchs, whose spread changes the religious map
• feuds among the kinsmen of each house

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

In 1200

1. c. 1200 to 1230 (Luczanits)The Sumtsek of Alchi is painted and finished; the inscription's last priest is Jigten Gonpo (1143-1217).Depends on: The patron Tsultrim O and his family continue to pay; Kashmiri-trained artists are still available. Stopped by: A break in the Zoji La road or the death of the patron.

Later, on the likely course

1. 1215 and 1260s (later, not yet true)A great Drikung pilgrimage to Kailash is held in 1215 on the Drikung tradition; La ga (d. c. 1260) and Grags pa lde (c. 1265-1277) unite Guge.Depends on: Later events from Tibetan tradition as summarised on Wikipedia. Stopped by: Given only to show where the line goes.

Places of note

• Tholing, the first royal monastery of Guge: Founded in 996 or 997 by Yeshe-O; Atisha spent three years here from 1042.
• Tsaparang, the Guge capital in the later sources: A mud-brick fortress town up the Sutlej from Tholing (about 12 km on the coordinates; Wikipedia's Tholing page says 12 miles).
• Taklakot (Khorchag, Purang): The Purang kings' fort and trade post.
• Alchi: Temple group on the Indus, Dukhang after 1140, Sumtsek about 1200 to 1230.
• Shey: Old royal seat of Maryul on the Indus.

Where the sources disagree

• The campaign board entry alchi-choskor, skardu-baltistan, gilgit-dard-country, kargil-purig, shey-maryul and the-changthang-pastures give the 'Loharas of Kashmir' as their power. None of these is Kashmir's: Maryul, Purig and Zanskar are Tibetan-speaking and are reckoned to Maryul by the Ladakh chronicle (the chronicle puts Maryul's western limit at the Zoji La); Baltistan and the Dard valleys govern themselves.
• The Ladakh chronicle's claim that Guge became 'generally subsidiary to Maryul' after Lhachen Utpala (Wikipedia, Maryul) is not borne out by Vitali's list of independent Guge kings.

Evidence: Guge has Vitali's study through Wikipedia, Ladakh has only a seventeenth century chronicle and monastery inscriptions; neither can name a king for 1200.

"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.

On the map: A realm of many small kingdoms; the colour is shown on the lords' and provinces' own parts, and this part is the core of Guge only.

Primary sources for this realm

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