| Sénalek Jingyön སད་ན་ལེགས་མཇིང་ཡོན་ | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tsenpo | |||||
| Emperor of Tibet | |||||
| Reign | 800–815 | ||||
| Predecessor | Mutik Tsenpo | ||||
| Successor | Ralpacan | ||||
| Born | 761 | ||||
| Died | 815 (Aged 54) | ||||
| Burial | Gyelchen Trülri Mausoleum, Valley of the Kings | ||||
| Spouse | Droza Lhagyel Mangmojé | ||||
| Issue | Tsangma Ralpacan Langdarma | ||||
| |||||
| Lönchen | |||||
| Banchenpo | Nyang Tingngezin Sangpo | ||||
| Father | Trisong Detsen | ||||
| Mother | Tsépongza Métokdrön | ||||
| Religion | Tibetan Buddhism | ||||
| Part of a series on |
| Tibetan Buddhism |
|---|
 |
Tridé Songtsen (Tibetan: ཁྲི་ལྡེ་སྲོང་བཙན, Wylie: Khri lde srong btsan), better known by his nickname Sénalek Jingyön (Tibetan: སད་ན་ལེགས་མཇིང་ཡོན་) or Sadnalegs (Tibetan: སད་ན་ལེགས, Wylie: sad na legs) for short, was the youngest son of King Trisong Detsen of Tibet (reigned c. 800–815 CE – though various accounts give the beginning of his reign as 797 or 804 CE).
Trisong Detsen retired to live at Zungkar and handed power to his second son, Muné Tsenpo, in 797. From this point there is much confusion in the various historical sources. It seems there was a struggle for the succession after the death of Trisong Detsen. It is not clear when Trisong Detsen died, or for how long Muné Tsenpo reigned. It is said that Muné Tsenpo was poisoned by his mother, who was jealous of his beautiful wife.[1][2]
Whatever the case, both the Old Book of Tang and the Tibetan sources agree that, since Muné Tsenpo had no heirs, power passed to his younger brother, Sadnalegs, who was on the throne by 804 CE.[3][4]
The other brother, Mutik Tsenpo, was apparently not considered for office as he had previously murdered a senior minister and had been banished to Lhodak Kharchu near the Bhutanese border.[5]
Then the powerful Buddhist monk Nyang Tingngezin proposed to install Tridé Songtsen as the new emperor. He was so young that most of ministers doubted about his ability to be the emperor. In order to test the majesty of the young prince, the ministers let him sit on a seat and put many precious ornaments on his head. His body couldn't carry such a weight, so he tilted his neck and wobbled, which was considered very dignified. Finally he inherited the throne, and thus got a nickname, Sénalek Jingyön, which meant "The crooked neck [child] who had been examined and [recognized as] the proper [emperor]".
As he was quite young when he came to the throne, Sadnalegs was assisted by four experienced ministers, two of whom were also Buddhist monks. They followed the policies of the previous kings. Sadnalegs had four wives from different Tibetan clans.[6]
- ^ Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa Tibet: A Political History (1967), pp. 46–47. Yale University Press, New Haven and London.
- ^ Ancient Tibet: Research Materials from The Yeshe De Project, pp. 284, 290–291. Dharma Publishing, Berkeley, California. ISBN 0-89800-146-3
- ^ Lee, Don Y. The History of Early Relations between China and Tibet: From Chiu t'ang-shu, a documentary survey, p. 144, and n. 3. (1981). Eastern Press, Bloomington, Indiana. ISBN 0-939758-00-8.
- ^ Stein, R. A. (1972) Tibetan Civilization, p. 131. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-0806-1 (cloth); ISBN 0-8047-0901-7 (pbk)
- ^ Shakabpa, Tsepon W. D. Tibet: A Political History (1967), p. 47. Yale University Press, New Haven and London.
- ^ Ancient Tibet: Research Materials from The Yeshe De Project, p. 296. Dharma Publishing, Berkeley, California. ISBN 0-89800-146-3