Songtsen Gampo
Songtsen Gampo (Classical Tibetan: [sroŋpʦan zɡampo], now pronounced [sɔ́ŋʦɛ̃ ɡʌ̀mpo]) (Tibetan: སྲོང་བཙན་སྒམ་པོ, Wylie: srong btsan sgam po, ZYPY: Songzän Gambo; 569–649? 650), also Songzan Ganbu (Chinese: 松贊干布; pinyin: Sōngzàn Gānbù), was the 33rd Tibetan king and founder of the Tibetan Empire, and is traditionally credited with the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet, influenced by his Nepali consort Bhrikuti, of Nepal's Licchavi dynasty, as well as with the unification of what had previously been several Tibetan kingdoms. He is also regarded as responsible for the creation of the Tibetan script and therefore the establishment of Classical Tibetan, the language spoken in his region at the time, as the literary language of Tibet.
| Songtsen Gampo སྲོང་བཙན་སྒམ་པོ | |||||||||
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| Tsenpo | |||||||||
Statue of King Songtsen Gampo on horseback in front of the Songtsen Library in Dehradun, India | |||||||||
| 1st Emperor of Tibetan Empire | |||||||||
| Reign | c. 618 – 650 | ||||||||
| Predecessor | Namri Songtsen | ||||||||
| Successor | Gungsong Gungtsen or Mangsong Mangtsen | ||||||||
| Born | Songtsen c. 557 to 569 approximately Maizhokunggar, Tibet | ||||||||
| Died | 649 (aged 79-92 years) approximately Zelmogang, Penyül, Tibet (in modern Lhünzhub County) | ||||||||
| Burial | 651 Muri Mukpo Mausoleum, Valley of the Kings | ||||||||
| Wives | Belmoza Tritsün (aka Bhrikuti, from Nepal) Gyamoza Münchang (aka Princess Wencheng, from Tang China) Minyakza Gyelmotsün (from Tangut) Litikmen (from Zhangzhung) Mongza Tricham | ||||||||
| Children | Gungsong Gungtsen | ||||||||
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| Tibetan | |||||||||
| Wylie transliteration | Srong-btsan sGam-po | ||||||||
| THL | Songtsen Gampo | ||||||||
| Lönchen | |||||||||
| House | Yarlung dynasty | ||||||||
| Father | Era of Fragmentation Namri Songtsen | ||||||||
| Mother | Driza Thökar | ||||||||
| Religion | Tibetan Buddhism | ||||||||
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His mother, the queen, is identified as Driza Thökar (Tibetan: འབྲི་བཟའ་ཐོད་དཀར་, Wylie: 'bri bza' thod dkar, ZYPY: Zhisa Tögar). The date of his birth and of 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, 593, 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 Songtsen Gampo have been suggested, including 569, 593 or 605.