Yarlung dynasty

The Yarlung dynasty (Tibetan: བོད་ཀྱི་གདོད་མའི་མངའ་མཛད།; Chinese: 雅礱王朝), or Pre-Imperial Tibet,[1] was a proto-historical dynasty in Tibet before the rise of the historical Tibetan Empire in the 7th century.

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The Yarlung dynasty rulers are more mythological than factual, and there is insufficient evidence of their definitive existence.[2]

History

The Yarlung Dynasty ruled presumably from 95 BC to 846 AD. The empire was situated on south-east Tibetian Plateau which included the areas of Yarlung, Kongpo, Nyangpo, Powo.[3]

The things that are known today about the early history of dynasty comes largely from local folklore and myths. The debate is still going on who among the forty-two kings which are listed are real and who are mythical. According to folklore, Nyatri Tsenpo and six kings after him ascended to heaven by a "sky rope" so location of their tombs are yet to be known. The eighth king who is known as Digum Tsenpo's tomb is located in Kongpo in U-Tsang.

The first mention of dynasty outside Asia was in the "Geography" by Claudius Ptolemy (87-165 AD). The country was named as "Batai" derived from Tibetian word "Bod"

Kings Tagri Nyensig and Namri Songtsen (570-620) fought for the unification Tibet. Before this a unified Tibet did not exist. During Namri Songtsen's reign there were some revolts. He also moved the capital to Kyichu valley which later formed Rasa settlement. Later rulers build a royal castle on mountain Marpori and the settlement was renamed Lhasa.

During the reign of Songtsen Gampo, Tibet briefly become one of the main powers in Central Asia. His reign saw multiple changes in Tibetian society which included but not limited to system of land use, creation of state funds, division of country in six provinces, created a new legislation and a new army. He also oversaw introduction of writing in Tibet. Thonmi Sambhota developed the Tibetian script which he created after reworking Indian letters. The script is believed to be based on Brahmi and Gupta script.

Integration of Qiang, Sumpa, Asha and Other Tibetian tribe from north-east began in 7th century. In 634, Tibet attacked Dangsyan. On 12 September 638, Tibet invaded a village in Xuizhou district which was inhabited by Dangsyan. In December 640, Tibetian dignitary Tontsen Yulsung brought five thousand liangs of silver and hundreds of gold objests to Chang'an. For about four years the country was ruled by Gungsong Guntsen, son of Songtsen Gampo, but at age of eighteen he died so Songtsen Gampo was again obligated to take the throne. It is believed that there was a power struggle during this time. In these years they also won upper parts of Burma and in 640 Nepal.

In 663, Tibet defeated and occupied Tuguhun.

See also

References
  1. Beckwith, Christopher I. (1977). A Study of the Early Medieval Chinese, Latin, and Tibetan Historical Sources on Pre-Imperial Tibet. Indiana University PhD Dissertation.
  2. Haarh, Erik: Extract from "The Yar Lun Dynasty", in: The History of Tibet, ed. Alex McKay, Vol. 1, London 2003, p. 147; Richardson, Hugh: The Origin of the Tibetan Kingdom, in: The History of Tibet, ed. Alex McKay, Vol. 1, London 2003, p. 159 (and list of kings p. 166–167).
  3. Kuzmin, Sergius L. (2011-01-01). Hidden Tibet: History of Independence and Occupation. Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. ISBN 978-93-80359-47-2.


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