5. Thonmi Sambhota; the Time and the Place

When and where exactly did Thonmi Sambhota go to India to study the languages, this question has not been properly addressed.

Tsepon Shakabpa says,

"A thorough search of Tibetan historical records has failed to reveal the exact date when Songtsen ( Srongtsen Gampo) sent Thonmi Sambhota with sixteen companions to Kashmir to learn the Sanskrit language^[1]."

Most of the Tibetan ancient texts state that Thonmi Sambhota was sent to India along with sixteen intelligent persons during King Srongtsan Gampo's time in 7th century CE; no specific year has been mentioned. So, we need to locate the time within Srongtsan Gampo's lifetime. There are several versions as to how long Srongtsan Gampo lived, and the two widely contested are 33 [617-650 CE] and 82 [569-650]^[2]. According to Tse rtan zhabs drung^[3] if Srongtsan's birth was taken as in 617 CE [Fire-female-ox], Thonmi went to India when he was 15, and King Srongtsan Gampo was 17 in 633 CE. This means it was four years after the Chinese pilgrim Huentsang entered India [629 CE]. According to Chinese Annals, when Srongtsan was 23 [639 CE], he took Balsa Tritsun; Thonmi was also there with Minister 'Gar to receive her. This corroborates the writings of Tibetan scholars that Thonmi Sambhota studied in India for seven years^[4].

According to Rang dra^[5], it was in 633 CE, when Srongtsan was seventeen he shifted his capital to Lhasa and sent Thonmi Sambhota along with 12 attendants to India to learn Indian scripts. A minister, Tag ro lo shog headed the delegation. Srongtsan Gampo [i.e., Songtsen] sent gift for the Indian King Harsha [Tib:dPal sbyin bi na lha chen]. The Indian King advised Thonmi Sambhota to meet Saint Lijin [Tib:Bram ze li byin], who taught Thonmi the scripts and later advised him to learn sound [sgra] from Pandita Lharig Senge in Nalanda. Thonmi and the delegation returned to Tibet in 639 CE.

Therefore, the possible year of Thonmi Sambhota's journey to India comes to 633-639 CE. This was during King Harshvardhana time in India and it was mentioned that the King met Thonmi Sambhota and advised him to meet Bram ze Li byin to study the languages. It was around the same period when Chinese pilgrim Huentsang was in India for fifteen years [629-645 CE]^[6] under King Harsha's protection. Huentsang's record of his journey was widely referred to establish many historical chronologies in India and Nepal. But we could find no reference either in Huentsang's record or in Indian history around that time about any Tibetans visiting the land. Regarding the Nepalese princess Bhrikuti [Tib:Bal bza' Khri btsun] also, King Srongtsan Gampo [i.e., Songtsen] was said to have negotiated with the Nepalese King Amsuvarman and received the princess in 639 CE. Thonmi Sambhota was also there along with the famous minister mGar to receive the princess. But Indian and Nepalese history has it that King Amsuvarman ruled Nepal from 576 -621 CE, and he died in 623 CE^[7]. So, negotiating and receiving the Nepalese princess in 633 CE is out of question.

The next question is where exactly Thonmi studied in India. Most of the texts say Thonmi went to South India [Tib:rGya gar lho phyog] to study. This South [lho phyog] is only indicative of India laying to the south of Tibet, not south India per se. Nyangral says Thonmi studied in Nalanda, Bu ston and Shakappa are suggestive of Kashmir. Although two delegations of some sixteen intelligent Tibetans were said to have been sent to India, nothing from Indian, Nepalese and Huentsang's records say anything about such mission. Thonmi Sambhota himself has written nothing about the journey and the places he visited and the people he met. From a scholar's perspective, Thonmi Sambhota should have been inspired to write or comment on the journey and things that he had seen in India and Nepal during those seven years of study. Unfortunately, we could find nothing. To be precise, we are not sure where exactly Thonmi Sambhota journeyed and studied in India and Nepal. Therefore, the time and the place visited by Thonmi Sambhota to study Indian language are not properly established and needs to be reviewed.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Shakappa, Tibet A Political History, p-25

[2]:

Arya Tsewang Gyalpo, Srongtsan Gampo and His Period, p-34, Tibet Policy Institute Journel, Issue 7 October 2017

[3]:

Tse rtan zhabs drung, Thon mi'i zhal lung, p-9

[4]:

ibid, p-10

[5]:

Rang dra, Thon mi Sam bho ta, p-75

[6]:

Samuel Beal, Si-yu-ki, Buddhist Records of the Western World, p-xviii

[7]:

Saliendra Nath Sen, Ancient Indian Hisotry and Civilizaiton, p-301