Sengge Namgyal
Encyclopedia
Namgyal dynasty
The Namgyal dynasty of Ladakh was founded by Bhagan, a Basgo king, who reunited Ladakh by overthrowing the king of Leh. He took the surname Namgyal and founded a new dynasty which still survives today. King Tashi Namgyal successfully managed to repel most Central Asian raiders, and built a royal...
King of Ladakh
Ladakh
Ladakh is a region of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of the Republic of India. It lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
from 1616 to his death in 1642. A Buddhist, he was noted for his immense work in building monasteries, palaces and shrines in Ladakh and is known as the "Lion King".
Biography
In 1610, during the reign of his father, Jamyang Namgyal, Sengge and his father built the Basgo MonasteryBasgo Monastery
Basgo Monastery, also known as Basgo or Bazgo Gompa, is a Buddhist monastery located in Basgo or Bazgo in Leh District, Ladakh, northern India approximately 40 km from Leh....
and erected a 24 foot statue of Maitreya
Maitreya
Maitreya , Metteyya , or Jampa , is foretold as a future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology. In some Buddhist literature, such as the Amitabha Sutra and the Lotus Sutra, he or she is referred to as Ajita Bodhisattva.Maitreya is a bodhisattva who in the Buddhist tradition is to appear on...
within it and a 32 foot Buddha statue which is reportedly the second largest Buddhist statue in Ladakh after the statue in Shey Palace
Shey Palace
The Shey Monastery or Gompa and the Shey Palace complex are structures located on a hillock in Shey, to the south of Leh in Ladakh, northern India on the Leh-Manali road. Shey was the summer capital of Ladakh in the past....
.
Not long after succeeding his father to become the king of Ladakh in 1616, Namgyal conquered many parts of the Tibetan Plateau to the west. Trade flourished under Namgyal along the Silk Road
Silk Road
The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...
and he generated much wealth through trade with Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
to the west, and with 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...
to the east. However, he occasionally fell into dispute with the Muslim rulers of Kashmir.
Leh Palace
Leh Palace overlooks the Ladakhi Himalayan town of Leh, modelled on the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. The palace was built by King Sengge Namgyal in the 17th century, but was later abandoned when Dogra forces took control of Ladakh in the mid-19th century. The royal family moved to Stok Palace...
, which he built after moving from Shey Palace
Shey Palace
The Shey Monastery or Gompa and the Shey Palace complex are structures located on a hillock in Shey, to the south of Leh in Ladakh, northern India on the Leh-Manali road. Shey was the summer capital of Ladakh in the past....
/Monastery, and he built the Hemis
Hemis
Hemis is a town in India 40 km southeast of Leh in Ladakh, well known for the Hemis monastery that was established in 1672 AD by king Senge Nampar Gyalva. Hemis is best known to tourists for the colorful festival held in July. Hemis also could be associated with the Hemis National Park, an...
monastery in 1630. With the assistance of the eminent Tibetan priest, Stag-tsang-ras-pa, he built the Hanle Monastery
Hanle (village)
Hanle is a village in Ladakh, India. It is the site of the 17th century Hanle Monastery of the "Red Hat" Tibetan Drukpa Kagyu branch of Tibetan Buddhism and is located in the Hanle Valley on an old branch of the ancient Ladakh - Tibet trade route...
and was the first to be associated with the Drugpa school that Stag-tsang-ras-pa belonged to and which, under the patronage of the Namgyal family, became very important in Ladakh, seriously rivaling the reformed ("Yellow Hat") Gelug
Gelug
The Gelug or Gelug-pa , also known as the Yellow Hat sect, is a school of Buddhism founded by Je Tsongkhapa , a philosopher and Tibetan religious leader...
sect.
Sengge was also responsible for renovating the Golden Temple of Tabo Monastery
Tabo Monastery
Tabo Monastery was founded in 996 CE in the Spiti Valley, Himachel Pradesh, India by the great Tibetan Buddhist lotswa , Rinchen Zangpo, the king of western Himalayan Kingdom of Guge...
in the Spiti Valley
Spiti Valley
The Spiti Valley is a desert mountain valley located high in the Himalaya mountains in the north-eastern part of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The name "Spiti" means "The Middle Land", i.e. the land between Tibet and India....
, Himachel Pradesh which was said to have been once covered with gold. The walls and ceilings are covered with murals today.
Death and legacy
Sengge remained devoted to the Ralung lineage of the Drukpa Kagyu school of Tibetan BuddhismTibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
after meeting the Tibetan priest for the remainder of his life. He died in 1642 at Hanle
Hanle (village)
Hanle is a village in Ladakh, India. It is the site of the 17th century Hanle Monastery of the "Red Hat" Tibetan Drukpa Kagyu branch of Tibetan Buddhism and is located in the Hanle Valley on an old branch of the ancient Ladakh - Tibet trade route...
on his return from an expedition against the Mongols who had occupied the Tibetan province of 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...
and were threatening Ladakh. His son, Jamyang Namgyal was decisively defeated by a Mughal army. Chemrey Monastery
Chemrey Monastery
Chemrey Monastery or Chemrey Gompa is a 1664 Buddhist monastery, approximately east of Leh, Ladakh, northern India. It belongs to the Drugpa monastic order and was founded by the Lama Tagsang Raschen and dedicated to King Sengge Namgyal....
, built in the 17th century was dedicated to Sengge Namgyal and the Drugpa sect.