Shatra (personal name Paljor Dorje, full title Longchen Shatra Paljor Dorje (blon chen bshad sgra dpal 'byor rdo rje); བཤད་སྒྲ ''bshad sgra''; དཔལ་འབྱོར་རྡོ་རྗེ; ''dpal 'byor rdo rje''; c. 1860 – c. 1923/1926), was a

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Family

Shatra belonged originally to the Shangga family. He married, however, into th
Shatra
family, took their name and was a wealthy man. Shatra's son is the former Kalon (Religion Minister) Shasur Gyurme Sonam Topgyal, also known a
Shenkhawa

Career

In 1890 he accompanied the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...

amban Amban (Manchu and Mongol: ''Amban'', Tibetan: ་''am ben'', , Uighur:''am ben'') is a Manchu language term meaning "high official", corresponding to a number of different official titles in the imperial government of Qing China. For instanc ...

on his trip to

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Ne ...

and supported him during the negotiations leading to the Anglo-Chinese border treaty. Shortly afterwards he was appointed Shappe (Minister). In 1903, he and the other three members of the inner cabinet (

Kashag The Kashag (; ), was the governing council of Tibet during the rule of the Qing dynasty and post-Qing period until the 1950s. It was created in 1721, and set by Qianlong Emperor in 1751 for the Ganden Phodrang in the 13-Article Ordinance for ...

) were accused of treason by the

Tsongdu Nyalam (; ) is a small town in and the county seat of Nyalam County in the Shigatse Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region, near the Nepal border. It is 35 km from Zhangmu town in the same county, which is the Geography of Nepal#Border cro ...

for conspiring with the British. Conversely, however, the British accused him of conspiring with the Russians because of his cooperation with

Agvan Dorzhiev Agvan Lobsan Dorzhiev, also Agvan Dorjiev or Dorjieff and Agvaandorj (russian: link=no, Агван Лобсан Доржиев, bua, Доржиин Агбан, bo, ངག་དབང་བློ་བཟང་; 1853, Khara-Shibir ulus, — Jan ...

.Shakabpa, Tsepon Wangchuk Deden (4th edition 1988) ''Tibet: A Political History'', Potala Publications, New York, , pag. 203, 239, 262-263 The result of the accusation of the Tsongdu led to the 13th Dalai Lama deposing and banished him to his estate in Orong Kongbu (eastern Tibet). In 1915 the British reported that he had been alternately pro-Russian and pro-Chinese, but in around 1915 gained a strong anti-Chinese and pro-British attitude. In 1907, when the Dalai Lama fled Tibet, he was recalled to

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhas ...

by vice-amban

Zhang Yingtang Zhang may refer to: Chinese culture, etc. * Zhang (surname) (張/张), common Chinese surname ** Zhang (surname 章), a rarer Chinese surname * Zhang County (漳县), of Dingxi, Gansu * Zhang River (漳河), a river flowing mainly in Henan * ''Zha ...

and was appointed advisor to the parliament. His function was similar to a

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

and he shared it with two other Kalon Tripa's, Changkhyim and Sholkhang. In 1915 the British reported that Shatra was the highest of the three Lönchens. When the Dalai Lama returned to Lhasa, he won his confidence back. In 1908 he created the office of Lönchen for the three prime ministers. In 1910 he accompanied the Dalai Lama during his trip to

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

The revolt of 1911 ushered in an era of several decades of independence, he boosted the protesters morale. In 1913-14 he took part in the

Simla Convention The Simla Convention, officially the Convention Between Great Britain, China, and Tibet,
Tibe ...

Reputation

He was known as a progressive politician and supporter of reform in Tibet. He had a strong character and a friendly way of dealing.

Sir Charles Bell Sir Charles Bell (12 November 177428 April 1842) was a Scottish surgeon, anatomist, physiologist, neurologist, artist, and philosophical theologian. He is noted for discovering the difference between sensory nerves and motor nerves in the spinal ...

described Shatra as follows: "He showed people skills and a political power that surprised many at the conference. His simple dignity and charming way of doing things made him beloved by all who knew him in Simla and Delhi".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shatra, Paljor Dorje 1860 births Tibetan politicians Prime Ministers of Tibet Tibetan diplomats 1919 deaths