Tibetan history can be traced
thousands of years back. However, the written history
only dates back to the 7th century when Songtsan
Gampo, the 33rd Tibetan king, sent his minister
Sambhota to India to study Sanskirt who on his return
invented the present Tibetan script based on Sanskirt.
The Tsanpo's (King) Period
This period starts from Nyatri Tsanpo, the first
of the Tsanpos, in 127 B.C.(historians differ in
view of the date, but this date is taken from the
White Annals, a reliable book on Tibetan history)
and ends in 842 A.D. at the death of Lang Dharma,
the last of the Tsanpos, who was assassinated by
Buddhist monk owing to Lang Dharma¡¯s ruthless persecution
of Buddhism. During this period some 42 Tsanpos
had ruled over Tibet among which Songtsan gampo¡¯s
rule (7th century) was considered as the zenith.
Songtsan Gampo was an outstanding ruler, he unified
Tibet, changed his capital to Lhasa, sent Sambhota
to India to study Sanskirt and promlagated a script
for the Tibetans on the latter¡¯s arrival to Tibet,
married Princess Wencheng of the Tang Court and
Princess Bhrikuti Devi of Nepal, built the Potala
and the temple of Jokhang.
The Period of Decentralization
This period began in 842 A.D. the year of Lang
Dharma¡¯s assassination, and ended in about 1260
A.D. when Pagpa, the Abbot of Sakya Monastery ,
became a vassal of Kublai Khan, the first emperor
of the Yuan Dynasty. During this period a little
is known in history except that Tibet became decentralized
into a number of petty principalities.
The Period of Sakya, Pagdu,
and Karmapa's Rule
This period began with Sakya¡¯s rule over Tibet,
followed first by Pagdu¡¯s rule in Lhoka and then
by Karmara¡¯s rule in the Tsang region (Shigatse).
The Sakya period was the time when Tibet officially
became an inseparable part of China. This period
lasted from 1260 A.D. to 1642 A.D. during which
political powers centered in the three regions
of Sakya, Pagdu, and Tsang successively ruled
over Tibet.
The period of the Ganden Podrang's Administration
This period is the period in which the Dalai
Lama ruled Tibet. It started in 1642 A.D. When
the 5th Dalai Lama overtook the ruling power from
the Tsang ruler.
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