Rajadom of Lo

Texts in bold print are points of departure.

History

Early History

• The Rajadom of Lo has a long, rich and complex history. Its early history is shrouded in legend, myth and mystery, but there are records of events in the Kali Gandaki Valley as early as the 8th century. According to local legend Padmasambhava, the great founder of Tibetan Buddhism came to the Kali Kandaki Valley on his way to Tibet.
  • The first emperor of Tibet, Trisong Detsen, (742-797) was desirous of introducing Buddhism to his empire, but his desire was thwarted by evil mountain deities. Learning of the holiness of Padmasambhava, the emperor invited him to come and do battle with these evil powers. Guru Rinpoche, as he is known in Tibet, on his way through eastern Lo in 775 built the temple of Ghar Gompa (House Temple) which still stands guard today. He arrived in Tibet in 810 and used his tantric powers to subdue the evil deities he encountered along the way. He founded the first monastery in the country, Samye Gompa, initiated the first monks, and introduced the people to the practice of Tantric Buddhism.
  • It is also quite likely that the Tibetan poet Milarepa, who lived from 1040 to 1123, visited Lo.
• For a time, Lo was part of Ngari, a name for far western Tibet. Ngari was not a true political entity, but rather a loose collection of feudal domains that also included parts of Dolpo. By the 14th century, much of Ngari, as well as most of what today is western Nepal, was part of the Malla Empire governed from their capital at Sinja, near Jumla.

Fourteenth Century

• In 1380, Shres-rab la-ma, was the dzongpon (military commander and provincial commissioner) of Lo for the Gung-thang kings of Tibet. He held a semi-independent status, which allowed him to secure the government for his lineal descendants.
• His son, Tshang Chos-kyong-bum was recognised as dzongpon of Lo, Nar, Nyishang, Manang, Phug, and Nubri. He died c.1425.

Fifteenth Century

• In 1440, his son, the warrior-monk Ama Pal, consolidated his power in the upper Kali Gandaki Valley and extended his influence over a wide region in western Tibet, thus founding the Buddhist Kingdom of Lo. He defeated the Zhang-pa army, declared his independence, and was enthroned as gyal-po, although his kingdom remained closely tied by language and culture to Tibet. He was recognised as an independent ruler by the Gung-thang king of Tibet and assumed the title of chos-gyal.
  • He transferred his capital from Sarang to Manthang, constructing many gompas (temples). He subjugated Guge and Purang in western Tibet and founded the Thub-stan shad-rub dar-gyas-ling Monastery at Sarang, which accommodated over 2,000 resident monks and served as a major center of religious learning and worship.
  • He was venerated as a bodhisattva by his people and died at the Kra-this ge-phel Palace, in Manthang in 1447.
  • The ancestry of the present raja can be traced back 25 generations to Ama Pal.
• In 1447, Tenzing Zampo, succeeded his father as Lo Gyal-po. He was born in 1419, the eldest son of Ama Pal. He was an enlightened ruler who patronized literature and religion, reorganized the administration and developed the economic welfare of the kingdom, during a reign that was largely peaceful and prosperous. He died in 1482.
• In 1482, Kra-this-gon succeeded his father as Lo Gyal-po. He was born in 1443, his father’s eldest son. He was appointed as heir apparent with the title of gyal-chung and served as drung-pa chen-po during his father's retreats to monasteries. He died in 1513.

Sixteenth Century

• In 1513, Rags-pa-tha-yas, succeeded his father as Lo Gyal-po. He was his father’s second son. The growing power of Jumla saw a contraction of his hegemony to little more than the traditional areas of Lo, eventually losing his independence in 1544.
• In 1544, Lo was divided into separate districts. These were ruled by the three sons of Rags-pa-tha-yas, under Jumla sovereignty, until 1560.
• In 1560, Gya-hor-pal-zang, the elder son of Kra-this tog-gyal, the eldest of the three sons was appointed khri-thog-pa by the Jumla authorities. He succeeded in re-establishing the principality. He was a great patron of literature, religious sculpture and a builder of stupas, but he died having no sons.
• In 1565, Sod-nams Kra-this, the younger son of Kra-this-gon was appointed de-pa by his elder brother whom he succeeded. He died in 1580.
• In 1580, Don-grub-dorje, the second son of Sod-nams Kra-this succeeded on the death of his father. He did much to revive the fortunes of the state, constructed palaces and strong forts, and recovered authority over Serib, Gelung and Khangkar. He died in 1594.
• In 1594, Sam-grub Dorje, the eldest son of Don-grub-Dorje, succeeded on the death of his father. He died in 1609.

Seventeenth Century

• In 1609, Sam-grub Rab-tan, the only surviving son of Sam-grub Dorje, succeeded on the death of his father
  • In 1655, he abdicated in favour of his third son. He married Nyi-zla Glay-mo, a princess from Ladakh. He died in 1664.
• In 1656, Sa-ang, the third son of Sam-grub Rab-tan, succeeded his father. He fought several wars against Jumla, regaining his independence through military help from Ladakh several times during his reign. He lost the Thak-Panchgaun region to Parvat in 1687. He abdicated in favour of his son in 1710.

Eighteenth Century

• In 1711, Je-ang succeeded on the abdication of his father. He died in 1723.
• In 1723, Kra-this nam-gyal succeeded his father. He died in 1728.
• In 1728, Ten-zing Anjia succeeded his father. He reigned under the regency of his mother, Nor-zin de-legs bang-mo, daughter of Nyi-ma nam-gyal, the King of Ladakh, until he came of age and assumed full ruling powers in 1734. He died in 1760.
• The Malla Empire declined and split into numerous petty hill states. By the 18th century, Jumla had consolidated and reasserted its power. In an effort to develop their domain as a trading center and to obtain Tibetan goods, the rulers of Jumla turned their attention eastward.
  • In 1740, they assumed control over Lo, from which they extracted an annual tribute.
  • Since the valley was the easiest corridor through the mighty Himalaya linking the Tibetan Plateau to southern Asia, it became a major trading center. Great caravans of sheep and yaks brought loads from Tibet to Lo where they were transferred to the mules and goats more suited to travel in the erewarmer lowlands. Southwards the trade was in salt, wool, musk, borax and tsampa; heading north was rice, grain, and textiles.
• When he ascended the throne in 1762, Prithvi Narayan Shah, founder of the house of Gorkha, began to consolidate what is present-day Nepal. He conquered Jumla and laid claim to Lo. Although Lo was forced to pay tribute for protection, they regained a large measure of autonomy. Prithvi Narayan Shah went on to conquer much of what is now modern Nepal. At the time of his death in 1775, the kingdom extended from Gorkha eastward to the borders of Sikkim. His descendants directed their efforts westward and by 1789, Jumla had been annexed.
• In 1760, Sri Sri Sri Raja Wanggyal Dorje, born in 1738, succeeded on the death of his father.
  • The vassal rulers of Lo had made several valiant, but unsuccessful, attempts to re-establish their independence.
  • In 1788, their chance finally came when the Nepalese Regent, Prince Bahadur Shah, requested an alliance to complete his plans for unifying Nepal. He needed the help of Wanggyal Dorje to subdue the Raja of Jumla, Lo’s overlord.
  • In 1788, he entered into an alliance with the Nepalese to defeat his overlord, the Raja of Jumla.
  • In 1790, after the successful completion of the war, he was awarded for his participation some of the lands annexed by Jumla, i.e., Manang and Dolpo. He was thereafter recognized as a sovereign ruler with the hereditary title of Gyelpo Raja of Lo. He received a crown acknowledging his new status from the Maharajadhiraja of Nepal and was granted a golden plumed crown by the Qianlong Emperor of China. This now forms part of the tog-sum or regalia of the rajadom. He was a religious and cultural reformer who renovated monasteries and monuments, built several temples and a modern palace, and invited learned lamas to settle in Lo.
• In 1797, Krathis Ningpo succeeded his father. He abdicated in 1815.

Nineteenth Century

• In 1815, Jampal Traldus succeeded his uncle. He was a religious man who spent long hours meditating with his lamas in remote caves and other holy places.
• In 1837, Kunga Norbu succeeded his father. He served in the Nepalese War against Tibet in 1855.
• In 1857, Jamyand Wangdi succeeded on the death of his father. He reigned under the regency of his mother, Kra-this-bu-khrid. He was never installed or crowned and thus addressed in some local chronicles as gyal-ras (prince) only.
• In 1863, Ngodup Palbar left the monastic life and succeeded his brother. He reigned under the regency of his sister-in-law, Je-chog, from 1863 to 1868. He died in 1893.
• In 1893, Jambyang Pelbar succeeded his uncle. He died in 1935.

Twentieth Century

• In 1935, Angun Tenzing Trandul succeeded his father. He abdicated in 1955 in favor of his eldest son.
• In 1955, Angdu Nyingpo succeeded his father. He had been appointed heir apparent by his father and invested with the title of gyal-chung. He died at the Manthang Palace in 1958.
• In 1958, Angun Tenzing Trandul resumed the throne after the death of his son. He married Rani Kelsang Choeden, of the Zhalu Kushang family of the Che clan, the elder sister of His Excellency Ngawang Khyenrab Thupten Lekshe Gyatso, the 18th Chogye Trichen Rinpoche of the Phenpo Nalanda Monastery in Tibet. He died at Phre-mkhar Palace in 1964.
• In 1964, Sri Sri Jigme Singi Pelbar Bista succeeded his father as the 25th Raja of Lo. He had been appointed heir apparent by his father and invested with the title of gyal-chung in 1959.
  • In 1953, at Shigatse, Tibet, he married Rani Sahiba Sidol Palbar Bista, a lady from a noble family of Shigatse. They had an only son who died at the age of eight years. Subsequently, in September, 2004, he adopted as his own son and heir apparent, his nephew, Ashok Bista, the son of his elder brother, Lama Shabtung Rinpoche. He died in 2005.

Twenty-first Century

• In 2005, Ashok Bista succeeded his uncle as the 26th Gyelpo Raja of Lo.

Geography

• The Rajadom of Lo is an enchanting land of windswept vistas, red walled monasteries, and feudal towns, located on the Central Asian plateau. It lies between Tibet on the north, and the Nepali districts of Dolpa to the west, Myagdi to the south, and Manang to the east. It is an extension of the Tibetan plateau with an average elevation of over 3,000 m. Located to the north of the highest mountains Dhaulagiri and Annapurna and to the north of the main Himalayan range and geographically part of the Tibetan highlands, it is roughly 80 km long (north-south) and 45 km at its widest giving it an area of 3,573 sq. km.
• The rajahdom lies in the Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows, an area of 121,300 square kilometres (46,800 sq mi), extending along the north and south faces of the Himalaya Range from the Kali Gandaki Gorge eastwards through Tibet, Sikkim, Bhutan, and on into India's Arunachal Pradesh state, and northernmost Myanmar.
• The alpine shrub and meadows lie between approximately 4,000 and 5,500 metres (13,000 and 18,000 ft) elevation. Permanent ice and snow lie above 5,500 metres (18,000 ft). The Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests lie below 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) along the southern slopes of the range, from Lo to Bhutan.
• The main feature of the Rajadom of Lo is the Kali Gandaki river, its valley and tributaries. It runs north-east to south-west towards Nepal Terai, bisecting the country. The river was once the major trade route between Tibet and India, especially for salt. Part of the river valley, the Thak Khola, a downfaulted graben, is the deepest gorge in the world. According to the difference between the river elevation and these peaks, this is the world's deepest gorge. The gorge separates the major peaks Dhaulagiri (8,167 m/26,795 ft) to the west and Annapurna (8,091 m/26,545 ft) to the east. The river runs at elevations between 1,300 and 2,600 metres (4,300 and 8,500 ft), 5,500 to 6,800 metres (18,000–22,300 ft) lower than the peaks. The river is older than the Himalayas. As tectonic activity forced the mountains higher, the river cut down through the uplift. The river rises along the Tibet border and the coincident Ganges-Brahmaputra divide and flows south through the Rajadom. The gorge begins at Kagbeni where the Himalayan ranges begin to close in. The river then continues southwards past Jomsom, Marpha and Tukuche to the deepest part of the gorge in the area of Lete. The gorge then broadens past Dana and Tatopani towards Beni.

• The landscape is of indescribable vastness and beauty, a vast high valley, arid and dry. The valley is characterized by eroded canyons, colorful rock formations with a barren, desert-like appearance. The hills tend to be great red fluted cliffs of tiny round stones cemented together by mud. One of the most fascinating features of the Rajadom of Lo is the thousands of cliff dwellings, some of which look completely inaccessible. Rimmed by more than 20,000 snowcapped peaks and bathed in hues of orange and red rocks with sporadic fields of vibrant green, yellow and red of barley, maize, and buckwheat, the Rajadom of Lo is a step back to a simpler time.

• The countryside is similar to the Tibetan plateau with its endless expanses of yellow and grey rolling hills eroded by wind. Strong winds often blow across the valley in the afternoon, generally subsiding at night. Lying in the rain shadow of the Himalaya, Lo has much less rain than Nepal. Annual precipitation is between 250 and 400 mm. During the monsoon the skies are cloudy and there is some rain. In the winter there is usually snow; sometimes as much as 30 or 40 cm accumulating on the ground.

• The mountains are home to 101 species of mammals including snow leopard, musk deer, Tibetan argali, Tibetan wolf, Tibetan fox; 474 species of birds; 39 species of reptiles and 22 species of amphibians; as well as the mythical mehti (abominable snowman). A total of 1226 species of plants can be found in the mountains including 38 orchid species and nine rhododendron species

• Villages are several hours apart and appear in the distance almost as mirages; during the summer season, after the crops are planted, they are green oases in the desert-like landscape.

As mentioned above, land was restored to the Rajahdom of Lo, so that the nation is now contiguous with *here's* Nepali districts of Mustang, Dolpo, and Manang.

Borders

Lo is bordered by on the:

North: Tibet
East: Nepal
South: Nepal
West: Nepal

Culture

National symbols

• National mammal 1: Tibetan sand fox (Vulpes ferrilata)
• National mammal 2: Black musk deer (Moschus fuscus)
• National bird: Slaty-headed parakeet (Psittacula himalayana]
• National reptile: MacClelland's coral snake (Sinomicruris macclellandi)
• National fish:
• National flower:
• National tree:
• National flag:
• National language: Tibetan
• National emblem:
• National anthem:
• National sport:
• National dance:
• National dress:
• National instrument: gyaling

Public Holidays in 2010

Dates in bold print are approximate, based on the lunar calendar. Dates in italics are postponed.

• February 14 - Losar (New Year)
• February 21 - The King's Birthday
• February 28 - Chotrul Duchen (Butter Lamp Festival)
• March 21 - The Kings' Birthday (Father's Day)
• May 27 - Suga Dawa Duchen
• June 21 - Guru Rinpoche's Birthday
• July 15 - Chokhor Duchen
• August 24 - Ulambana (Ancestor Day)
• September 23 - Thri-bab (Blessed Rainy Day)
• October 17 - Dashain
• October 29 - Lhabab Duchen
• November 6 - The King's Coronation