Lo, History of

• Text in bold print indicate points of departure.

Early History

• The Rajadom of Lo has a long, rich and complex history. Its early history is shrouded in legend, myth and mystery, but there are records of events in the Kali Gandaki Valley as early as the 8th century. According to local legend Padmasambhava, the great founder of Tibetan Buddhism came to the Kali Kandaki Valley on his way to Tibet.
• The first emperor of Tibet, Trisong Detsen, (742-797) was desirous of introducing Buddhism to his empire, but his desire was thwarted by evil mountain deities. Learning of the holiness of Padmasambhava, the emperor invited him to come and do battle with these evil powers. Guru Rinpoche, as he is known in Tibet, on his way through eastern Lo in 775 built the temple of Ghar Gompa (House Temple) which still stands guard today. He arrived in Tibet in 810 and used his tantric powers to subdue the evil deities he encountered along the way. He founded the first monastery in the country, Samye Gompa, initiated the first monks, and introduced the people to the practice of Tantric Buddhism.
• It is also quite likely that the Tibetan poet Milarepa, who lived from 1040 to 1123, visited Lo.
• For a time, Lo was part of Ngari, a name for far western Tibet. Ngari was not a true political entity, but rather a loose collection of feudal domains that also included parts of Dolpo. By the 14th century, much of Ngari, as well as most of what today is western Nepal, was part of the Malla Empire governed from their capital at Sinja, near Jumla.
• Until the late fourteenth century, Lo was part of Ngari, a name for far western Tibet. Ngari was not a true political entity, but rather a loose collection of feudal domains that also included parts of Dolpo. By the 14th century, much of Ngari, as well as most of what today is western Nepal, was part of the Malla Empire governed from their capital at Sinja, near Jumla.

14th Century

• 1380 - Shresrab becomes the dzongpon (military commander and provincial commissioner) of Lo for the Gung-thang kings of Tibet. He holds a semi-independent status, which allows him to secure the government for his lineal descendants. He transfers his capital from Sarang to Manthang, constructing many gompas (temples). He subjugates Guge and Purang in western Tibet and founded the Thub-stan shad-rub dar-gyas-ling Monastery at Sarang, which accommodated over 2,000 resident monks and served as a major center of religious learning and worship. He is venerated as a bodhisattva by his people and dies at the Kra-this ge-phel Palace in Manthang in 1447. The ancestry of the present raja can be traced back 25 generations to Ama Pal.

15th Century

• 1400 - Shesrab's son, Tshang, is recognised as dzongpon of Lo, Nar, Nyishang, Manang, Phug, and Nubri.
• 1425 - His son, the warrior-monk Ama Pal, succeeds as dzongpon.
• 1440-1442 – Ama Pal consolidates his power in the upper Kali Gandaki Valley and extends his influence over a wide region in western Tibet, thus founding the Buddhist Kingdom of Lo. He defeats the Zhang-pa army, declares his independence, and is enthroned as gyalpo, although his kingdom remains closely tied by language and culture to Tibet.
• 1442 - Ama Pal is recognized as an independent ruler by the Gung-thang king of Tibet and assumes the title of chosgyal.
• 1443 – Ama Pal transfers his capital from Sarang to Manthang (the present-day capital), constructing many gompas (temples). He subjugates Guge and Purang in western Tibet and founds the Thub-stan shad-rub dar-gyas-ling Monastery at Sarang, which accommodated over 2,000 resident monks and served as a major center of religious learning and worship.
• 1447 - Tenzing Zampo, succeeds his father as Lo Gyal-po. He was born in 1419, the eldest son of Ama Pal. He was an enlightened ruler who patronized literature and religion, reorganized the administration and developed the economic welfare of the kingdom, during a reign that was largely peaceful and prosperous.
• 1482 - Kra-this-gon succeeds his father as Lo Gyal-po. He was born in 1443, his father’s eldest son. He was appointed as heir apparent with the title of gyal-chung and served as drung-pa chen-po during his father's retreats to monasteries.

16th Century

• 1513 - Ragspa succeeds his father as Lo Gyalpo. The growing power of Jumla sees a contraction of his hegemony to little more than the traditional areas of Dolpo, Manang and Lo, eventually losing his independence in 1544.
• 1544 Lo is divided into separate districts ruled by the three sons of Ragspa, under Jumla sovereignty, until 1560.
• 1560 Gyahor, the eldest of the three sons is appointed khri-thog-pa by the Jumla authorities and succeeds in re-establishing the principality. He was a great patron of literature, religious sculpture and a builder of stupas, but he died having no sons.
• 1565 – Sodnams, the younger son of Krathis is appointed depa by his elder brother.
• 1572 – Sodnams succeeds his brother as Lo Gyalpo.
• 1580 - Dongrub, the second son of Sodnams succeeds his father. He did much to revive the fortunes of the state, constructed palaces and strong forts, and recovered authority over Serib, Gelung and Khangkar.
• 1594 – Samgrub, the eldest son of Dongrub, succeeds on the death of his father.

17th Century

• 1609 – Rabtan, the only surviving son of Samgrub, succeeds on the death of his father.
• 1655 – Rabtan abdicates in favour of his third son. He marries Nyizla, a princess from Ladakh. He died in 1664.
• 1656 – Sa ang, the third son of Rabtan, succeeds his father. He fought several wars against Jumla, regaining his independence through military help from Ladakh several times during his reign. He lost the Thak-Panchgaun region to Parvat in 1687.

18th Century

• 1710 - Sa ang abdicates in favour of his son.
• 1711 - Je ang succeeds on the abdication of his father.
• 1723 - Krathis Namgyal succeeds his father.
• 1728 - Tenzing Anjia succeeds his father, but reigns under the regency of his mother, Norzin, daughter of Nyima, the King of Ladakh.
• 1734 - Tenzing Anjia comes of age and assumes full ruling powers.
  • The Malla Empire declined and split into numerous petty hill states. By the 18th century, Jumla had consolidated and reasserted its power. In an effort to develop their domain as a trading center and to obtain Tibetan goods, the rulers of Jumla turned their attention eastward.
• 1740 - Jumla assumes control over Lo, from which they extract an annual tribute.
  • Since the valley was the easiest corridor through the mighty Himalaya linking the Tibetan Plateau to southern Asia, it became a major trading center. Great caravans of sheep and yaks brought loads from Tibet to Lo where they were transferred to the mules and goats more suited to travel in the warmer lowlands. Southwards the trade was in salt, wool, musk, borax and tsampa; heading north was rice, grain, and textiles.
• 1760 - Wanggyal Dorje succeeds on the death of his father.
• 1762 - When he ascended the throne, Prithvi Narayan Shah, founder of the house of Gorkha, began to consolidate what is present-day Nepal. He conquered Jumla and laid claim to Lo. Although Lo was forced to pay tribute for protection, they regained a large measure of autonomy. Prithvi Narayan Shah went on to conquer much of what is now modern Nepal. At the time of his death in 1775, the kingdom extended from Gorkha eastward to the borders of Sikkim. His descendants directed their efforts westward and by 1789, Jumla had been annexed.
• 1765-1788 - The vassal rulers of Lo make several unsuccessful, attempts to re-establish their independence.
• 1788 - The Nepalese Regent, Prince Bahadur Shah, requests an alliance to complete his plans for unifying Nepal. He needs the help of Wanggyal Dorje to subdue the Raja of Jumla, Lo’s overlord.
• 1788 - Wanggyal Dorje enters into an alliance with the Nepalese to defeat his overlord, the Raja of Jumla.
• 1790 - After the successful completion of the war, Wanggyal Dorje is awarded for his participation some of the lands seized by Jumla, namely, Manang and Dolpo. He is thereafter recognized as a sovereign ruler with the hereditary title of Gyelpo Raja of Lo. He receives a crown acknowledging his new status from the Maharajadhiraja of Nepal and was granted a golden plumed crown by the Qianlong Emperor of China. This now forms part of the tog-sum or regalia of the rajadom. He was a religious and cultural reformer who renovated monasteries and monuments, built several temples and a modern palace, and invited learned lamas to settle in Lo.
• 1797 - Krathis Ningpo succeeds his father.

19th Century

• 1815 - Jampal Graldus succeeds when his uncle abdicates. He was a religious man who spent long hours meditating with his lamas in remote caves and other holy places.
• 1837 - Kunga Norbu succeeds his father. He served in the Nepalese War against Tibet in 1855.
• 1857 - Jamyan Angdu succeeds his father, reigning under the regency of his mother, Krathis bukhrid. He was never installed or crowned and thus was gyalras (prince) only.
• 1863 - Ngodup Palbar left the monastic life and succeeded his brother. He reigned under the regency of his sister-in-law, Je-chog, from 1863 to 1868.
• 1893 - Jambyang Pelbar succeeds upon the death of his uncle.

20th Century

• 1926 - At the request of Maharaja Tribhuvan Bir, Gyalpo Jambang closes the mountain passes to Tibet. This puts severe restrictions on the Lotian economy and trade with Nepal increases.
• 1935 - Angun Tenzing Trangul succeeds his father.
• 1949 - The mountain passes are opened by the Gyalpo at the defeat of the Chinese Empire by Australasia.
• 1955 – Angun Tenzing Trandul abdicates in favor of his eldest son.
• 1955 - Angdu Nyingpo succeeds his father. He had been appointed heir apparent by his father and invested with the title of gyal-chung. He died at the Manthang Palace in 1958.
• 1958 - Angun Tenzing Trandul resumes the throne upon the death of his son. He marries Rani Kelsang Choeden, of the Zhalu Kushang family of the Che clan, the elder sister of His Excellency Ngawang Khyenrab Thupten Lekshe Gyatso, the 18th Chogye Trichen Rinpoche of the Phenpo Nalanda Monastery in Tibet. He dies at Phre-mkhar Palace in 1964.
• 1963 - Jigme Pelbar marries, at Shigatse, Tibet, Rani Sahiba Sidol Palbar Bista, a lady from a noble family of Shigatse.
• 1964 - Jigme Pelbar succeeds his father as the 25th Raja of Lo. He had been appointed heir apparent by his father and invested with the title of gyal-chung in 1959.
• 1966 - Jigme Tenzing is born and appointed the gyalchung.
• 1974 – The gyalchung dies at the age of eight years.
• 1975 - Lo joins Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim to form the Himalayan Confederacy. The four nations agrees to be in the same time zone: UTC +6:00.
• 1977 - Lo joins Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim to form the Himalayan Postal Union.
• 1982 - Lo joins Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim to create the Himalayan Railway System.
• 1994 - The final section of the the Himalayan Railway System tracks was laid.

21st Century

• 2004 - In September, Jigme Pelbar adopts as his own son his nephew, Ashok Bista, the son of his older brother, Lama Shabtung Rinpoche, and appoints him gyalchung.
• 2005 - Ashok Bista succeeds his uncle as the 26th Gyelpo Raja of Lo.