Pholhane

Polhané Sönam Topgyé (Tibetan: ཕོ་ལྷ་ནས་བསོད་ནམས་སྟོབས་རྒྱས, Wylie: Pho lha nas bsod nams stobs rgyas) (1689 – 12 March 1747) was one of the most important political personalities of Tibet in the first half of the 18th century. Between 1728 and 1747 he was effectively the ruling prince of Tibet and carried royal titles during the period of Qing rule of Tibet. He is known as an excellent administrator, a fearsome warrior and a grand strategist. After the troubled years under the reign of Lhazang Khan, the bloody invasion of Tsering Dhondup and the civil war, his government ushered in a relatively long period of stability and internal and external peace for Tibet.

Polhané Sönam Topgyé was born in 1689 in Polha (Pho-lha) as the son of the general Pema Gyalpo and his wife Drolma Butri. His father was an experienced warrior who took part in the war against Ladakh in 1679-1684. He later participated in campaigns against Bhutan and Nepal. His forefathers were local officials in Tsang in the 17th century; his grandfather Asum was endowed with the estate Polha, south of Gyangtse, by the Khoshut king Tenzin Dalai Khan for his services. It was here that Sönam Topgyé grew up. In his young years he received teachings in the Mindroling Monastery which belonged to the Nyingma school, and also by the Panchen Lama. While his given name was Sönam Topgyé, he is usually known by the cognomen Polhané (the one from Polha).

Shortly after his marriage in 1707, Polhané traveled to Lhasa where he was presented to the ruler Lhabzang Khan. The ruler confirmed him in his possession of the estate that he had inherited from his deceased father. Now he began a typical official career and was educated in the Ministry of Finance (rTsis khang) in Lhasa. After some years he was appointed district judge in Gyangtse. In 1714 he received his first military command. He successfully led an entire detachment against Bhutan, although the war as such was lost by the Tibetans. After the invasion of Tibet by the Dzungars he took part in the organization of the Tibetan defense lines. He was present during the final defense of Lhasa.

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Wikipedia