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Lha Thothori gNyan bTsan (Tibetan: ལྷ་ཐོ་ཐོ་རི་གཉན་བཙན་, Wylie: lha tho tho ri gnyan btsan, Chinese: 佗土度) was the 28th King of Tibet according to the Tibetan legendary tradition. Lha "divine, pertaining to the gods of the sky" is an honorary title and not a part of his proper name.[1]
He belonged to the Yarlung dynasty connected to the Yarlung district in Southern Tibet. Modern scholars believe that he was a historical ruler, as he is also mentioned in a Chinese source.[2] They date his rule to the fifth century, because the 33rd king Songtsän Gampo died in 650; other calculations putting his birth at 173 or 254 are nowadays rejected.[3] He did not rule over the whole of Tibet; his power was probably limited to the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon area.
According to an indigenous legend, Buddhist scriptures (among them the Kāraṇḍavyūhasūtra) first arrived in Tibet in his time.[4] The tale claims that this happened in a miraculous way (the volumes fell from the sky on the roof of the royal palace a motif which also happened to one of the royal personages of the name Indrabhuti), but there may be an historical background (arrival of Buddhist missionaries).[5]
- ^ Kirkland, Russell: "The Spirit of the Mountain", in: The History of Tibet, ed. Alex McKay, Vol. 1, London 2003, p. 183.
- ^ Kirkland, Russell: "The Spirit of the Mountain", in: The History of Tibet, ed. Alex McKay, Vol. 1, London 2003, p. 190 n. 12.
- ^ Richardson, Hugh: "The Origin of the Tibetan Kingdom", in: The History of Tibet, ed. Alex McKay, Vol. 1, London 2003, p. 159.
- ^ Khenpo Sodargye. "The Characteristics and Essential Ideology of Tibetan Buddhism". The Facts We Have to Face. BICW USA. p. 37.
- ^ Studholme, Alexander: The Origins of Om Manipadme Hum, Albany, New York 2002, p. 14.