Songtsän Gampo
| Songtsän Gampo | |||||
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| Emperor of Tibet | |||||
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| Predecessor | Namri Songtsen | ||||
| Successor | Mangsong Mangtsen | ||||
| Born | Songtsän between 557 and 617 Maizhokunggar, Tibet |
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| Died | 649 Zal-mo-sgang, 'phun-yul, Tibet (in modern Lhünzhub County) |
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| Burial | 651 smu-ri-smug-bo, Valley of the Kings, phying ba'ai |
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| Spouse | Pogong Mongza Tricham Bal-mo-bza' Khri-btsun (aka Bhrikuti, from Nepal) Gyasa Mung-chang (aka Princess Wencheng, from Tang China) Mi-nyag-bza' Zhyal-mo-btsun (from Tangut) Ri-thig-man (from Zhangzhung) |
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| Issue | Gungsong Gungtsen | ||||
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| Tibetan |  |
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| Wylie transliteration | Srong-btsan sGam-po | ||||
| THL | Songtsen Gampo | ||||
| Great Minister | |||||
| Father | Namri Löntsen | ||||
| Mother | Driza Tökarma | ||||
| Full name | |
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| Khri Songtsän Gampo |
Songtsen Gampo (Tibetan: སྲོང་བཙན་སྒམ་པོ, Wylie: srong btsan sgam po, 569–649?/605–649?) was the founder of the Tibetan Empire, and is traditionally credited with the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet, influenced by his Nepali and Chinese queens, as well as being the unifier of what were previously several Tibetan kingdoms. He is also regarded as responsible for the creation of Tibetan alphabet and therefore the establishment of Classical Tibetan, the language spoken in his region at the time, as the literary language of Tibet.
His mother, the queen, is identified as Driza Tökarma (Wylie: 'bri bza thod dkar ma "the Bri Wife [named] White Skull Woman"). The dates of his birth and when he took the throne are not certain. In Tibetan accounts, it is generally accepted that he was born in an Ox year of the Tibetan calendar, which means one of the following dates: 557, 569, 581, 583, 605 or 617 CE. He is thought to have ascended the throne at age thirteen (twelve by Western reckoning), by this reckoning c. 629.
There are difficulties with this position, however, and several earlier dates for the birth of Songtsän Gampo have been suggested, including 569, 593 or 605.
It is said that Songtsän Gampo was born at Gyama in Meldro, a region to the northeast of modern Lhasa), the son of the Yarlung king Namri Songtsen. The book The Holder of the White Lotus says that it is believed that he was a manifestation of Avalokiteśvara, of whom the Dalai Lamas are similarly believed to be a manifestation. His identification as a cakravartin and incarnation of Avalokiteśvara began in earnest in the indigenous Buddhist literary histories of the 11th century.
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