London: The Office of Tibet, London organised a virtual talk by Dr. Martin Mills on the topic: ‘Songtsen Gampo, King of Kings’ to Tibetan youth on Saturday, 26 September 2020.
The event is a part of the virtual celebration of the Year 2020 as the Gratitude Year for His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, declared by Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala.
More than 20 Tibetan youth in England participated in this live presentation by Dr. Martin Mills. The webinar aimed at creating awareness about Songtsen Gampo, the great Tibetan empire to the general public was broadcast live on the Facebook page of the OOT London and website of Tibet House Trust, London.
Representative Mr. Sonam Tsering Frasi introduced Dr. Martin Mills to the participants and spoke about the importance of hosting this talk to our younger generations.
Dr. Martin Mills, in his presentation, first introduced Songtsen Gampo and said he is not just a king but was an emperor of the Tibetan Empire called Pugyal Empire, 1300 years ago. It was the most powerful military force and dominated Central Asia.
He then highlighted the map of Tibet to describe the whole of the Tibetan plateau-Greater Tibet and how Songtsen Gampo built the Tibetan Empire. He also mentioned that Songtsen Gampo didn’t build the Tibetan Empire all by himself. In fact the Tibetan Empire began from his father Namri Songtsen and his grandfather. Songtsen Gampo inherited and expanded it and made it stable as a system.
Dr. Martin presented pictures and slides of Yarlung valley and Central Tibet to describe first Tibetan empire Yarlung dynasty and how Songtsen Gampo the 33rd King of this Yarlung dynasty inherited the empire from his father and grandfather and how he expands the Tibetan Empire through military, diplomacy and marriages. Songtsen Gampo had five wives. His marriage to Chinese, Nepalese and Shangshung Princess each build temples and two famously known are Jokhang temple and Ramoche Temple in Lhasa. Those temples became the foundation of Tibet as a Buddhist land.
Finally, Dr. Martin remarked two sides to King Songtsen Gampo’s life, first as inheriting very violent and powerful military empire from his father and grandfather and then a period of bringing in subsidiary wives who helped him built temples in Lhasa. The empire at that time was very diverse. The Emperor job was to oversee all elements of the population of the empire greater Tibet.
Dr. Martin wonderfully presented the talk using pictures and slides. We hope many people are benefited and learned new things from his talk.
The virtual event was moderated by Tenzin Khunga la, weekend Tibetan history teacher at London School of Tibetan Language and Culture.
Dr. Martin Mills is a senior lecturer on anthropology and Tibetan history and culture at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. He has been travelling and researching Tibet, Ladakh, Zanskar and Dharamsala since 1986. He works for the Scottish Parliament as secretary of the cross-party group on Tibet and is Director of Scottish centre for Himalayan research at Aberdeen University. He is the author of book Identity, ritual and state of Buddhism.
-Filed by Office of Tibet, London