Part 4 - Domination of Se-rib by Shes-rab-bla-ma and his descendants at Lo

During the last decades of the 14 th century a general of Gung-thang named Shesrab-bla-ma engineered, near the end of his life, the reconquest of Upper and Lower Lo.68 Perhaps a few years later (late 1380's) his younger of two sons, Chos-skyong- 'bum, led the retaking of Purang. As a reward for the latter deed, the Gung-thang king Bsod-nams-lde (1371-1404) gave him the rule over Lo and Dolpo.69 Under this family the power of Lo, the nominal tributary of Gung-thang, became established in the Kati Gandaki valley and throughout Ngari. Already at the time of Chos-skyong-'bum's reconquest of Purang, Lo seems to have been the de facto possession of that family, because Shes-rab-bla-ma led its reconquest. Although his son Chos-skyong-'bum is mentioned in Tshe-dbang-nor-bu's history of the Gung-thang kings, 70 our knowledge of Shes-rab-bla-ma himself is derived solely from a very terse passage in the Molla of Tsarang. It says that the conquest 67 For a summary of these events, see D. P. Jackson, op. cit. 68 Molla of Tsarang (ms.), pp. 8 a-8 b. This work will be described in more detail in a future study. 69 Tshe-dbang-nor-bu, Kah-thog Rig-'dzin, Gung thang gdung rabs (ms., Dujom Rinpoche), p. 16 a. 70 Ibid.

The history of Se-rib | 215 of Upper and Lower Lo was accomplished through Shes-rab-bla-ma's cooperation with (a people or country named) Zhang. But it adds that the two allies fought after the conquest of Lo, and Shes-rab-bla-ma emerged the victor.71 Clearly, in order to understand this period of the area's history we must identify the Zhang. We know that Shes-rab-bla-ma's family supplied high officials to the court of the Gung-thang king.72 Known as "the lineage of Jir-ma the Myriarch" (khri dpon jir mai' rjgs), they acted as district governors in Ngari, for example, near Mt. Kailash.73 It would not be surprising if the Zhang were also located in a nearby part of Ngari. In northern Guge, for instance, there is in fact a district still called Shang, and it is possible that this place was the seat of the bygone rulers called "Zhang" in sources from Lo. Nowadays Shang is a small hamlet where there are found two ruined fortresses, one of which is "of enormous size"74 One day's journey south-east from Shang there is located the village of Shang-tse, formerly the summer residence of the Tsaparang (Guge) district governor. In Shangtse also there are found huge ruins of an old castle, and these ruins are still known as "the king's palace" (rgyal po'i mkhar).75 Shang and Shang-tse were thus formerly major centers of power in Guge, and their kings, in later times at least, were the kings of Guge. The identification of Shang with Zhang, although by no means certain, is thus one possibility. Also, Sarat Chandra Das (Tibetan-English Dictionary) apparently identifies Zhang with Shangs, "a district of Tsang situated to the north of Tashilunpo" Glo-bo mkhan-chen Bsod-nams-lhung-grub (1456-1532) writes in his autobiography that the zhang-pa was still quite powerful in the early 15 th century, even in Lo. The permission of the zhang-pa was required for the appointment of an early Sa-skya-pa 71 Molla of Tsarang, pp. 8 a-8 b: zhung shes rab bla ma zhes bya ba'i bla zhang gnyis kyi phrin las la dbang las la dbang (8 b) bsgyur/ sku tshe smad la glo bo stod smad kyi sa la dbang bsgyur/ lugs gnyis kyi bka 'khrims bcas pa/zhang shes gnyis, knon pa las/ phas rgol shis pa'i g. yul ngo bcom ste dpa'bo'i g. yul las rguyal bar mdzad{ 72 See, for example, G. Tucci, Deb t'er dmar po gsar ma-Tibetan Chronicles (Roma: 1971), p. 170. (P. 39 a of the Tibetan' text.) See also Bsod-nams-lhun-grub, Glo-bo mkhan-chen, Rje btsun bla ma'i rnam par thar pa ngo mtshar rgya mtsho (ms.), p. lb. 73 Tshe-dbang-nor-bu, Kah-thog Rig-'dzin, Gung thang gdung rabs (ms. Dujom Rinpoche) pp. 14 a, 16 a. On p. 14 a there is told the story of how a great gold. nugget was discovered at Drang-lung ring-mo, near the eastern slopes of Mt. Kailash, and how the Lho-lde khri-dpon, Byir-ma (p. 16 a speiled jir-ma), offered it to the Gung-thang king, Bkra-shis-Ide (enthroned 1352) 74 F. A. Peter, "Glossary of Place Names in Western Tibet", Tibet Journal, 2 (1977), 26. See also G. Tucci and E. Ghersi, Chronaca della missione scientifica Tucci nel Tibet Occidentale (1933) (Roma; 1934), p. 262. 75 F. A. Peter, op. cit. p. 26; Tucci and Ghersi, op. cit., p. 249.

216 | Kailash abbot in Lo.76 The kings of Guge, as the rulers elsewhere in Tibet, did take an active interest in local religious affairs. One king of Guge is mentioned in the biography of Ngor-chen as having invited Ngor-chen from Lo to Purang. This king, however, was probably not tne zhang-pa mentioned above, being perhaps a decade later. 77 By the 1430's the authority of Zhang was definitely eclipsed in Eastern Ngari, and the rulers of Lo, descendants of Shes-rab-bla ma, became the most powerful rulers. A-ma-dpal, the son of Chos-skyong- bum and nephew of Jir-ma the Myriarch, from his capital Smon-thang in Upper Lo controlled a vast territory in Ngari. His authority extended as far away as Guge and Purang. He and his sons appointed and removed officials to the Kar-dum Fort, a fort designed to dominate Purang and Guge.78 Indeed, 76 Bsod-nams-lhun-grub, Glo-bo mkhan-chen, Rje btsun bla ma'i...., p. 6 a: At that time (c. 1430?) the Zhang-pa people.controlled the old Namgyal monastery in Lo. A-ma-dpal, at Ngor-chen's request, asked the Zhang-pa to allow 'Gig mkhan-po Ratna-Sbri, formerly of Rgyang 'Bum-mo-che, to act as monastic leader there. 77 Sangs-rgyas-phun-tshogs, Rgyal ba rdo rje 'chang kun dga' bzang po'i rnam par thar pa legs bshad chu blo'i, dus pa'i rgya mtsho yon tan yid bzhin nor bu'i 'byung gnas (published together with the Kye rdor rnam bshad of the Sde-dge Yab-chen) (N. Delhi: Trayang and Jamyang Samten, 1976), p. 23. There we learn the following: The Bzhi-sde noblemonk, Nam-rtse (Nam-mkha'-rtse-mo ?), and the king of Guge, Khri Nam-mkha'i-dbang-po sent Guge mkhan-chen Chos-nyid-seng-ge and his followers to Lo for the purpose of inviting Ngor-chen to Purang. The Guge king later took monastic ordination from Ngor-chen (p. 240). Cf. G. Tucci, Preliminary Report...., p. 19. It may have been that sometime prior to Ngor-chen's second visit to Lo (1436) the Guge or Zhang ruters were reluctant to let followers of Ngor-chen become established as head of the old Namgyal monastery, where they traditionally had some influence. Rulers sometimes manipulated such religious appointments to political advantage, as, for example, the Ladakh king Seng-ge-rnam-rgyal did after conquering Guge. (See G. Tucci, "Tibetan Notes", H JAS, XII (1949), 486). The Guge kings in general were known as supporters of the new and rising Gelug order. King Blo-bzang-rab-brtan, under the influence of Tsong-kha-pa's student, Ngag-dbang-grags pa, seems to have been a strong supporter of the Gelugpas during this time (Ibid., 483 ff. See. also his Preliminary Report., p. 19, n. 2.).. Curiously, a religious notable by the name of Ngag-dbang-grags-pa is recorded to have advised Ngor-chen against undertaking his first journey to Ngari, after he himself had returned from there (Bsod-nams-lhun-grub Glo-bo mhkan-chen,Rje btsun bla ma'i...., p. 2 a.) By the time of Ngor-chen's second visit, however, A-ma-dpal had rebuilt the Namgyal monastery (Sangs-rgyas-phun-tshogs, op. cit., p. 238.6), and he and his sons were at about the peak of their power. A-madpal and his son A-mgon-bzangpo were extremely devoted to Ngor-chen, and are said to have been somewhat antagonistic toward the Gelugpas (Tucci, Deb t'er...., p. 170), 78 Bstan-'dzin-ras-pa, Rnal 'byor gyi dbang phyug rje btsun bstan'dzin ras pa'i rnam

The history of Se-rib | 217 he seems to have been the myriarch (khri dpon) of Ngari,79 which the Tsarang Molla asserts.80 One of the officials thus appointed was Khro-bo-skyabs-pa, an ancestor of the lama, Bstan- dzin-ras-pa. That official's brother was sent to Guge as a local governor, while Khro-bo-skyabs-pa himself was made the fort-commander of Dzong, near Muktinath in Baragaon.81 We can be quite sure that under A-ma-dpal and his immediate successors, Lo's territories included Se-rib. His son, A-mgon-bazang-po, maintained the preeminent positin of Lo, and is said to have ruled over many peoples of different languages and races.82 Although the political power of Se-rib was greatly diminished in the new order, the economic and strategic importance of Thak Khola remained. For as long as trade moved regularly between Western Nepal and Tibet, the Kali Gandaki valley would be one of its principal routes.83 The valley's northern passes leading to Tibet are relatively low, and the lower part of the river valley connects with easy routes through the hills of Nepal to the plains of India. Thak Khola is situated at the half-way point for traffic on this route. Having come that far, the traders would exchange what they had brought for what was available from the opposite direction. It was the highest point that traders from the lowlands were likely to visit; for traders from Tibet and the high borderlands it was the end of their world: the bottom. For centuries the lower limit of Tibetan culture in Thak Khola has been near Kobang, south of Tukche.84 There is a temple in that area, aptly named in Tibetan "Temple of the Bottom" (smad kyi lha khang) which Tibetan Buddhists still consider the boundary of their own religion and culture. Further south, and lower in the valley, were the lands of hot-land diseases and Hindu "heretics". Many were afraid to go much thar mdzad pa nyun gngu gcig (xylograph, Dolpo blocks), p. 1 b: A-ma-dpal summons one of Bstan-'dzin-ras-pa's ancestors from Guge. p. 2 a: The Lo ruler appoints a member of the same family to the leadership of the Kar-dum fort at GugePurang. This fort was one of Gung-thang's strongholds in the late 13 th century. See Jackson, op. cit., n. 37. 79 According to the Rgya bod yig tshang (=Shri-bhutibhadra, Rgya bod gyi yig tshang mkhas pa dga 'byed chen mo'i dkar chab) (ms., East Asian Library, U. W.), P. 168 b, there was a myriarchy (khri bskor) in Ngari that was composed of Lo, Dolpo and Ljongs (=Dzong-ka) ? Ljongs-dga' is the name given by Bla-ma Btsan-po for Dzong-ka. See T. V. Wylie, The geography of Tibet according to the 'Dzam-glingrgyas-bshad (Roma: 1962). (The more usual form of the Gung-thang capital's name is rdzong--dkar,"white fort"). This occurence of Ngari as one of the thirteen myriarchies is mentioned by G. Tucci, Tibetan Painted Scriolls (Roma: 1949), I, 681. 80 Molla of Tsarang, p. 9 a. 81 Bstan-'dzin-ras-pa. op. cit., p. 2 a. 82 Molla of Tsarang,, p. 10 a, "skad rigs mi gcig pa mang po la dbang bsgyur. See C. von Furer-Haimendorf, op. cit. pp. 182-184. 84 See D. L. Snellgrove, Himalayan Pilgrimage, p. 181. " ✓

218 Kailash further. A temple has marked the cultural boundary at Kopang since at least the 1400's. A story that has survived from the 15 th century suggests that Kopang was the approximate limit of Tibetan culture during Ngor-chen's third visit to Lo (1446-7) At the bottom end of the valley in the "middle joint (?)" (bar tshigs) of Lo, there lived a man named Bsam-gtan-'od-zer. Although appearing to be a merchant selling barm for the brewing of local beer, he was actually a "hidden yogin", highly adept in vajrayana meditations. It came to Ngor-chen's attention during his last visit to Lo that this local master continuously practiced a meditation from the Cakrasamvara cycle that he had received from the Newari tantric master, Mahabodhi. Recognizing that this teaching had never been translated and spread in Tibet, Ngor-chen resolved to receive and preserve its teaching line. Ngor-chen coached Bsam-gtan-'od-zer on the ways of conferring the initiations. On the night before the initiations were to begin, however, the unassuming local meditator lost his nerve and fled. He ran to what was probably the furthest he could go without leaving his cultural area: "the low end of the valley, the 'Bottom Temple", 1 (rong gting smad lha khang).85