Tibetan Empire

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Tibetan Empire བོད་ཆེན་པོ bod chen po
618–842/848
Standard of the Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo (7th century)
Map of the Tibetan Empire's influence at its greatest extent, in the late 8th to mid-9th century[1]
Capital	Lhasa
Common languages	Tibetic languages
Religion	Tibetan Buddhism, Bon
Government	Monarchy
Tsenpo (Chief)
• 618–650	Songtsen Gampo (first)
• 753–797	Trisong Detsen
• 815–838	Ralpachen
• 841–842[2]	U Dum Tsen (last)
Lönchen (Chief Minister)
• 652–667	Gar Tongtsen Yülsung
• 685–699	Gar Trinring Tsendro
• 782?–783	Nganlam Takdra Lukhong
• 783–796	Nanam Shang Gyaltsen Lhanang
Banchenpo (Chief Monk)
• 798–?	Nyang Tingngezin Sangpo (first)
• ?–838	Dranga Palkye Yongten (last)
Historical era	Late Antiquity
• Established	618
• Disestablished	842/848
Area
800 est.[3][4]	4,600,000 km2 (1,800,000 sq mi)
Population
• 7th–8th century[5]	10 million
Preceded by Succeeded by Sumpa Zhangzhung Tuyuhun Tang dynasty Era of Fragmentation

Part of a series on the
History of Tibet
Neolithic Tibet Zhangzhung Yarlung dynasty Tibetan Empire Era of Fragmentation Yuan rule Phagmodrupa dynasty Rinpungpa dynasty Tsangpa dynasty Khoshut Khanate Ganden Phodrang Ming–Tibet relations Qing rule 13th and 14th Dalai Lama PRC rule
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The Tibetan Empire (Tibetan: བོད་ཆེན་པོ, Wylie: bod chen po, lit. 'Great Tibet'; Chinese: 吐蕃; pinyin: Tǔbō / Tǔfān) was an empire centered on the Tibetan Plateau, formed as a result of imperial expansion under the Yarlung dynasty heralded by its 33rd king, Songtsen Gampo, in the 7th century. The empire further expanded under the 38th king, Trisong Detsen, and expanded to its greatest extent under the 41st king, Rapalchen, whose 821–823 treaty was concluded between the Tibetan Empire and the Tang dynasty. This treaty, inscribed on a pillar at Jokhang, delineated Tibet as being in possession of an area larger than the Tibetan Plateau, stretching east to Chang'an, west beyond modern Afghanistan, south into modern India and the Bay of Bengal.^[6]

The Yarlung dynasty was founded in 127 BC in the Yarlung Valley along the Yarlung River, south of Lhasa. The Yarlung capital was moved in the 7th century from the palace Yumbulingka to Lhasa by the 33rd king Songsten Gampo, and into the Red Fort during the imperial period which continued to the 9th century. The beginning of the imperial period is marked in the reign of the 33rd king of the Yarlung dynasty, Songtsen Gampo. The power of Tibet's military empire gradually increased over a diverse terrain. During the reign of Trisong Detsen, the empire became more powerful and increased in size. At this time, a 783 treaty between the Tibetan Empire and the Tang dynasty defined the borders, as commemorated by the Shol Potala Pillar in Lhasa.^[7] Borders were again confirmed during the later reign of the 41st king Ralpachen through his 821–823 treaty between the Tibetan Empire and Tang dynasty, which was also commemorated by three inscribed stelae.^[8][7] In the opening years of the 9th century, the Tibetan Empire controlled territories extending from the Tarim Basin to the Himalayas and Bengal, and from the Pamirs into what are now the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan. The murder of King Rapalchen in 838 by his brother Langdarma, and Langdarma's subsequent enthronement^[7] followed by his assassination in 842 marks the simultaneous beginning of the dissolution of the empire period.

Before the empire period, sacred Buddhist relics were discovered by the Yarlung dynasty's 28th king, Iha-tho-tho-ri (Thori Nyatsen), and then safeguarded.^[9] Later, Tibet marked the advent of its empire period under King Songsten Gampo, while Buddhism initially spread into Tibet after the king's conversion to Buddhism, and during his pursuits in translating Buddhist texts while also developing the Tibetan language.^[9] Under King Trisong Detsen, the empire again expanded as the founding of Tibetan Buddhism and the revealing of the Vajrayana by Guru Padmasambhava was occurring.^[9]

The empire period then corresponded to the reigns of Tibet's three 'Religious Kings',^[7] which includes King Rapalchen's reign. After Rapalchen's murder, King Lang darma nearly destroyed Tibetan Buddhism^[7] through his widespread targeting of Nyingma monasteries and monastic practitioners. His undertakings correspond to the subsequent dissolution of the unified empire period, after which semi-autonomous polities of chieftains, minor kings and queens, and those surviving Tibetan Buddhist polities evolved once again into autonomous independent polities, similar to those polities also documented in the Tibetan Empire's nearer frontier region of Do Kham (Amdo and Kham).^[10][11]

Other unreferenced ideas about the dissolution of the empire period include: The varied terrain of the empire and the difficulty of transportation, coupled with the new ideas that came into the empire as a result of its expansion, helped to create stresses and power blocs that were often in competition with the ruler at the center of the empire.^{[according to whom?][citation needed]} Thus, for example, adherents of the Bön religion and the supporters of the ancient noble families gradually came to find themselves in competition with the "recently" introduced Tibetan Buddhism.^{[citation needed]}