Tibet (Myth, Religion and History)

by Tsewang Gyalpo Arya | 2019 | 70,035 words

This essay studies the history, religion and mythology of Tibet, and explores ancient traditions and culture dating back to more than 1000 BC. This research study is based on authoritative texts and commentaries of both Bon (Tibet's indigenous religion) and Buddhist masters available in a variety of sources. It further contains a comparative study ...

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2. Geographical Extent of Zhangzhung

In most of the early Bonpo texts, the land of Zhangzhung was described to have three sphears or doors -outer (door), inner and the middle [Tib: Zhang zhung sgo, phugs bar gsum]. Although, they all talk of outer, inner and middle Zhangzhung, they may differ in the categorization and the exact location of the regions. Generally, the whole region of western Tibet with Ngari at the center and some areas along the Himalayan ranges in the south are taken as Zhangzhung. Let us examine some texts and see what the scholars have said about the geographical extent of the land.

Ponlob Tenzin Namdak[1] identifies Olmolungring in Tagzig as Zhangzhung Phug, the inner; Tagzig land, the birth place of King Milus Samleg [Tib:Mi lus bsam legs] as Zhangzhung Bar pa, the middle; and the rest mainly in Tibet as Zhangzhung sGo, the outer. This outer Zhangzhung comprises the land of Khache at the upper border; the mountain ranges of Hor in the north and the land below; and all the regions above Sum pa glang gi gyim shod [in the east] and all the regions above India and Nepal in the south[2]. According to sKyab ston khro 'drel text, Zhangzhung and Tibet, lies on the one and other side of the place called gTsang kha rag[3]. The regions above Sum pa inclues mNga ris, mar pa, stag lo, gu rib, khyung byid, khyung po, 'u sangs, sum po, zhes so, sbal te, rkang phran, la dvag, zang mkhar, gar zha, nyung ti, spi ti, khu nu, tsangs, drug nyi, nyi ti, kyo nam, sha khog, mgar yang, tsang ro, ti dkar, sle mi, wom glo, se rib dol po, krug skyes, and all above the south of mang yul, ru thog, guge, spu hreng, three central regions, kha yug, kha skyor and kha rag, ten group of ci shang ci nag gu rub, north regions of ra sangs, nag tsang, and shang gyer. It was said to have sixty regions with eighty hamlets of ten thousand residents [Tib:Yul khams drug cu khri sde brgyad cu'i zhing]. It is noted that during King Ligmigya's time, Zhangzhung has an army of sTong sde dgu khri dgu 'bum [90,000 units with 1000 men each, i.e. 90,000,000 army]. Eighteen kings with the title of Bya ru was said to have appreared and ruled the regions. It will be discussed in later part of this chapter.

Some prominent towns of Zhangzhung in the central regions as mentioned in Tenzin Namdak's "sNga rabs bod kyi byung ba brjod pa 'bel gtam lung gi snying po" are: the four forts and the four districts [Tib: mKhar bzhi dang rdzong bzhi]. The four forts were: Kyung lung dngyul mkhar, sPu hring stag la mkhar, sMe shang byi ba mkhar, and Ma spang spons mo mkhar. The four districts were: Dvang ra khyung chen rzdong, Se rib 'brug mo rzdong, Ru thog seng ge rzdong, and Mang yul stag mo rzdong. There are many others like sBil ti hrang rzdong[4]. This sBil ti is indicative of the present day Balti region in Jammu & Kashmir.

The outer Zhangzhung can also be divided into sGo, Phug and Bar [outer, inner and middle]. Areas around Khyunglung were known as Phug, [the inner] and it includes places like Ladakh, Piti, and Khunu of modern day India. The regions around Dvang ra and rTa sgo, Dvang ra g.yu bun, Dvang ra khyung rzdong, Dung phug, Dvang chung, Tre ru'i gnam mtsho, Mu mtsho were known as Bar, the middle. The six districts of mGyim shod she le [Khyung po ri rtse drug], also known as Sum pa glang gi gyim shod were identified as Zhangzhung sGo, the outer[5].

According to Prof Namkhai Norbu, during the reign of Zhangzhung king like Khri wer gser gyi bya ru can, there was a tradition of referring to the whole of kingdom of Zhangzhung as the three regions of Zhangzhung, sGo, Phugs and Bar. At that time the present area of Tod Ngari, including Ladakh, was reffered to as Zhangzhung phugs; dBus and gTsang (Central Tibet) as Zhangzhung Bar, and Amdo and Kham provinces as Zhangzhung sGo[6]. This covers the whole plateau of Tibet, Ladakh and the neighboring regions. Prof Seigbert Hummel, in a collection of his articles, "On Zhangzhung" he writes that the term Zhangzhung served to indicate a confederacy of several tribes, all of related Tibetan stock, stretching from north-eastern Tibet across the plains of Byang-thang down to western and south-western Tibet. He proposed a new theory that the geographical and origin of Zhangzhung language should be sought more in the eastern regions of Si-hia and Mi-nyag than in the west. Scholars like Rolf Stien and Guisseppe Tucci seem to have identified Zhangzhung as Yang-T'ung region mentioned in the Chinese T'ang annals[7]. These facts are indicative that Zhangzhung was not confined to western Tibet only but it covered many areas in the eastern Tibet bordering other foreign states.

Although Bonpo texts divide Zhangzhung into sGo, phugs and bar with Olmolungring in Tagzig as phugs [the inner], Tagzig as the bar [the middle] and western Tibet as sGo [the outer], scholars have questioned the location of Olmolungring and Tagzig as of later invention. When Buddhism from India achieved strong foothold in Tibet, a tradition of casting aside anything that is of local origin became widespread and the native Bon religion faced discrimination. This led the Bon followers to seek the origin of Bon and its master beyond the Tibetan border.

Olmolungring and Tagzig could have been there in Bon teachings akin to spatial interpretation of Shambhala and Sukhavati in Buddhism. Projecting the origin and the birth of Tonpa Shenrab and Bon teaching to Olmolungring and Tagzig could be seen as a measure taken by the Bonpos to distance themselve from Buddhism which was ostensibly of Indian origin. Professor Samten Karmay also agrees with R.A. Stein that Olmolungring must probably therefore be indentified as an area around the Mount Kailash which was once the central part of Zhangzhung[8]. In reality, western Tibet was the centre of Zhangzhung civilization extending far into the west to the Balti regions, south to the Himalayan borders of modern day India and Nepal, and to 'A sha and Minnyag in the east. As far as the three sGo, phugs and bar were concerned, Khyung lung ngul mkhar the capital of Zhangzhung was the phugs, areas around Dvang ra and rTa sgo regions were the bar pa, and most of the regions above Sum pa glang gi gyim shod were the sGo. According to Geshe Tenzin Drukdak, broadly, Zhangzhung sGo was said to cover the regions from upper Kashmir, and lower Sum pa glang gi gyim shod, southern regions above India and Nepal[9]. The description of Olmolungring in authoritative Bonpo texts like mDo 'dus and rTsa rgyud nyi zer sgron ma clearly shows area around Mount Kailash [Tib:Ti se] as the centre of Zhangzhung civilization[10].

In a nut shell, from the above facts, we get to know that Zhangzhung covers a vast area with people of Tibetan stocks. It was one of the twelve greater or forty five smaller regions of Tibet. Among them, Zhangzhung was strong and powerful enough to contest the central authority of Yarlung kings and enjoyed greater degree of independence or autonomy. Bon religion and the priests [Tib:gShen] from Zhangzhung exerted great control over the conduct of Yarlung Kingdom. It could be argued that the Tibetan kings and the ministers opted for Buddhism from India to achieve independence from the influence of Zhangzhung and Bon religion. When Buddhism gained supremacy in the land, Zhangzhung was fully annexed and the land and Bon religion became came under increased suppression and cast into oblivion thereafter.

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

bsTan 'zin ram dag, 'sNga rabs bod kyi byung ba brjod pa, p-21 ff

[2]:

bsTan 'zin rNam dag, sNga rabs bod kyi byung ba brjod pa, p-23

[3]:

ibid, "sPyir zhang zhung dang bod gnyis dang po sa bgoss la, gTsang kha rag yan man yin la"

[4]:

ibid, p-28/29

[5]:

dGe bshes 'Phrin las nyi ma, Zhangzhung gi shes rig skor rags tsam gleng ba, Bon sgo II, p-30 ff

[6]:

Namkhai Norbu, The Necklace of gZi, p-23

[7]:

Seigbert Hummel, On Zhangzhung, p-xv

[8]:

Samten Karmay, Treasury of Good Saying, p-xxx

[9]:

bsTan-zin 'brug drags, Theg chen sangs rgyas g.yung drung bon gyi ngo sprod, p-16-17

[10]:

mDo 'dus, p-194, 307 and rTsa rgyud nyi zer sgron ma, p-25, Dar rgyas dsal sgron, p-94 ff

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