Mipham Wanggyur Gyalpo (, 1589? – 1613?) was a king in

Central Tibet Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

who ruled in 1604–1613 and belonged to the

Phagmodrupa Dynasty The Phagmodrupa dynasty or Pagmodru (, ; ) was a dynastic regime that held sway over Tibet or parts thereof from 1354 to the early 17th century. It was established by Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen of the Lang () family at the end of the Yuan dynast ...

. His largely nominal reign saw increasing political tumult in Tibet which was related to the political ambitions of the rival

Tsangpa Tsangpa (; ) was a dynasty that dominated large parts of Tibet from 1565 to 1642. It was the last Tibetan royal dynasty to rule in their own name. The regime was founded by Karma Tseten, a low-born retainer of the prince of the Rinpungpa Dynasty ...

Dynasty.

Alliance with the Dalai Lama faction

The preceding king (''gongma'') Ngawang Drakpa Gyaltsen had led an inefficient but relatively peaceful reign in the last decades of the sixteenth century. Although the executive powers of the Phagmodrupa slipped away after the political turmoil of the 1550s and 1560s, the gongma was at the center of a system where different religious and political factions of Ü (East Central Tibet) balanced each other. Meanwhile, Tsang (West Central Tibet) was increasingly dominated by the upstart Tsangpa Dynasty. The

Gelugpa 240px, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Bodhgaya (India). The Gelug (, also Geluk; "virtuous")Kay, David N. (2007). ''Tibetan and Zen Buddhism in Britain: Transplantati ...

church, which had the

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...

as spiritual head, entertained good relations with the Phagmodrupa. When the Fourth Dalai Lama

Yonten Gyatso Yonten Gyatso or Yon-tan-rgya-mtsho (1589–1617), was the 4th Dalai Lama, born in Mongolia on the 30th day of the 12th month of the Earth-Ox year of the Tibetan calendar.Thubten Samphel and Tendar (2004), p.87. Other sources, however, say he wa ...

traveled from

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

to Tibet in 1601, he was met by an envoy of Mipham Wanggyur Gyalpo, a member of another branch of the family than that of the old ''gongma''. Strangely, he is here called ''gongma'' and lord of all Tibet (''Gangchen namkyi gön chik''). When the actual monarch Ngawang Drakpa Gyaltsen died in 1603 or 1604 he was not succeeded by his son Kagyud Nampar Gyalwa but rather by Mipham Wanggyur Gyalpo, who was also called Ngagi Wangchuk Drakba Gyaltsen Pal Zangpo. He might have been a grand-nephew of the late king. It appears that he did not renew the bonds with the religious leaders of the

Karmapa The Karmapa (honorific title '' His Holiness the Gyalwa'' ��ྒྱལ་བ་, Victorious One''Karmapa'', more formally as ''Gyalwang'' ��ྒྱལ་དབང་ཀརྨ་པ་, King of Victorious Ones''Karmapa'', and informally as the ' ...

and

Shamarpa The Shamarpa (; literally, "Person (i.e. Holder) of the Red Crown"), also known as ''Shamar Rinpoche'', or more formally Künzig Shamar Rinpoche, is a lineage holder of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism and is regarded to be the mind ma ...

, but sought friendly relations with

(the school of

) and Drukpa.

Turbulence in Central Tibet

The chronicle of the

Fifth Dalai Lama Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (; ; 1617–1682) was the 5th Dalai Lama and the first Dalai Lama to wield effective temporal and spiritual power over all Tibet. He is often referred to simply as the Great Fifth, being a key religious and temporal leader ...

, ''The Song of the Spring Queen'', says that "after the ''zhabdrung gongma'' gawang Drakpa Gyaltsendemonstrated how to remove neselfto another sphere .e., died the writ of the Phagmodrupa no longer ran." The political situation of Central Tibet was disturbed by increasing activity by the Tsangpa ruler

Karma Tensung Karma Tensung (died 1611), in full Karma Tensung Wangpo (; ), was a king of Tsang (West Central Tibet) who probably reigned from 1599 to 1611. He belonged to the Tsangpa Dynasty that ruled parts of Tibet from 1565 to 1642. Background Karma Tensun ...

who led a military expedition to Phanyul in 1605. Two years later a conference was held in the Phagmodrupa stronghold Gongkar (Gongri Karpo) where the Tsangpa and some Ü factions were represented. The meeting did not lead to a political settlement. In 1610 the Tsangpa attacked and completely crushed the important Yargyab polity and moved to restrict the influence of the Gelugpa and their leader, the Third Dalai Lama

. The Phagmodrupa, who played an increasingly marginal role in regional politics, were involved in fighting in Yartö in 1613. Mipham Wanggyur Gyalpo seemingly died in the same year, presumably in connection with the war or the smallpox epidemic that broke out at the same time. It is not certain who succeeded him, but the next documented Phagmodrupa ruler was

Mipham Sonam Wangchuk Drakpa Namgyal Palzang Mipham Sonam Wangchuk Drakpa Namgyal Palzang (, died 1671) was a king in Central Tibet. He belonged to the Phagmodrupa Dynasty which reigned in Tibet, or parts of it, from 1354 to the early 17th century, and was the last prince of the dynasty. Supp ...

in the 1620s.Olaf Czaja, 2013, pp. 305–12.

References

{{Phagmodrupa rulers Phagmodrupa dynasty 16th-century Tibetan people 17th-century Tibetan people

Alliance with the Dalai Lama faction

Turbulence in Central Tibet

See also

References