Ngagi Wangpo also known as Chen-nga Tsenyepa (Spyan snga ts'e gnyis pa) (1439–1491), was a King of Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

 who reigned in 1481-1491. He belonged to the Phagmodrupa dynasty

Phagmodrupa dynasty

The Phagmodrupa dynasty or Pagmodru of Tibet was established by Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen at the end of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. Tai Situ came from the monastic fief Phagmodru , which was originally founded as a hermitage in 1158 by the famous Kagyu scholar Phagmo Drupa Dorje Gyalpo...

, which was the leading regime of Tibet from 1354 to 1435 and maintained a certain political role until the early 17th century.

Appointment

Ngagi Wangpo was the only son of King Drakpa Jungne

Drakpa Jungne

Drakpa Jungne was a king of Tibet who ruled in 1432–1445. He belonged to the Phagmodrupa dynasty which was the leading regime in Tibet from 1354 to 1435, and exerted some influence until the early 17th century...

 and a lady of the Kharpa family. Still a minor at his father's death in 1445, he was made abbot of Thel in 1454. Four years later his uncle, King Kunga Lekpa

Kunga Lekpa

Kunga Lekpa was a King of Tibet who ruled in 1448-1481. He belonged to the Phagmodrupa dynasty, which was the leading political regime in Tibet from 1354 to 1435, and retained a certain political status until the early 17th century...

, himself acquired the abbot-ship of Thel, and Ngagi Wangpo had to stay in a succession of other places. The late 15th century was filled with internal disputes in Central Tibet, and the direct authority of the Phagmodru ruler was at best restricted to Ü

Ü (region)

Ü is a geographic division and a historical region in Tibet. Together with Tsang , it forms Central Tibet Ü-Tsang , which is one of the three Tibetan regions or cholka . The other two cholka are Kham and Amdo...

 (East Central Tibet). In Tsang

Ü-Tsang

Ü-Tsang , or Tsang-Ü, is one of the three traditional provinces of Tibet, the other two being Amdo and Kham. Geographically Ü-Tsang covered the central and western portions of the Tibetan cultural area, including the Tsang-po watershed, the western districts surrounding and extending past Mount...

 (West Central Tibet) the Rinpungpa

Rinpungpa

Rinpungpa was a Tibetan regime that dominated much of Western Tibet and some of Central Tibet between 1440 and 1565...

 feudatories dominated. In 1481 Kunga Lekpa was deprived of the kingship by a council of ministers, after a series of invasions by Donyo Dorje

Donyo Dorje

Donyo Dorje was the third and most powerful prince of the Rinpungpa Dynasty that held power in much of Central Tibet from 1435 to 1565.-Succession and religious patronate:...

 of Rinpungpa. Instead his nephew Ngagi Wangpo was invited to take the position as king (gongma, "the high one"). At his enthronement he married Lady Dsongkhama. In 1488 she bore him a son called Ngawang Tashi Drakpa

Ngawang Tashi Drakpa

Ngawang Tashi Drakpa was a king of Tibet who ruled intermittently in 1499-1564. He belonged to the Phagmodrupa dynasty which was the dominating regime in Tibet from 1354 to 1435 and maintained a degree of authority until the early 17th century...

.

Continuing internal troubles

During his decade-long reign Ngagi Wangpo was honoured by the elites of Central Tibet as their overlord (chipon). Nevertheless his time was marked by unsafe conditions and rivalry between various parts of the country. In 1485 the Rinpungpa lord Donyo Dorje led an attack on Gyangtse, which was under a Phagmodrupa minister. Three years later the Rinpungpa finally got the upper hand and appropriated Gyangtse. When Ngagi Wangpo died in 1491 the dominance of the Rinpungpa seemed complete. Donyo Dorje's uncle Tsokye Dorje

Tsokye Dorje

Tsokye Dorje was a regent of Tibet who ruled in 1491-1499. He belonged to the Rinpungpa family and headed the central government in Nêdong during the minority of the heir of the Phagmodrupa dynasty.-Rinpungpa ascendency:...

 (d. 1510) took over as regent since the heir to the throne was merely a small boy. The Ming Dynasty

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

 of China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

by this time had only the faintest knowledge of internal Tibetan politics, since they noted the accession and subsequent death of Ngagi Wangpo in 1495; they knew the king by the name Ban Aji Jiangdong Daba.