Songtsen Gampo
| 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 | |||||||||
| 33rd King of Tibet | |||||||||
| Reign | 614 – 648 | ||||||||
| Predecessor | Namri Songtsen | ||||||||
| Successor | Gungsong Gungtsen or Mangsong Mangtsen | ||||||||
| Born | Songtsen 601 Maizhokunggar, Tibet (modern day Maizhokunggar County,Tibet Autonomous Region,China) | ||||||||
| Died | 683 (aged 82 years) approximately Zelmogang, Penyül, Tibet (modern day Lhünzhub County,Tibet Autonomous Region,China) | ||||||||
| Burial | 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 | Namri Songtsen | ||||||||
| Mother | Driza Thökar | ||||||||
| Religion | Tibetan Buddhism | ||||||||
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| Tibetan Buddhism |
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Songtsen Gampo (Classical Tibetan: [sroŋpt͡san zɡampo], pronounced [sɔ́ŋt͡sɛ̃ ɡʌ̀mpo]) (Tibetan: སྲོང་བཙན་སྒམ་པོ, Wylie: srong btsan sgam po, ZYPY: Songzän Gambo; (601–683 CE, reign 614-648) was the 33rd Tibetan king of the Yarlung dynasty and the founder of the Tibetan Empire. The first of three Dharma Kings of Tibet, he formally introduced Buddhism to Tibet and built the Jokhang with the influence of his Nepali queen Bhrikuti, of Nepal's Licchavi dynasty. He unified several Tibetan kingdoms, conquered lands adjacent to Tibet, and moved the capital to the Red Fort in Lhasa. His minister Thonmi Sambhota created the Tibetan script and Classical Tibetan, the first literary and spoken language of Tibet.
His mother, the queen, is identified as Driza Thökar (Tibetan: འབྲི་བཟའ་ཐོད་དཀར་, Wylie: 'bri bza' thod dkar, ZYPY: Zhisa Tögar). 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.