Kunga Gyaltsen () 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 ...

. He lived from (1310-1358) and belonged to the abbot family Khon of

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 had a precedence position 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 era. He held the title from 1331 to 1358, being the last ''Dishi'' before the takeover of the

Phagmodrupa dynasty The Phagmodrupa dynasty or Pagmodru (, ; ) was a dynastic regime that held sway over Tibet or parts thereof from 1354 to the early 17th century. It was established by Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen of the Lang () family at the end of the Yuan dynas ...

in Central Tibet in the 1350s.

Appointment as Imperial Preceptor

In the four decades after the death of the abbot-ruler of Sakya

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 ...

in 1323, the functions of abbot-ruler (''dansa chenpo'') and

(''Dishi'') were held in turn by a number of his sons and grandsons. By this time, however, the ruling Khon family was split into four groups, each residing in a particular palace in Sakya. Kunga Gyaltsen was one of the younger sons of Zangpo Pal and belonged to the Lhakhang branch. His mother was Machig Yon Dagmo. During the reign of the great khan Yesün Temür he was appointed to the title ''chang guhi gung'', the meaning of which is unclear. After the death of his brother

Kunga Lekpa Jungne Gyaltsen Kunga Lekpa Jungne Gyaltsen () was a Tibetan Imperial Preceptor (''Dishi'') at the court of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. He lived from (1308-1330) and belonged to the abbot family Khon of Sakya which had a precedence position in Tibet in this era. ...

in 1330, Kunga Gyaltsen was selected by the great khan

Tugh Temür A ''tug'' ( , , or ) or sulde (, ) is a pole with circularly arranged horsetail hairs of varying colors arranged at the top. It was historically flown by Turkic tribal confederations such as the Duolu (Tuğluğ Confederation) and also duri ...

to become the next ''Dishi''. In 1331 the incarnated hierarch of the

Karmapa The Karmapa Tulku lineage of the Gyalwa Karmapa is the oldest among the major incarnating lineages of Tibetan Buddhism,The Karmapa, "The Karmapas Lineage", Kagyu Office established in 1110 CE by the 1st Karmapa, Düsum Khyenpa. Karmapa means " ...

sect,

Rangjung Dorje The 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje ( Tibetan: རང་འབྱུང་རྡོ་རྗེ་, ) (1284–1339) was the 3rd Gyalwa Karmapa and head of the Karma Kagyu school, the largest school within the Kagyu tradition. He was an important figu ...

, arrived with a number of imperial officials to fetch Kunga Gyaltsen and bring him to the capital. Arriving to Dadu (

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 ...

) he was duly confirmed in his office by the new great khan and last Yuan emperor

Toghon Temür Toghon Temür (; Mongolian script: ; ; 25 May 1320 – 23 May 1370), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Huizong of Yuan (; ), bestowed by the Northern Yuan, Northern Yuan dynasty, and by his posthumous name as t ...

on 19 July 1333.

Decline and fall of Sakya rule

At the beginning his authority as imperial preceptor was recognized in Tibet. This is seen by a set of religious rules that he issued in the great temple of Dadu in May 1336. A document preserved in the Zhalu Monastery in 1348 shows that he still had a say in Tibetan affairs at that time. His position was also strengthened by the appointment of his son

Lotro Gyaltsen Lotro Gyaltsen in orthographic spelling, ''bLo gros rgyal mts'an'', was a ruler of Sakya, who lived from (1332-1365), his tribe had an important position of precedence in Tibet as an Imperial Preceptor under the Yuan dynasty. He reigned from 1347 t ...

as abbot-ruler of Sakya in 1347. As common in the Khon family, he married and sired children before his full ordination as monk. However, he stayed in Dadu until his death in 1358 and was unable to interfere directly in the civil war that emerged from 1346. One of the 13 myriarchies of Central Tibet, Phagmodru, was headed by the strong-willed and ambitious Changchub Gyaltsen who involved in a complicated series of clashes with rival lords and the Sakya administrators (''

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''). As Changchub Gyaltsen got the upper hand he managed to dominate Ü (East Central Tibet) by c. 1350. In 1354 he reduced the power of the Sakya elite to its immediate estates in Tsang (West Central Tibet). Kunga Gyaltsen's brother-in-law, the influential lama Kunpangpa, was murdered in 1357 and in the next year Changchub Gyaltsen arranged a conference in Sakya which confirmed the transfer of power over Central Tibet to the new Phagmodrupa regime. Dissatisfied elements within Sakya were ruthlessly defeated. During all these events, Changchub Gyaltsen continued to formally adhere to the Yuan dynasty and received the title Tai Situ from the great khan. When Kunga Gyaltsen died in Dadu in the same year, no successor was appointed for some years. His nephew Sonam Lotro Gyaltsen briefly served as such in 1361–1362, when the Yuan dynasty was in its death throes.Luciano Petech 1990, p. 101.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gyaltsen, Kunga Imperial Preceptors 1310 births 1358 deaths 14th-century Tibetan people

Appointment as Imperial Preceptor

Decline and fall of Sakya rule

See also

References