Langdarma

Darma U Dum Tsen (Tibetan: དར་མ་འུ་དུམ་བཙན, Wylie: dar ma 'u dum btsan), better known by his nickname Langdarma (Tibetan: གླང་དར་མ།, Wylie: glang dar ma, THL: Lang Darma, lit. "Mature Bull" or "Darma the Bull") was the last king of the Tibetan Empire who in 838 killed his brother, King Ralpachen, then reigned from 841 to 842 CE before he himself was assassinated.[1] His reign corresponded to the dissolution of the Tibetan Empire era.

Early sources call him Tri Darma "King Darma". His briefly inherited empire extended beyond the Tibetan Plateau to include the Silk Roads with the Tibetan imperial manuscript center at Sachu (Dunhuang), and neighbouring regions in China, East Turkestan, Afghanistan, and India.[2][3]

After he assassinated his brother King Ralpachen in 838 CE, he widely persecuted Buddhists, specifically the monks of the Nyingma school, the only school of Tibetan Buddhism at that time. Earlier in his life, Langdarma was a Buddhist but later under the influence of Wégyel Toré (Wylie: dbas rgyal to re), he became a follower of Bon.

In the years following Ralpachen's murder and during Langdarma's brief reign, Tibet was also plagued by external troubles. The Uyghur Khaganate to the north of Tibet's Empire collapsed due to a revolt by the Yenisei Kirghiz in year 840, and many displaced people fled into Tibet. According to one source, he only reigned for a year and a half, while others give six or thirteen years.[4] A Buddhist hermit or monk named Lhalung Pelgyi Dorje is often credited with assassinating Langdarma in 842,[1] or in 846,[4][5] but other sources credit Nyingma master Nubchen Sangye Yeshe with frightening him to death[1] after Langdarma threatened the practitioners in Nubchen Sangye Yeshe's monastic institute.[6] His death was followed by civil war and the dissolution of the Tibetan empire, leading to the Era of Fragmentation.[3]

Langdarma had at least two children: sons Tride Yumten by his first wife, and Namde Ösung by his second wife.[7] They apparently competed for power, the former ruling over the central kingdom of Ü, and the other ruling over the "left wing", probably the eastern territories.[4]

One of Langdarma's grandsons, Kyidé Nyima Gön (Wylie: skyid lde nyi ma gon), conquered Ngari in the late 10th century, although his army originally numbered only 300 men. Kyidé Nyima Gön founded several towns and castles and he apparently ordered the construction of the main sculptures at Shey. "In an inscription he says he had them made for the religious benefit of the Tsenpo (the dynastic title of his father and ancestors), and of all the people of Ngaris (Western Tibet). This shows that already in this generation Langdarma's opposition to Buddhism had disappeared."[8] Shey, just 15 km east of modern Leh, was the ancient seat of the Ladakhi kings.

Following his persecution of Tibetan Buddhism, Atiśa was called from Sumatra to restore Buddhism to Tibet.[9]

The anti-Buddhist portrayal of this king is well documented in primary and secondary Tibetan sources, but reinterpretations have been published from two historians,[10] most prominently Zuiho Yamaguchi.[11]

In Tibetan Buddhist culture, Darma U Dum Tsen was said to be the incarnation of Gośīrṣa, the Ox-Head and Horse-Face guardian of hell, thus he got the nickname, Langdarma, literally, "Darma, the bull".

Langdarma was said to have had "a black tongue", and a common gesture of Tibetans briefly sticking out their tongues is interpreted to show agreement, and as a sign of respect. When they demonstrate that they do not have black tongues, they show they are not guilty of evil deeds, and that they are not incarnations of the malevolent king.