Guge
Encyclopedia : G : GU : GUG : Guge
Guge was an ancient kingdom in Western Tibet. It encompassed the present-day tracts of Zanskar, Upper Kinnaur, Lahul and Spiti. The ruins of Guge are located 1200 miles westwards from Lhasa.
Guge was founded in the 10th century AD. Its founder was the great-grandson of Lang Dharma, the last king of Tibetan kingdom of Tubo. The rulers of Guge supported Buddhism. Its capitals were located at Tholing and Tsaparang.
The first westerner to reach Guge was a Jesuit missionary Antonio del Andrade in 1626. Del Andrade is reported to have seen irrigation canals and rich crops in what is now a dry and desolate land.
Perhaps as evidence of the kingdom's openness, del Andrade's party was allowed to construct a chapel in Tsaparang and instruct the people about Christianity. Perhaps as a consequence of this, an Islamic army of Ladakhis came from present day Kashmir and conquered Guge castle in 1632; the 700-year-old kingdom was destroyed. The Dalai Lama's army drove out the Ladakhs 50 years later.
Western archeologists heard about Guge again in the 1930s through the work of Italian Giuseppe Tucci. Tucci's work was mainly about the frescoes of Guge.
Rulers
The following shows some of the known rulers:
- Odsruns (842-905)
- Dpal'Khorbtsan (905-923)
- Skyidsde Nimamgon
- Dpal-gyimgon Inmaryul
- Bkrasismgon
- Lde-btsugmgon
- Sronne Yeses'od (circa 1035)
- Nagaraja
- Devaraja
- Khore
- Lhalde
- Ziba-'od
- Byan-chub'od
- 'Odldebtsanlde
- Bha-le
- Bkrasislde
- Bhare
- Nagalde
- Btsanphyuglde
- Bkrasislde
- Gragslde
- Gragspalde
- Aroglde
- Ashoglde
- Dzidarsmal
- Anantasmal
- Rilusmal
- Sanghasmal
- Dzitharsmal
- Dzismal
- Kalansmal
- Parrtesmal
- Punismal
- Pritismal
External links
- ["Unravelling the mysteries of Guge"] by Xiong Lei, China Daily, May 8, 2003, retrieved November 24, 2005
- ["A visit to the Guge Kingdom"] by David Antoniuk
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