Donyo Dorje

Donyo Dorje (Tibetan: དོན་ཡོད་རྡོ་རྗེ, Wylie: Don yod rdo rje) (1463 – 23 March 1512) was the third and most powerful prince of the Rinpungpa Dynasty that held power in much of Central Tibet from 1479 to 1512.

Donyo Dorje was the second son of the previous Rinpungpa prince Kunzang who was the dominant prince in Tsang (West Central Tibet). Although they reigned autonomously, the Rinpungpa still formally honoured the Phagmodrupa dynasty in Ü (East Central Tibet). Kunzang appears to have died by 1479, in which year Donyo Dorje established a preceptor-patron relationship with the Buddhist hierarch Chokyi Drakpa of the Shamarpa sect, and also kept a good relation with the hierarch of the Karmapa, Chödrak Gyatso. He furthermore had a monastery built in Yangpachen. Chödrak Gyatso asked Donyo Dorje to found a monastery at the outskirts of Lhasa, in an area that was heavily influenced by the Gelugpa sect. Gelugpa monks from Sera and Drepung took offence and ruined the construction. This incident increased the tense religious and political situation in Central Tibet. The gongma or ruler Kunga Lekpa, of the old Phagmodrupa dynasty, resided in Nêdong south-east of Lhasa. He was influenced by the powerful minister Konchok Rinchen of the Kazhipa family and had a bad relationship with the Rinpungpa.

...
Wikipedia