Tibetan Empire | ||||||||||
Bod བོད་ | ||||||||||
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Map of the Tibetan empire at its greatest extent between the 780s and the 790s CE.
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Capital | Lhasa, Pho brang (mobile court encampment) | |||||||||
Languages | Tibetan languages | |||||||||
Religion | Tibetan Buddhism, Bön | |||||||||
Government | Monarchy | |||||||||
Tsenpo (Emperor) | ||||||||||
• | 618–650 | Songtsän Gampo (first) | ||||||||
• | 756–797 | Trisong Detsen | ||||||||
• | 815–838 | Ralpacan | ||||||||
• | 838–842 | Langdarma (last) | ||||||||
Lönchen (Great Minister) | ||||||||||
• | 652–667 | Gar Tongtsen Yülsung | ||||||||
• | 685–699 | Gar Trinring Tsendro | ||||||||
• | 782?–783 | Nganlam Takdra Lukhong | ||||||||
• | 783–796 | Nanam Shang Gyaltsen Lhanang | ||||||||
Banchenpo (Monk Minister) | ||||||||||
• | 798–? | Nyang Tingngezin Sangpo (first) | ||||||||
• | ?–838 | Dranga Palkye Yongten (last) | ||||||||
Historical era | Late Antiquity | |||||||||
• | Founded by Emperor Songtsän Gampo | 618 | ||||||||
• | Death of Langdarma | 842 | ||||||||
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Today part of |
Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan Burma China India Nepal Pakistan Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan |
The Tibetan Empire (Tibetan: བོད་ཆེན་པོ, Wylie: bod chen po, "Great Tibet") existed from the 7th to 9th centuries AD when Tibet was unified as a large and powerful empire, and ruled an area considerably larger than the Tibetan Plateau, stretching to parts of East Asia, Central Asia and South Asia.
Traditional Tibetan history described the exploits of a lengthy list of rulers. External corroboration is available from the 7th century in Chinese histories, which called the country Tǔbō (吐蕃). From the 7th to the 9th century a series of emperors ruled Tibet. From the time of the emperor Songtsän Gampo the power of the empire gradually increased over a diverse terrain. By the reign of the emperor Ralpacan, in the opening years of the 9th century, it controlled territories extending from the Tarim basin to the Himalayas and Bengal, and from the Pamirs to what is now Chinese provinces of Gansu and Yunnan.