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The Sumpa () were a tribe living in northeastern Tibet from ancient times. Chinese historical sources refer to them as " Qiang", a term for people living in what is now Southwest China, and their actual ethnic identity is not known. Their territory was absorbed by the Tibetan Empire in the late 7th century, after which point they gradually lost their independent identity. The Sumpa identified as the people known to the Chinese as the Supi 蘇毗 or Sunpo 孫波.


Origins and territory

The '' Tangshu'', chap. 221b, says that the people of the country of Supi (Sumpa) were originally of Western Qiang descent. The Qiang had been in the region for a very long time - they were the main foreign enemies of the Shang dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BCE). It has been suggested by Christopher I. Beckwith that their name may have derived from an
Indo-European root The roots of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) are basic parts of words that carry a lexical meaning, so-called morphemes. PIE roots usually have verbal meaning like "to eat" or "to run". Roots never occurred alone in the lang ...
meaning 'charioteer'. After they were annexed by the Tibetans they took the name of Sunpo (= Sumpa). They were the largest of the tribes in the region and consisted of some 30,000 family units. Their territory extended from the border of the Domi people to the east as far as the Houmangxia (or Houmang Gorge) Pass in the west. The location of the Supi/Sumpa kingdom in the 7th–8th centuries in northeastern Tibet stretched from the southern bank of the Yak River (Chinese:
Tongtian River The Zhi Qu (Tibetan) or Tongtian River () is a long river in Qinghai Province, northwest China. It begins at the confluence of Tuotuo River and Dangqu River, before flowing southeast and meeting the Jinsha River near the border of Qinghai and Sichu ...
- known in Tibetan as the Chu-dmar, the largest upper course of the 'Bri-chu or Yangtze River) in the east about 1,400 ''li'' (roughly 452 km) southwest to the Houmangxia Pass (= the Ta-tsang-la) and ranged at times as far as Khotan. The Sumpa were considered part of the Tibetan kingdom as early as the 6th century CE, in the time of Songtsen Gampo's father
Namri Songtsen Namri Songtsen (), also known as "Namri Löntsen" () (died 618) was according to tradition, the 32nd King of Tibet of the Yarlung Dynasty. (Reign: 570 – 618) During his 48 years of reign, he expanded his kingdom to rule the central part of the ...
, and are thought to have spoken a Tibetan dialect.


History

The Sumpa/Supi are associated with the Supiya of
Kharosthi The Kharoṣṭhī script, also spelled Kharoshthi (Kharosthi: ), was an ancient Indo-Iranian script used by various Aryan peoples in north-western regions of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely around present-day northern Pakistan and ...
documents of about 300 CE from the Tarim Basin. They are described as being among the invaders of the Kingdom of Khotan ('the red-faced (Tibetans), Huns, Chinese, Supiya'). To the Khotanese, who had been a settled people for about a thousand years, they appeared as savage and uncouth. They are also mentioned as having been in Niya and Cherchen. The Supi have also been closely associated with mysterious "Kingdoms of Women" during the
Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...
(581-617 CE). "A queen of the Suvarņagotra in the western 女國 ''Niu-kuo'' inyin: ''Nüguo''of women was called in Chinese ''Su-p'i'', which may indicate a woman of the ''Supīya''." The ''
Tibetan Annals The ''Tibetan Annals'', or ''Old Tibetan Annals'' (''OTA''), are composed of two manuscripts written in Old Tibetan language found in the early 20th century in the "hidden library", the Mogao Grottoes near Dunhuang in northwestern Gansu province ...
'' record that the Tibetans took the territory of Śo-čhigs of the Sumpa in 692 and in 702 the Emperor Tridu Songtsen and his Council made an inspection of Sumpa territory. According to documents from
Dunhuang Dunhuang () is a county-level city in Northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Dunhuang was a major ...
the Advisor, Mangporje, brought "the whole country of the Sumpa under tribute" under Songtsen Gampo probably ''c''. 627. Although the original annexation of the Sumpa by the Chinese appears to have been basically peaceful, and the Sumpa were gradually assimilated into the general Tibetan population, there were occasional tensions between the two groups. The '' Old Tibetan Chronicle'' says that Myang Mangporje advised Songtsen Gampo against attacking the Sumpa, who had been among his father
Namri Songtsen Namri Songtsen (), also known as "Namri Löntsen" () (died 618) was according to tradition, the 32nd King of Tibet of the Yarlung Dynasty. (Reign: 570 – 618) During his 48 years of reign, he expanded his kingdom to rule the central part of the ...
’s feudatory states. "Instead he offered protection for their flocks, wherefore, in the words of the Chronicle, ‘all their households were naturally captured as subjects.’" Along with the 'Asha ( Tuyuhun) they were rapidly absorbed by the Yarlung Dynasty during the 7th and 8th centuries CE. After their submission to the Tibetans from the Yarlung Valley, they were stationed in Minyak or modern Amdo, to guard the eastern frontier against the Chinese. According to ''Tangshu'' 221b; during the Tianbao era (742–755), the Sumpa king, Molingzan, wanted to submit to the Chinese Empire with all his people, but he was killed by the Tibetans. His son Xinuo, accompanied by some dignitaries, sought refuge in Longyou in
Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...
. The Governor sent them with an escort to the capital where the Emperor, Xuanzong (reigned 712–756 CE), treated them with great honours. The
Xin Tangshu The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese ...
216a places the submission of the son of the Supi king in 755. It gives his name as Xinuoluo and says that he was granted the title of Huaiyi ("he who cherishes justice") Prince, and was given the family name of Li. It adds, "The Supi are a powerful tribe." Evidence from documents on woodslips found near modern-day
Hotan Hotan (also known as Gosthana, Gaustana, Godana, Godaniya, Khotan, Hetian, Hotien) is a major oasis town in southwestern Xinjiang, an autonomous region in Western China. The city proper of Hotan broke off from the larger Hotan County to become ...
shows that "Tibetan armies, including previously subjugated Sumpa and Zhangzhung elements" were stationed along the Southern Silk Route from the mid-eighth to mid-ninth century CE. A major administrative division or "horn" of Tibet (there were six altogether), was named "Sumpa-ru". It was in northeastern Tibet ( Amdo) near
Miran Miran may refer to: Places *Miran (Xinjiang), an ancient oasis town in Ruoqiang County, Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, southeastern Xinjiang, western China *Miran fort, a ruined defensive structure built by the Tibetan Empire, located in ...
, and soldiers were sent from there to man camps at Mazar-tagh and Miran in the southern Tarim Basin."The Tibetan Military System and Its Activities from Khotan to Lop-Nor." Tsuguhito Takeuchi. In: ''The Silk Road: trade, travel, war and faith''. Catalog of an exhibition held at the British Library May 7–Sept. 12, 2004. Susan Whitfield, Ursula Sims-Williams, 2004, Serindia Publications, pp. 50–53. .


Footnotes

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Further reading

* Zeisler, Bettina. (2010). "Ëast of the Moon and West of the Sun? Approaches to a Land with Many Names, North of Ancient India and South of Khotan." In: ''The Tibet Journal'', Special issue. Autumn 2009 vol XXXIV n. 3-Summer 2010 vol XXXV n. 2. "The Earth Ox Papers", edited by Roberto Vitali, pp. 371–463. Ancient peoples of China Former countries in Asia Former monarchies of Asia Tang dynasty Tibet