158:
97:
these were extracted in a piece-meal fashion from some more detailed narrative. The only such extant text by
Nyangrel Özer supports such a hypothesis: more additional details are integrated into the same framework. Tsangma, after being poisoned, entered Bhutan via Paro valley and visited the Spyal Ka rock cave to hide religious treasures and royal documents (brought from Tibet), where he was finally interred.
113:
Bhutanese sources cite
Tibetan sources but skips all mentions of exile and death; instead, an incredibly detailed narrative of his exploits in Bhutan is crafted. According to Rgyal rigs, Tsangma left Western Bhutan after a short stay and embarked eastward, to the Tibetan frontiers of Tawang. However,
96:
Both Grags pa Rgyal mtshan and Nel-pa
Pandita provide an identical narrative, down to the details: Tsangma was exiled to Bum thang of Lho brag (var. Lho Mon). There, he was poisoned to death by two queens: ’Brom bza’ Legs rje and Sna nam Me rje the’u (var. Sna nam Mang mo rje). In Ardussi's opinion,
136:
Per Ryal rigs, Tsangpa had married the daughter of one A mi Don grub rgyal, a native of Mi zam pa who claimed descent from the holy A mi Byang chub ’dre bkol. He had two sons from the marriage—Khri mi Lha’i dbang phyug and Gces bu Mthong legs btsun—who succeeded him. Within years, Tsangpa's lineage
65:
The oldest source in
Bhutanese tradition that covers Tsangma comprehensively is Rgyal rigs ’byung khungs gsal ba’i sgron me (trans. The Lamp which Illuminates the Origins of Royal Families), written by a monk from East Bhutan in 1678 C.E. Prior to this, the only mention is in the 15th century
141:
Jo bo. Gces bu stayed as the ruler of Mi zam pa(Mizimpa), and two of his sons—Gong dkar rgyal and Dpal bsked dar—went on to establish rule over adjacent territories. They would be warmly welcomed by the subjects, courtesy associated royal prestige and conferment of political stability. More than
100:
Later
Tibetan sources would support this broad narrative—exile, death by poisoning, and a trip to Bhutan—but tweak the details to establish Tsangma as a Buddhist martyr. Pawo Tsuglag Threngwa added that many monks, scholars, and translators had accompanied the exiled Tsangma till the crossing of
50:, drafted by Grags pa Rgyal mtshan around late 12th–early 13th century, contains two relevant passages. A similar passage is also found in the late 13th century Chronik Me-tog Phren-w of Nel-pa Pandita. Among later Tibetan sources—with an increasing tendency to martyrize Tsangma—are
245:(written by Sde srid Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho) as Mi zim mkhar but the construction is attributed to Khyi kha. A C-14 analysis of the ruins gave a date of 1305–1460 (~95% accuracy) and hence, Ardussi believes it to be unlikely that the castle was constructed by either.
209:
The identification of Spyal Ka cave has fascinated academics: there is one Bcal cave in Paro, where a corpus of early medieval Bon literature was discovered in 2001. They were allegedly deposited by
Tsangma's uncle, Khyi kha ra thod, an exiled
114:
Tawang was hardly unaffected by the
Tibetan struggles of power and hence, he made it back to Btsan mkhar of ’Brog mdo gsum. There, he chose the site of Mi zam pa—an elevated valley, surrounded by rivers—to establish a fort.
127:
Neither Grags pa Rgyal mtshan nor Nel-pa
Pandita mention anything about his marriage or issues but agree on his descendants ruling over the territories of exile. Later Tibetan sources are silent on these aspects.
200:
Daniel A. Hirshberg challenges this assumption; he proposes that Nyang Rel had only produced a core narrative of Tri Song-détsen and
Padmasambhava, that others developed into the comprehensive history.
241:
Local tradition identifies this site with the ruins of a castle, located on a ridge above the
Kholongchhu, about ten miles northwest of Trashigang. This castle is also referred to in the biography of
47:
145:
Bshad mdzod simply noted all rulers of Bhutan to have descended from Tsangpa — readers were asked to consult the written records of Tsangpas for further details.
101:
Gtsang Po where he proclaimed of his innocence but determined to make it to exile, requested them to turn back. Writing in Bod kyi (c. mid-seventeenth century),
83:. While the former did not provide any date of birth, Pandita mentions the Year of Dragon (800 C.E.) Other sources contradict that Tsangma was the eldest.
42:
The oldest account of Tsangma is found at Chos 'byung me tog snying po sbrang rtsi'i bcud, which is generally assumed to be a late-twelfth century work by
142:
twenty different clans are mentioned to have arisen out of the early descendants of Tsangma, who would go on to establish royal authority across Bhutan.
593:
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He introduced slight differences to the details: Bum thang became Kho thing and only the latter of the queens was implicated for the poisoning.
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would command extraordinary fame and Khri mi would be requested to establish hereditary rule over Tawang, where the lineage became known as
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548:"A preliminary investigation of Bhutanese castle ruins and caves associated with Lha Sras Gtsang Ma"
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Himalayan Nature and Tibetan Buddhist Culture in Arunachal Pradesh, India: A Study of Monpa
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of Ngawang and the Clan History of Eastern Bhutan and Shar Mon". In Prats, Ramon N. (ed.).
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of Tibet. In Bhutanese traditions, he is held to be the first King of the eastern region.
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text of Bshad mdzod yid bzhin nor bu by Don dam Smra ba’i seng ge from East Bhutan.
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Bhutan: Traditions and Changes - Proceedings of the Tenth Seminar of the IATS, 2003
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Both Grags pa Rgyal mtshan and Nel-pa Pandita note Tsangma to be the eldest son of
621:, International Perspectives in Geography, Tokyo: Springer Japan, pp. 13–30,
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Mizuno, Kazuharu; Tenpa, Lobsang (2015), Mizuno, Kazuharu; Tenpa, Lobsang (eds.),
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Remembering the Lotus-Born: Padmasambhava in the History of Tibet's Golden Age
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645:""Like a Pot without a Handle": Law, Meaning and Practice in Medieval Bhutan"
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The Pandita and the Siddha: Tibetan Studies in Honour of E. Gene Smith
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615:"Arrival of a Tibetan Prince in Monyul and Establishment of a Clan"
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30:) was the eldest son of
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60:Pawo Tsuglag Threngwa
247:Thang stong rgyal po
56:Dampa Sonam Gyaltsen
44:Nyangrel Nyima Özer
28:Lha sras Gtsang ma
636:978-4-431-55492-9
605:978-1-61429-231-9
584:978-81-86227-37-4
561:978-90-474-2023-1
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688:Categories
655:: 87–104.
571:rGyal rigs
257:References
669:0766-1177
81:Sadnalegs
70:Biography
677:26606608
139:Khams pa
699:Princes
38:Sources
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230:Doksum
149:Legacy
673:JSTOR
188:Notes
75:Birth
24:Wylie
665:ISSN
631:ISBN
600:ISBN
579:ISBN
556:ISBN
210:Bon.
657:doi
623:doi
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