Kyide Nyimagon () (), whose original name was Khri-skyid-lding, was a member of the
Yarlung dynasty of
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
and a descendant of emperor
Langdarma
Darma Udumtsen (), better known by his nickname Langdarma (, "Mature Bull" or "Dharma the Bull") was most likely the last Tibetan Emperor who most likely reigned from 838 to 841 CE. Early sources call him Tri Darma "King Dharma". His domain e ...
. He migrated to Western Tibet and founded the kingdom of Ngari Khorsum ("the three divisions of Ngari") around 912 CE. After his death, his large kingdom was divided among his three sons, giving rise to the three kingdoms of
Maryul
Maryul (also called ''Mar-yul'' of ''mNgah-ris''), later the Kingdom of Ladakh, was a west Tibetan kingdom based in modern-day Ladakh and Tibet. The kingdom had its capital at Shey.
The kingdom was founded by Lhachen Palgyigon, during the rul ...
(Ladakh),
Guge-Purang and
Zanskar
Zanskar, Zahar (locally) or Zangskar, is a tehsil of Kargil district, in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. The administrative centre is Padum (former Capital of Zanskar). Zanskar, together with the neighboring region of Ladakh, was brief ...
-
Spiti
Spiti (pronounced as Piti in Bhoti language) is a high-altitude region of the Himalayas, located in the north-eastern part of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The name "Spiti" means "The middle land", i.e. the land between Tibe ...
.
Family
After the assassination of the emperor
Langdarma
Darma Udumtsen (), better known by his nickname Langdarma (, "Mature Bull" or "Dharma the Bull") was most likely the last Tibetan Emperor who most likely reigned from 838 to 841 CE. Early sources call him Tri Darma "King Dharma". His domain e ...
, the Tibetan empire entered a period of civil war over succession by Langdarma's two sons (Yum-brtan) and ('Odsrung), which divided the empire into two parts.
Ösung's son
Depal Khortsen (–) is believed to have controlled most or part of Central Tibet.
Nyimagon was one of the sons of Depal Khortsen, the other being Trashi Tsentsän (''bKraśis-brtsegs-brtsan''). Both the sons fled
Ü-Tsang
Ü-Tsang is one of the three traditional provinces of Tibet, the others being Amdo in the north-east, and Kham in the east. Ngari (including former Guge kingdom) in the north-west was incorporated into Ü-Tsang. Geographically Ü-Tsang covere ...
(Central Tibet) in 910 when their father was murdered, at the end of the 3rd , which is taken to mark the beginning of the Tibetan
Era of Fragmentation
The Era of Fragmentation (; ) was an era of disunity in Tibetan history lasting from the death of the Tibetan Empire's last emperor, Langdarma, in 842 until Drogön Chögyal Phagpa became the Imperial Preceptor of the three provinces of Tibet ...
.
Reign
![Sculptures at Sheh, image of Maitreya](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Sculptures_at_Sheh%2C_image_of_Maitreya.png)
According to
Ladakhi chronicles
The ''Ladakh Chronicles'', or ''La-dvags-rgyal-rabs'' (), is a historical work that covers the history of Ladakh from the beginnings of the first Tibetan dynasty of Ladakh until the end of the Namgyal dynasty. The chronicles were compiled by the ...
, Nyimagon reached Tö Ngari ("Upper Ngari") with only a hundred followers. But within a comparatively short time he established a large kingdom spanning Ladakh, Zanskar, Lahul, Spiti, Guge and Purang.
Nyimagon established a small kingdom in
Rala
Ras-related protein Ral-A (RalA) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''RALA'' gene on chromosome 7. This protein is one of two paralogs of the Ral protein, the other being RalB, and part of the Ras GTPase family. RalA functions as a molec ...
(), near
Shiquanhe
Shiquanhe (), known in Tibetan as Sênggêkanbab () or Sênggêzangbo, is the main town and administrative seat of Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Shiquanhe is located on the bank of Sênggê Zangbo, the source stream of the In ...
in the
Sengge Zangbo
Sengge Zangbo,
Sengge Khabab () or Shiquan He () is a river in the Ngari Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China that is the source stream of the Indus river, one of the major trans-Himalayan rivers of Central and South Asia. The riv ...
valley, in or around 912. He is said to have started by building a ''Kharmar'' (reddish fort) at Rala in the Horse year, another called ''Rtse-śp-rgya-ri'' in the Sheep year. The chronicles say he thought of causing many villages and hamlets to be built throughout the broad valleys of ''Dam'' and ''Lag'' (unidentified, but presumed to be connected to the Sutlej valley, later known as
Guge
Guge (; ) was an ancient dynastic kingdom in Western Tibet. The kingdom was centered in present-day Zanda County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region. At various points in history after the 10th century AD, the kingdom held sway over a vast ...
). But he is said to have left
Maryul
Maryul (also called ''Mar-yul'' of ''mNgah-ris''), later the Kingdom of Ladakh, was a west Tibetan kingdom based in modern-day Ladakh and Tibet. The kingdom had its capital at Shey.
The kingdom was founded by Lhachen Palgyigon, during the rul ...
(Ladakh) undisturbed.
Ater his establishment, ''Dge-bśes-btsan'' invited him to
Purang and offered him his daughter Bro-za 'Khor-skyoṅ'' as wife. Nyimagon married her and had three sons.
August Hermann Francke
August Hermann Francke (; 22 March 1663 – 8 June 1727) was a German Lutheran clergyman, theologian, philanthropist, and Biblical scholar.
Biography
Born in Lübeck, Francke was educated at the Illustrious Gymnasium in Gotha before he studie ...
, who translated the Ladakhi Chronicles, proposed that Khor-skyoṅ'' must have been the only daughter of the king of Purang. After his death, Nyimagon must have inherited his kingdom in addition to his own territories.
Scholar
Luciano Petech
Luciano Petech (8 June 1914, Trieste – 29 September 2010, Rome) was an Italian scholar of Himalayan history and the early relations between Tibet, Nepal and Italy. He was Chair of History of Eastern Asia at the University of Rome from 1955 to 1 ...
noted that the king of Purang belonged to the powerful Bro'' family of western Tibet, which had survived from the old
Zhangzhung
Zhangzhung or Shangshung was an ancient culture and kingdom in western and northwestern Tibet, which pre-dates the culture of Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet. Zhangzhung culture is associated with the Bon religion, which has influenced the philosophies ...
empire, and supplied queens and ministers to the Yarlung kings. The influence of wife's family as well as his own royal lineage would have contributed to Nyimagon's success in building a large kingdom.
The eldest son
Palgyigon
Lhachen Palgyigon () () was the founding king of the Kingdom of Maryul, based in modern Ladakh.
Palgyigon was a son of Kyide Nyimagon, a descendant of the Old Tibetan dynasty, who unified the Western Tibet (Ngari) during the Tibetan Era of Fragm ...
is seen to have expanded the kingdom to Ladakh, during the lifetime of his father. The land was at that time called
Maryul
Maryul (also called ''Mar-yul'' of ''mNgah-ris''), later the Kingdom of Ladakh, was a west Tibetan kingdom based in modern-day Ladakh and Tibet. The kingdom had its capital at Shey.
The kingdom was founded by Lhachen Palgyigon, during the rul ...
and included
Rudok
Rudok, also spelt Rutok and Rutog, more properly Rudok Dzong (), is a town that served as the historical capital of the Rudok area in Western Tibet on the frontier with Ladakh. In the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, it is described as being "pict ...
.
Succession
![Era of Fragmentation in Tibet](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Era_of_Fragmentation_in_Tibet.png)
Nyimagon died around 930.
He divided his kingdom across his three sons. He gave
Palgyigon
Lhachen Palgyigon () () was the founding king of the Kingdom of Maryul, based in modern Ladakh.
Palgyigon was a son of Kyide Nyimagon, a descendant of the Old Tibetan dynasty, who unified the Western Tibet (Ngari) during the Tibetan Era of Fragm ...
(), his eldest son, the kingdom of
Maryul
Maryul (also called ''Mar-yul'' of ''mNgah-ris''), later the Kingdom of Ladakh, was a west Tibetan kingdom based in modern-day Ladakh and Tibet. The kingdom had its capital at Shey.
The kingdom was founded by Lhachen Palgyigon, during the rul ...
(now known as Ladakh). His other two sons, (), and () received the paternal estate, consisting of
Guge-Purang and
Zanskar
Zanskar, Zahar (locally) or Zangskar, is a tehsil of Kargil district, in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. The administrative centre is Padum (former Capital of Zanskar). Zanskar, together with the neighboring region of Ladakh, was brief ...
-
Spiti
Spiti (pronounced as Piti in Bhoti language) is a high-altitude region of the Himalayas, located in the north-eastern part of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The name "Spiti" means "The middle land", i.e. the land between Tibe ...
respectively. These three countries together came to be called "Ngari Khorsum".
Tashigön's son
Yeshe-Ö
Yeshe-Ö ( 959–1040) (spiritual names: Jangchub Yeshe-Ö, Byang Chub Ye shes' Od, Lha Bla Ma, Hla Lama Yeshe O, Lalama Yixiwo, also Dharmaraja ('Noble King') was the first notable lama-king in Tibet. Born as Khor-re, he is better known as Lh ...
, who inherited Guge-Purang in 967, abdicated in 975 and became a lama. He founded the
Tholing Monastery
Tholing Monastery (or Toling, mtho lding dgon pa མཐོ་ལྡིང་དགོན་པ) (Tuolin si 托林寺) is the oldest monastery (or gompa) in the Ngari Prefecture of western Tibet. It is situated in Tholing (Zanda), Zanda County, ne ...
, which became the premier centre for Buddhist learning and a key enabler of the
Second diffusion of Buddhism to Tibet.
In Ladakh, the Tibetan language and culture came to replace the culture of Brokpa and Mons, through the rule of Nyimagon's descendants as well as the influence of Tibetan Buddhism.
Notes
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nyimagon, Kyide
History of Ladakh
History of Tibet
People related to Lahaul and Spiti district