Lhalung Palgyi Dorje ( bo, ལྷ་ལུང་དཔལ་གྱི་རྡོ་རྗེ། Wylie: ''lha lung dpal gyi rdo rje'') was a

Tibetan Buddhist Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

monk who assassinated the Tibetan 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 ...

in 842 CE. Palgyi Dorje was

Padmasambhava Padmasambhava ("Born from a Lotus"), also known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru) and the Lotus from Oḍḍiyāna, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who may have taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries)... According ...

's student. According to Tibetan tradition, King Langdarma persecuted Buddhism in Tibet. To end this persecution, Pelgyi Dorje traveled to the King's palace, where he surprised the King and killed him with a bow and arrow. Escaping by turning his black cloak inside out to show its white lining and riding his white horse into the river to wash off the charcoal with which he had made it appear black, he then fled to

Amdo Amdo ( �am˥˥.to˥˥ ) is one of the three traditional Tibetan regions, the others being U-Tsang in the west and Kham in the east. Ngari (including former Guge kingdom) in the north-west was incorporated into Ü-Tsang. Amdo is also the bi ...

(

Qinghai Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...

) or

Yerpa Yerpa (also known as Brag Yer-pa, Drak Yerpa, Druk Yerpa, Dagyeba, Dayerpa and Trayerpa) is a monastery and a number of ancient meditation caves that used to house about 300 monks, located a short drive to the east of Lhasa, Tibet. Description Dr ...

, where he lived out the rest of his life as a recluse. Another version relates how he performed the role of the Black Hat Dancer in the Black Hat Dance; dressed in black with a tall black hat he was able to shoot the king dead with a bow and arrow. He escaped and turned his clothing inside out as it was lined with white stuff; his white horse had been stained with soot which soon washed off in a river so the pursuit was rendered futile. The assassination story is mentioned in several sources and regarded as a historical fact.

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A brief mention of the legend of Palgyi DorjeWho are Tibet's Black Magicians?
9th-century Buddhist monks Buddhist martyrs Opposition to Buddhism Tibetan Buddhist monks {{Tibet-bio-stub