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46-705: The Rinpungpa belonged to the Ger ( Wylie : sger ) clan, which is traced back to the days of the Tibetan Empire . One of their line, Namkha Gyaltsen, served as nanglon (minister of internal affairs) under the Phagmodrupa ruler Jamyang Shakya Gyaltsen , who held power over Ü-Tsang. He was appointed dzongpon (governor) of the fief Rinpung in Rong, a region in Tsang in an unknown year before 1373. His political position

92-638: A Latin keyboard. Since the Wylie system is not intuitive for use by linguists unfamiliar with Tibetan, a new transliteration system based on the International Phonetic Alphabet has been proposed to replace Wylie in articles on Tibetan historical phonology . (Some of the following links require installation of Tibetan fonts to display properly) Ngawang Tashi Drakpa Ngawang Tashi Drakpa ( Tibetan : ངག་དབང་བཀྲ་ཤིས་གྲགས་པ , Wylie : Ngag dbang bkra shis grags pa , 1488–1564)

138-752: A modern assessment, "one of the most powerful and fascinating female rulers in Tibet". The years around 1500 saw the summit of Rinpungpa authority in the central parts of Tibet. The leader of the family was Donyo Dorje , a nephew of the ex-regent Tsokye Dorje. His allegiance to the Karmapa hierarch Chödrak Gyatso led him to harass the monks of the Gelugpa sect (the Yellow Hats) in the Lhasa area. The Karmapa and Shamarpa hierarchs nevertheless strove to consolidate

184-731: A strong personality who expanded the fortunes of the family on a Tibet-wide level. He increased his control over territories in Shang, Tag, Ling and Kyur and was the patron of the Jamchen Monastery, founded in 1427. He also founded the Kyemotsal Monastery in Dzongkar in 1437. The Rinpungpa took advantage of a family feud within the Phagmodrupa dynasty in 1434. With the united troops from Rong and Shang, Norzang seized

230-413: Is g.yang . The four vowel marks (here applied to the base letter ཨ ) are transliterated: When a syllable has no explicit vowel marking, the letter a is used to represent the default vowel "a" (e.g. ཨ་ = a). Many previous systems of Tibetan transliteration included internal capitalisation schemes—essentially, capitalising the root letter rather than the first letter of a word, when the first letter

276-408: Is a prefix consonant. Tibetan dictionaries are organized by root letter, and prefixes are often silent, so knowing the root letter gives a better idea of pronunciation. However, these schemes were often applied inconsistently, and usually only when the word would normally be capitalised according to the norms of Latin text (i.e. at the beginning of a sentence). On the grounds that internal capitalisation

322-464: Is not capable of transliterating all Tibetan-script texts. In particular, it has no correspondences for most Tibetan punctuation symbols, and lacks the ability to represent non-Tibetan words written in Tibetan script (Sanskrit and phonetic Chinese are the most common cases). Accordingly, various scholars have adopted ad hoc and incomplete conventions as needed. The Tibetan and Himalayan Library at

368-527: Is otherwise unknown, unless the document alludes to the king's grandson Ngawang Drakpa Gyaltsen of the Gongri Karpo branch of the dynasty. What is known is that Ngawang Drakpa Gyaltsen strove to grab power from the frail monarch. Ngawang Tashi Drakpa eventually died in 1564. Two branches of the family then competed for power, and the mediation of the Dalai Lama was called for. Ngawang Drakpa Gyaltsen

414-514: The Buddhist sects in this period made it crucial for secular rulers to seek support from religious networks. In Tibetan historiography the members of the family are famous as the patrons of the Karma Kagyu school of Buddhism , which was sometimes opposed to the Gelugpa . However, the early Rinpungpa lords supported other sects such as Sakya and its important philosopher Gorampa . After

460-598: The Fifth Dalai Lama , The Song of the Spring Queen (1643), gives a more balanced picture: although sometimes characterized as devious and beset by "fierce pride", the rulers had great cultural and religious interests. They funded new monasteries, commissioned precious artwork such as gilded Buddhas and thangkas , and at least one of them, Ngawang Jigme Drakpa (d. 1597), was a gifted author whose works are still read. The family eventually fell from power for

506-548: The Karmapa lama , whose religious influence in Ü (East Central Tibet) was greatly enhanced when the Rinpungpa captured Lhasa in 1498. The ties between Karmapa and Rinpungpa were not unconditional, however, since the former did not wish to see their activities and decisions determined by a secular hegemon. Later on, this led the Karmapa and Shamarpa hierarchs to support a revival of Phagmodrupa power. Ngawang Tashi Drakpa

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552-650: The Shamarpa hierarch of the Karma Kagyu sect. This included comprehensive economic dispositions; 2,800 nomadic households were donated to the Shamarpa for providing butter-lamp offerings, and all the monks of Yangpachen were granted a daily measure of barley . His policy towards the Phagmodrupa was one of confrontation. The king Kunga Lekpa lived in a conflict-ridden marriage with the Rinpung princess, which added to

598-546: The University of Virginia developed a standard, EWTS —the Extended Wylie Transliteration Scheme—that addresses these deficiencies systematically. It uses capital letters and Latin punctuation to represent the missing characters. Several software systems, including Tise , now use this standard to allow one to type unrestricted Tibetan script (including the full Unicode Tibetan character set) on

644-519: The American scholar Turrell V. Wylie , who created the system and published it in a 1959 Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies article. It has subsequently become a standard transliteration scheme in Tibetan studies, especially in the United States. Any Tibetan language romanization scheme faces the dilemma of whether it should seek to accurately reproduce the sounds of spoken Tibetan or

690-523: The Chinese Ming dynasty seems to have been indirect at best. The most detailed account, The New Red Annals (1538), was written by Panchen Sonam Dragpa who extolled the achievements of the Phagmodrupa kings at the expense of the Rinpung lords, who were depicted as a destabilizing, power-hungry force. One may note, however, that their grab of power only began after the Phagmodrupa regime had started to decline due to internal squabbles. The chronicle of

736-559: The Ming for the rest of Ngawang Tashi Drakpa's long reign. Apart from that a large number of Tibetan local regimes sent tribute, which was in reality a trade exchange; in 1524 these "tributaries" were as many as 37. By the mid-16th century the physical faculties of Ngawang Tashi Drakpa began to decline. His son Drowai Gonpo (1508–1548) was established as ruler in Gongri Karpo , to the west of Nêdong, and his sons in turn caused trouble for

782-483: The Phagmodrupa managed to regain a degree of influence, pushing out the new Rinpung lords Zilnonpa and Ngawang Namgyal from Lhasa. He was friendly disposed to the Gelugpa leader Gedun Gyatso (posthumously counted as the second Dalai Lama ), which at this stage did not exclude heartily relations with the Karma Kagyu. The direct power of Rinpungpa in Ü (East Central Tibet) was henceforth limited. An agreement between

828-509: The Phagmodrupa regime was at its nadir. The dynasty originally wielded strong executive power over Central Tibet ( Ü and Tsang ), but after 1435 the various fiefs gained an autonomous position. In particular the royal court in Nêdong was overshadowed by the Rinpungpa family, whose principal stronghold was Samdrubtse ( Shigatse in Tsang, West Central Tibet). This family acted as patrons to

874-582: The Rinpungpa domains were briefly threatened by an invasion by the Muslim general Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat , operating on the orders of Sultan Said Khan , the ruler of Kashgar . The waning of Rinpungpa power was marked by an abortive invasion of the Mangyül Gungthang kingdom in West Tibet in 1555, which was badly defeated. In 1557 one of the retainers of the Rinpungpa, Karma Tseten , who

920-431: The Spring Queen , the Fifth Dalai Lama calls him King of Tibet, although this epithet must be qualified. The outlying areas Ngari , Amdo and Kham seem to have been outside his political network, and Tsang did not generally obey his authority. Since ancient times, the Phagmodrupa dynasty stood in a nominal tribute relationship with China . Emperors would confer titles and gifts to new rulers, but did not intervene in

966-578: The Tsangpa ruler in the next few years. After the Tsang-Rong war of 1589 their power was exhausted, and they were forced to capitulate in 1590. Local Rinpungpa princes are known up to the early 17th century. The significance of the Rinpungpa is difficult to assess due to the terseness of the written sources. They upheld political hegemony in Tsang for 120–130 years, but little is known in detail of administrative and economic issues. Their relationship with

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1012-499: The ageing gongma . Rebellions against the Phagmodrupa ruler took place in 1553-54 and forced him to step down in favour of his grandson Ngawang Drakpa Gyaltsen . New political turmoil erupted in Ü in 1555; eventually a general council was held and Ngawang Tashi Drakpa was returned to power, in 1556 or 1557. These disturbances underpinned the rise to power of a family of feudatories, the Kyishöpa, who resided close to Lhasa. They became

1058-400: The authority of the young Ngawang Tashi Drakpa. In 1510, just after the death of the ex-regent Tsokye Dorje, a conflict escalated between Donyo Dorje and Ngawang Tashi Namgyal. After the demise of Donyo Dorje in 1512, the fortunes of the Rinpungpa eventually began to wane. In a long series of petty wars over the next years, the gongma and his allies pushed back the Rinpungpa positions. In 1517

1104-492: The death of Norzang in 1466 the fortunes of the Rinpungpa took a downturn for a while under his obscure son Kunzang . This person died in the 1470s and was succeeded by Donyo Dorje , the most powerful figure of the line. While pursuing an aggressive and warlike policy to achieve domination over Central Tibet, he also stood out as a religious patron. Thus he sponsored the foundation of the Yangpachen Monastery for

1150-415: The deaths of the powerful princes Tsokye Dorje (1510) and Donyo Dorje (1512), however, the power of the Rinpungpa declined. In spite of Rinpungpa patronage the hierarchs of the Karma Kagyu, Karmapa and Shamarpa , were adverse to being closely controlled by the secular lords. They therefore strove to once again stabilize the long-effaced Phagmodrupa rule. In the early sixteenth century Ngawang Tashi Drakpa of

1196-404: The factions of Ü and Tsang was reached in 1518. The nominal head of the Rinpungpa, the boy Zilnonpa, asked the king for investiture as dzongpon , and such was given. In fact, however, the Rinpungpa continued to wield power over Tsang on their own accord. The following decades were marked by a confusing succession of clashes and temporary reconciliations between the factions of Central Tibet. In 1532

1242-413: The important estate Gyangtse and captured the lord of Yung. New turbulence arose in 1489 and again allowed the Rinpungpa to keep the upper hand. Two years later Donyo Dorje's uncle Tsokye Dorje took power as regent in the Phagmodrupa seat Nêdong (1491–1499) during the minority of the heir Ngawang Tashi Drakpa . The years around 1500 saw the high tide of Rinpungpa power, and the authority of Donyo Dorje

1288-456: The important place Samdrubtse, modern Shigatse , from the governor of the Chonggye family. This is traditionally said to have taken place in 1435, though the more likely date is 1446. Samdrubtse was a very strategic spot and the key to power over Tsang. In the following years Norzang expanded his influence over Tsang, Rong and Shang. His kinsman, the Phagmodrupa king Kunga Lekpa (r. 1448–1481)

1334-737: The internal affairs of Central Tibet. The dynastic annals of the Ming dynasty , the Mingshi , are fairly vague on Tibetan politics in this era. They complain about violence committed by monks bringing tribute in the Yangzhou district in 1495. The court of Beijing sent envoys with an admonition to the Phagmodrupa ruler to punish the monks. Arriving to Tibet they heard that the former ruler Kunga Lekpa had died (actually back in 1481 according to Tibetan chronicles), and that his "son" (actually nephew) Ngagi Wangpo asked for investiture . The imperial investiture

1380-462: The latter lost control over Lhasa. The gongma now resolved to increase his religious network by lifting the restrictions of the Gelugpa, without antagonizing the Karmapa. In the next year the Monlam (prayer) festival could be celebrated in Lhasa by the Gelugpa monks, for the first time in twenty years. They had previously been impeded from participating by the Rinpungpa troops. Queen Sangye Pal Dzomma

1426-551: The leading political power in the area in the second half of the 16th century. From 1559 the old Ngawang Tashi Drakpa entertained a close relationship with the Third Dalai Lama . The Jiajing Emperor issued a patent in 1562 where a certain Drakpa Tashi Gyaltsen, son of the old ruler, was appointed as his successor since the father was old and sick and unable to run the affairs. This Drakpa Tashi Gyaltsen

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1472-565: The rift. Her kinsman Donyo Dorje eventually invaded the central domain of the king in 1480. In the following year a conference was convened in the Phagmodrupa capital Nêdong where the Rinpung princes participated. In the end Kunga Lekpa was forced to abdicate in favour of a nephew, a relative non-entity. The agreement did not put an end to the endemic political turbulence in Central Tibet. The Rinpungpa proceeded to defeat various regional lords and increase their power. In 1485 they attacked

1518-424: The root letter (forming a "stack"). The Wylie system does not normally distinguish these as in practice no ambiguity is possible under the rules of Tibetan spelling. The exception is the sequence gy- , which may be written either with a prefix g or a subfix y . In the Wylie system, these are distinguished by inserting a period between a prefix g and initial y . E.g. གྱང "wall" is gyang , while གཡང་ "chasm"

1564-467: The same reasons as the Phagmodrupa: they had to uphold a fragile balance among autonomous local lords which broke down when a number of dissatisfied elements sided with the new Tsangpa polity. Wylie transliteration Wylie transliteration is a method for transliterating Tibetan script using only the letters available on a typical English-language typewriter . The system is named for

1610-465: The spelling of written Tibetan. These differ widely, as Tibetan orthography became fixed in the 11th century, while pronunciation continued to evolve , comparable to the English orthography and French orthography , which reflect late medieval pronunciation. Previous transcription schemes sought to split the difference with the result that they achieved neither goal perfectly. Wylie transliteration

1656-423: Was a king of Tibet who ruled in 1499–1554 and 1556/57–1564. He belonged to the Phagmodrupa dynasty which was the dominating regime in Tibet from 1354 to 1435 and maintained a degree of authority until the early 17th century. His rule is sometimes considered to be the last of importance in the history of the dynasty. The earliest years of Ngawang Tashi Drakpa's life was also a time when the political authority of

1702-482: Was a main sponsor of the festival, and had close contacts with the Second Dalai Lama , the leading Gelugpa figure. The power of the Rinpungpa was henceforth mainly restricted to Tsang. The historical sources give a generally favourable image of Ngawang Tashi Drakpa and his queen, as being successful in warfare and great patrons of all the major religious sites in the Lhasa area. In his chronicle The Song of

1748-542: Was almost absolute, being supported by the Karmapa and Shamarpa hierarchs. There was also a political expansion to the west. In 1499 the important kingdom of Guge in Ngari (West Tibet) had to acknowledge the Rinpungpa. Due to pressure from the Rinpungpa, who favoured the Karma Kagyu, the Gelugpa school were forbidden to participate in the new year celebration and the great Monlam ceremony in Lhasa between 1498 and 1517. After

1794-426: Was born from a Rinpung princess and in turn married a Rinpungpa daughter. He was not able to stop the advances of his powerful vassal. Norzang himself married Kunga Lekpa's sister, further emphasizing the elaborated net of kinship ties between the two families. While still acknowledging the Phagmodrupa, the Rinpungpa subsequently built up a strong position, bearing the title desi (regent). The increasing importance of

1840-468: Was born in 1488 as the only son of King Ngagi Wangpo and his consort Lady Dsongkhama. His mother died when he was only one year old, followed by the father in 1491. Due to his minority a regent was appointed at the Nêdong court. The person chosen was Tsokye Dorje , a member of the increasingly powerful Rinpungpa. In 1499, after a turbulent regency, Tsokye Dorje handed over powers to Ngawang Tashi Drakpa who

1886-450: Was brought to Tibet with two monks. At closer inspection it turned out that Ngagi Wangpo was dead as well. The two envoys therefore gave the investiture to his son in turn, whom they called Awang Dashi Daba Jianzan (Ngawang Tashi Drakpa Gyaltsen). The Chinese authorities at home were dissatisfied with the self-willed decision of the envoys, but did not change the state of matters. Intermittent Phagmodrupa tributes continued to be dispatched to

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1932-437: Was designed to precisely transcribe Tibetan script as written , which led to its acceptance in academic and historical studies. It is not intended to represent the pronunciation of Tibetan words. The Wylie scheme transliterates the Tibetan characters as follows: In Tibetan script, consonant clusters within a syllable may be represented through the use of prefixed or suffixed letters or by letters superscripted or subscripted to

1978-426: Was enthroned as king ( gongma , "the high one", "superior"). Five years later the young ruler married a Rinpungpa lady out of political expediency. This consort, Legtso Gyalmo, bore him two sons, namely Drowai Gonpo (1508–1548) and Drakpa Jungne (1508–1570). He later married Sangye Pal Dzomma of the house of Nelpa, a strong-willed woman who actively assisted her husband in expanding their common power base. She was, in

2024-490: Was governor of Shigatse since 1548, rebelled against his lord. In 1565, finally, the learned and cultivated Rinpungpa ruler Ngawang Jigme Drakpa was defeated by Karma Tseten through a surprise attack. In that way Karma Tseten founded the new Tsangpa dynasty which would rule large parts of Central Tibet up to 1642. The Rinpungpa survived in their heartland Rong and periodically tried to revive their fortune. They staged an abortive attack on Kyishö in Ü in 1575 and quarreled with

2070-416: Was overly cumbersome, of limited usefulness in determining pronunciation, and probably superfluous to a reader able to use a Tibetan dictionary, Wylie specified that if a word was to be capitalised, the first letter should be capital, in conformity with Western capitalisation practices. Thus a particular Tibetan Buddhist sect ( Kagyu ) is capitalised Bka' brgyud and not bKa' brgyud . Wylie's original scheme

2116-420: Was strengthened by the marriage with the Phagmodrupa princess Sönam Palmö. Their daughter in turn was given in marriage to Sangye Gyaltsen, a Phagmodrupa prince, and gave birth to the later ruler Drakpa Jungne (r. 1432–1445). The son of Namkha Gyaltsen was Namkha Gyalpo who took over the Rinpung estate at the age of 14 and held a number of ministerial positions. He was succeeded in 1413 by his young son Norzang ,

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