1. King Nyatri Tsanpo [Tib:gNya' khri btsan po]

One of the most intriguing and polemic fact about Tibetan history is the origin and the time period of its first King Nyatri Tsanpo. Historians and scholars are unanimous that Nyatri Tsanpo was the first king of Tibet, but they are divided on his origin and the time he founded the Yarlung dynasty on the high plateau of Tibet. There are different theories on the origin of King Nyatri Tsanpo and these could be broadly categorized under three popular versions of: 1. the king descended from the sky, 2. the king came from India, and, 3. the king came from the land of Pu [sPu yul]. As to the timing, Bon scholars put King Nyatri Tsanpo at 1137 BCE^[1], and others vary the time period in between 400-127 BCE. Although, the official version is that the King came from India around 127 BCE, indelible facts surrounding the history of the time do not corroborate to this official approbation. Herein we shall examine and study the major theories pertaining to the origin of the king and seek logical facts to align the king and his identity more with the veritable historical reality. It will inspire us to see him as a Tibetan and that he lived much before 127 BCE in tandem with the ancient civilization of the land.

Tibet is among the oldest civilizations in the North East Asian countries. It has rich religious and cultural history dating back to more than 2000 BCE. Most of the regions bordering the Himalayan Ranges share Tibetan ethnicity, and Tibetan religion and culture are widely practiced in these regions even today. Power and glory of the Tibetan empire was at its zenith in 7th and 8th century, when the Tibetan army marched into the Chinese frontier in the East, India and Nepal in the south, Uyghur in the north and went far into the Oxus River in the west^[2]. Scientists have said that human civilization existed in Tibet as far as 12,000^[3] years back, and implements and tools found in the regions are said to date back to some 8000 years¹²³. Tonpa Shenrab [Tib:sTon pa gshen rab], the founder of the indigenous Bon religion is said to have appeared around 1917 BC^[4]. The traditional Bonpo calendar [Tib: bstan rtsis] traces his origin to some 23,000 years ago^[5]. These facts speak greatly about the unique existence and ancient nature of Tibetan civilization. Yet we are confronted with a strange paradox of having to accept emergence of a national king only in 127 BC; and that too, a foreigner! The implication here is that when the civilizations around the world have attained high degree of sophistication and state craft, Tibetans still did not have a unifying king. This is very unlikely from the historical and scientific point of view.

The origin and identity of the kings, emperors and monarchs are very important to grasp the depth and strength of any ancient civilizations. Be it a myth or historical fact, the origination and identity of kings give the people a strong unifying historical and cultural bond to identify themselves as subjects and progenies of the same civilization. The myth, legend or historical facts about the origin and the genealogy of the kings and its dynasties serve as an important background to accord legitimacy to the existence of the nation since ancient times. Therefore, it is important to have the origin and genealogies of Tibetan kings in a proper historical perspective.