Karma Tenkyong

Karma Tenkyong (1606 – Neu, Central Tibet, 1642), in full Karma Tenkyong Wangpo (Wylie: Kar ma bstan skyong dbang po), was a king of Tibet who ruled from 1620 to 1642. He belonged to the Tsangpa Dynasty which had been prominent in Tsang (West Central Tibet) since 1565. His reign was marked by the increasingly bitter struggle against the Gelugpa sect and its leader the Dalai Lama. The final outcome was the crushing of the Tsangpa regime and the establishment of the Dharma-based Tibetan state that endured until 1950.

Karma Tenkyong was born in 1606 as the son of the Tsangpa ruler Karma Phuntsok Namgyal. He was considered an incarnation of Chakna Dorje (Vajrapani, the protector and guide of Buddha). At this time the dynasty had entered a phase of military expansion from its bases in the Tsang region. It was strongly allied with the Buddhist hierarchs of the Karmapa (Black Hat) and Shamarpa (Red Hat) sects. In 1618, when Karma Tenkyong was twelve years old, his father successfully invaded Ü (East Central Tibet) which was a stronghold of the reformist Gelugpa sect. In that way he became the supreme ruler of Central Tibet (Ü-Tsang). The conquest was facilitated since the 4th Dalai Lama had died two years before, and no reincarnated successor had yet been found. Karma Phuntsok Namgyal died in late March 1620 (or, according to other statements, 1621, 1623, 1631 or 1632) and was succeeded by Karma Tenkyong. Since he was rather young the government was handled by the nanglon Dronyer Bongong and the chilon Gangzukpa. The ministers were averse to sending representatives to the newly discovered 5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, fearing the increasingly heartily contacts between the Gelugpa and the Upper Mongols at Qinghai Lake. In 1621 a Mongol detachment led by Lhatsun and Hungtaiji invaded the Ü region in support of the Gelugpa. Karma Tenkyong met them in battle at Gyathanggang but was decisively defeated. He and his soldiers were then besieged at Chakpori in Lhasa and faced with starvation and death by massacre. At this moment the Panchen Lama of Tashilhunpo and the leaders of the Ganden and Taklung monasteries intervened. These three Gelugpa dignitaries persuaded the Mongols to lift the siege in return for wide concessions. The Gelugpa received back most of the estates lost to the Tsangpa. The military camps that the latter kept in the region were abolished. For the Gelugpa leaders it was probably desirable to avoid the complete annihilation of Karma Tenkyong’s forces, since they were the only effective army of Tibet and could serve as a counterweight to the Mongols. Karma Tenkyong proceeded to repair the temples in Lhasa where the ravages of the Mongols caused the religious service to lapse for two years. He also made repairs of Sakya and Taklung. Furthermore, the new ruler issued a law code.

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