Songtsen Gampo
| Songtsen Gampo སྲོང་བཙན་སྒམ་པོ | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tsenpo | |||||
Statue of King Songtsen Gampo on horseback in front of the Songtsen Library in Dehradun, India | |||||
| King of Tibet | |||||
| Reign | 618/629 – 650 | ||||
| Predecessor | Namri Songtsen | ||||
| Successor | Mangsong Mangtsen | ||||
| Co-monarch | Gungsong Gungtsen (635–640) | ||||
| Lönchen | |||||
| Born | Songtsen ? Maizhokunggar, Tibet (modern day Maizhokunggar County, Tibet Autonomous Region, China) | ||||
| Died | 650 Zelmogang, Penyül, Tibet (modern day Lhünzhub County, Tibet Autonomous Region, China) | ||||
| Burial | Muri Mukpo Mausoleum, Valley of the Kings | ||||
| Consorts | Belmoza Tritsün Gyamoza Münchang Minyakza Gyelmotsün Litikmen Mongza Tricham | ||||
| Issue | Gungsong Gungtsen | ||||
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| Tibetan | |||||
| Wylie transliteration | Srong-btsan sGam-po | ||||
| THL | Songtsen Gampo | ||||
| Dynasty | Yarlung | ||||
| Father | Namri Songtsen | ||||
| Mother | Driza Thökar | ||||
| Religion | Tibetan Buddhism | ||||
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Songtsen Gampo (Tibetan: སྲོང་བཙན་སྒམ་པོ, Wylie: srong btsan sgam po) was the 33rd King (Tsenpo) of Tibet from 618 or 629 until his death in 650, and the founder of the Tibetan Empire. The first of the "Three Dharma Kings of Tibet", he formally introduced Buddhism to Tibet and built the Jokhang with the influence of his queen Bhrikuti, from the Licchavi kingdom of Nepal. He unified the Tibetan Plateau, conquered lands adjacent to Tibet, and moved the capital to the Potala Palace in Lhasa. His minister Thonmi Sambhota created the Tibetan script and Classical Tibetan, the first literary and spoken language of Tibet.
His queen mother is identified as Driza Thökar (Tibetan: འབྲི་བཟའ་ཐོད་དཀར་, Wylie: 'bri bza' thod dkar). The exact date of his birth and his enthronement are not certain, and in Tibetan history it is generally accepted that he was born in an Ox year of the Tibetan calendar. According to Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa, he ascended the throne at age thirteen, in 614, and reigned at least until 648.
As Tibetan kings usually ascended to the throne around age 13, several earlier dates are also suggested for the birth of Songtsen Gampo include 569, 593 or 605.