Drakpa Odzer () was a

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

Imperial Preceptor The Imperial Preceptor, or Dishi (; ), was a high title and powerful post in the Yuan dynasty. It was created by Kublai Khan as part of Mongol patronage of Tibetan Buddhism and the Yuan administrative rule of Tibet. The title was originally cre ...

(''Dishi'') at the court of the

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

-led

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...

of China. He lived from (1246-1303) and hailed from

Sakya The ''Sakya'' (, 'pale earth') school is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug. It is one of the Red Hat Orders along with the Nyingma and Kagyu. Origins Virūpa, 16th century. It depict ...

which was the foremost monastic regime in

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

in this period. He held the post from 1291 to his demise in 1303.

Political background

Since the mid-13th century the abbots of the

Sakya Monastery Sakya Monastery (), also known as Pel Sakya (; "White Earth" or "Pale Earth"), is a Buddhist monastery situated in Sa'gya Town (ས་སྐྱ་), Sa'gya County, about west of Shigatse in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. The monastery ...

had been the main middlemen between Tibet and the Mongol conquerors. In 1270 one of their line, Phagpa was appointed

(''Dishi''). The ''Dishi'' resided near the emperor and had a major influence in the

Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs __NOTOC__ The Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs, or Xuanzheng Yuan () was a government agency of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China to handle Buddhist affairs across the empire in addition to managing the territory of Tibet. It was origina ...

(Xuanzheng Yuan). Up to 1286 the dignity was filled by members of the Khon family who were also usually hereditary abbots of Sakya. However, due to the lack of fully ordained members of the lineage after that date, persons from other clerical elite families of Sakya origins were appointed.

As imperial preceptor

One such family were the Khangsarpa. One of their line, Sumpa Drakpa Gyaltsen, begot two sons called Drakpa Odzer and

Sanggye Pal Sanggye Pal () was a Tibetan Imperial Preceptor (''Dishi'') at the court of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China. He lived from (1267-1314) and hailed from Sakya which was the foremost monastic regime in Tibet in this period. He held the title fro ...

. Drakpa Odzer became the general administrator in charge of Phagpa's property. Later on he accompanied Phagpa's nephew

Dharmapala Raksita Dharmapala Raksita (), who lived from (1268 – December 1287) was the head of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism, which was the most powerful school in Tibet under the Yuan dynasty from 1280 to 1282. He also held the title of Imperial Preceptor ...

when he moved to

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

to take up the ''Dishi'' dignity in 1282. When the next ''Dishi''

Yeshe Rinchen Yeshe Rinchen () was a Tibetan Imperial Preceptor (''Dishi'') at the court of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. He lived from (1248-1294) and hailed from Sakya, the foremost monastic regime in Tibet in this period, and held the title from 1286 to his d ...

vacated his position in 1291, Drakpa Odzer was appointed his successor. As such he was confronted with the issue of the succession to the abbot-ship of Sakya, which was kept strictly apart from the ''Dishi'' position. At this time a man of the Sharpa family,

Jamyang Rinchen Gyaltsen Jamyang Rinchen Gyeltsen (), who lived from (1257 - 5 February 1305), was the ruler of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism, which had precedence in Tibet under the Yuan dynasty, in 1286–1303. He also held the title of Imperial Preceptor ( ''Di ...

, took care of the Sakya see. The administrator (''

dpon-chen The ''dpon-chen'' or ''pönchen'' (), literally the "great authority" or "great administrator", was the chief administrator or governor of Tibet based at the Sakya Monastery during the Yuan dynasty. The office was established in the 1260s and fun ...

'' or ''ponchen'') in Central Tibet, Aglen, took the initiative for summoning a council in Sakya where the leading clerics agreed to send a petition to Drakpa Odzer. There they requested that the only surviving member of the Khon family,

Zangpo Pal Zangpo Pal or Danyi Chenpo Zangpo Pal (), who lived from (1261-1323) was the ruler of Sakya, which held a precedence position in Tibet under the Yuan dynasty. He also held the title of Imperial Preceptor (Dishi) from 1298, to his demise in 1323. F ...

, would be allowed to take up the position of abbot-ruler. Drakpa Odzer consented, possibly out of political necessity, and forwarded the petition to the emperor Temür who approved it. Zangpo Pal returned to Sakya in 1298, although he was not fully installed until 1306. Drakpa Odzer died at the imperial court in 1303.Shoju Inaba 1963, p. 111. He was succeeded by the ex-abbot Jamyang Rinchen Gyaltsen. Later on, in 1305, his younger brother

became ''Dishi''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odzer, Drakpa Imperial Preceptors 1246 births 1303 deaths 14th-century Tibetan people

Political background

As imperial preceptor

See also

References