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Songtsen Gampo
(སྲོང་བཙན་སྒམ་པོ་
Wylie transliteration|Wylie: Srong-btsan Sgam-po)
(617–650 CE) was the thirty-third king of
the Yarlung Dynasty of Tibet. Born at Gyama at
Maldro to Namri Löntsen (Wylie:
Gnam-ri-slon-mtshan), he is traditionally credited
with bringing Buddhism to the Tibetan people.

Songtsen Gampo was adept at diplomacy as well as
on the field of battle. The king's minister Myang
Mang-po-rje Zhang-shang defeated Sum pa circa 627
(Old Tibetan Annals OTA l. 2). Six years later (c.
632–3) Myang Mang-po-rje Zhang-shang was
accused of treason and executed (OTA l. 4-5,
Richardson 1965). Minister Mgar-srong-rtsan
succeeded him.

The Chinese records record receiving an envoy in
634. On that occasion the king requested marriage
to a Chinese princess and was refused. In
635–6 the emperor attacked and defeated the
'A zha people (Chinese language|Chinese:
Tüyühün), who lived around Lake Koko Nur in the
northeast corner of Tibet, and who controlled
important trade routes into China. After a
successful campaign against China in 635–6
(OTA l. 607) the Chinese emperor agreed to marry
Songtsen Gampo to a Chinese princess.

In about 639, after Songtsen Gampo had had a
dispute with his younger brother Brtsan srong, the
younger brother was burnt to death by his own
minister Mkha’s sregs, presumably at the behest
of the king (cf. Richardson 1965, OTA l. 8-10).

The Chinese princess Wencheng (Tibetan: Mung-chang
Kungco), daughter of the powerful Emperor Taizong,
left China in 640 to marry Songtsen Gampo,
arriving a year latter. Peace between China and
Tibet prevailed for the remainder of Songtsen
Gampo's reign.

Songtsen Gampo’s sister Sad-mar-kar was sent to
marry Lig-myi-rhya, the king of Zhang-zhung.
However, when the king refused to consummate the
marriage, she then helped her brother to defeat
Lig myi-rhya and to incorporate the Zhang-zhung
into the Tibetan Empire.

In 645, Songtsen Gampo overran the kingdom of
Zhang Zhung culture|Zhang-zhung in what is now
Western Tibet. 

Songtsen Gampo died in 650, and was succeeded by
his infant grandson Khri-mang-slon. Real power was
left in the hands of the minister
Mgar-srong-rtsan.

== Myths about Songtsen Gampo and his cultural
importance == 

Songtsen Gampo has become a cultural hero for
Tibetans, based largely on myths that grew up
around him during the Middle Ages. For example it
is said that his Nepalese princess Bhrikuti and
his Chinese princess Wencheng brought Buddhism to
Tibet.  No historical evidence supports the
existence of this Nepalese princess or the faith
of Wencheng, although Buddhism would have been
known in China at the time. These stories are
included in such medieval romances as the
Mani-bka'-'bum, and historiographies such as the
Rgyal-rabs Gsel-ba'i Me-long.

The stories of Thonmi Sambhota, who is supposed to
have invented the Tibetan script, and of the
original Jowo statue at Lhasa have similar late
medieval origins.

==References==
*Beckwith, Christopher I (1987). The Tibetan
Empire in Central Asia. Princeton: Princeton
University Press. 
*Richardson, Hugh E. (1965). "How Old was Srong
Brtsan Sgampo" Bulletin of Tibetology 2.1. pp 5-8.

== External Links ==
*
http://www.wku.edu/~yuanh/China/princesswencheng_b
.htm Princess Wencheng: Bridging Different
Cultures

category:Tibetan kings

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