Tibetan Genealogy, kinship line and reincarnation succession: A religio-political study of the Bar Brug-pa bKa-brgyud-pa sect between the 15th and 16th centuries

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Per Kjeld Sörensen
• Subject Area: Asian Studies
• Term: from 2016 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 288099754

The proposed project is devoted to a religio-political history of the Bar Drukpa Kagyudpa sect from the 15th to the 16th century. The case study will focus on the increasing rivalry and intense competition between two succession lines within the Bar Drukpa tradition, namely the Gyalwang Drukchen reincarnation lineage and the traditional abbatial line held by the ruling family of rGya at Ralung. These two lines finally split the sect, shifted the ruling house of Ralung to the Southern Land (lho mon/lho kha bzhi) and gave rise to a centralized state of Bhutan in the early 17th century. The main sources of this inquiry are the hitherto little-studied (auto)biographies of five Bar Drukpa masters standing in these two rival lines, the 13th Ralung throne-holder Gyalwang Drukchen II Künga Peljor (1428-1476), the 14th Ralung throne-holder Ngawang Chögyal (1465-1540), Gyalwang Drukchen III Jamyang Chökyi Drakpa (1478-1523), Gyalwang Drukchen IV Pema karpo (1527-1592) and Gyalwang Drukchen V Pagsam Wangpo (1593-1653). Drawing on historical and philological methodologies, the research project undertakes a thorough examination of the selected Tibetan sources to present a fully-fledged study of the Bar Drukpas history over two hundred years. This investigation will address topics at the heart of contemporary Tibetan studies: the key role played by major clans and local ruling houses in shaping the history of Medieval Tibet, the evolution of the reincarnation system (yang srid) that was to characterize Tibetan theocracy from the 15th century onwards, and the functions of the hagiographical tradition in constructing sectarian identity and creating social community.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants