Mipham Sonam Wangchuk Drakpa Namgyal Palzang

Mipham Sonam Wangchuk Drakpa Namgyal Palzang (Mi pham bsod nams dbang phyug grags pa rnam rgyal dpal bzang) (early 17th century) was a king in Central Tibet. He belonged to the Phagmodrupa dynasty which reigned in Tibet, or parts of it, from 1354 to the early 17th century, and was the last prince of the dynasty.^[1]

Support for the Dalai Lama

Mipham Sonam Wangchuk Drakpa Namgyal Palzang was the eldest son of the preceding ruler Kagyud Nampar Gyalwa. He succeeded his father by c. 1600. In 1601 he sent a representative with a delegation of Gelugpa dignitaries that journeyed to Mongolia. The delegation received the young Dalai Lama, Yonten Gyatso, who was a Mongol prince, and brought him to Tibet.^[2] By this time the dynasty had since long been eclipsed by other political and religious centers. However, in the early years of the 17th century the authority of the Phagmodrupa revived somewhat in the Ü region (East Central Tibet). This was due to their good connections with the Gelugpa.^[3] The main political division at this time was between the Gelugpa sect, aided by their Mongol allies, and the Karmapa and their patrons of the Tsangpa dynasty. The Phagmodrupa kings were traditionally friendly disposed towards the Gelugpa leaders, the Dalai Lamas.

Defeated by the Tsangpa

The position of the Phagmodrupa was nevertheless fragile. In 1610 their troops carried out a raid in the Lhasa valley. This provoked a swift retaliation by the Tsangpa. From his base in the Tsang region (West Central Tibet), the Tsangpa ruler made repeated incursions into Ü.^[4] In 1616 he subjugated the Kyishod area close to Lhasa and forced the Phagmodrupa palace in Nêdong to submit. With this stroke, most of Ü and Tsang was in the hands of the Tsangpa lord Karma Phuntsok Namgyal, who was now arguably the King of Tibet.^[5] His triumph was confirmed by a new successful Tsangpa invasion in 1618. Lhasa was taken, and the Gelugpa lost their most important monasteries in Ü and Tsang.^[6] Mipham Sonam Wangchuk Drakpa Namgyal Palzang survived under obscure circumstances. During the Gelugpa-Karmapa struggle in 1635 he was expelled from Lhasa.^[7] In the chronicles of the Fifth Dalai Lama (1643), he is still spoken of as a living person.^[8] With the final triumph of Dalai Lama over the Tsangpa in 1642, the Phagmodrupa regime was at any rate a thing of the past.

See also

• History of Tibet
• Tibet during the Ming Dynasty

References

1. ^ Sarat Chandra Das, 'Contributions on the religion history &c, of Tibet', Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 1881, p. 242.
2. ^ David Snellgrove & Hugh Richardson, A Cultural History of Tibet. New York 1968, p. 184-93.
3. ^ David Snellgrove & Hugh Richardson, 1968, p. 193.
4. ^ David Snellgrove & Hugh Richardson, 1968, p. 193.
5. ^ Giuseppe Tucci, Tibetan Painted Scrolls. Rome 1949, pp. 55–6.
6. ^ Laurent Deshayes, Histoire du Tibet. Paris 1997, p. 142.
7. ^ Günther Schulemann, Geschichte der Dala-Lamas. Leipzig 1958.
8. ^ Giuseppe Tucci, 1949, p. 641.

Preceded by Kagyud Nampar Gyalwa

Ruler in Tibet c. 1600–early 17th century

Succeeded by Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso