Gombo Namgye

Gombo Namgye (1799 – 1865) (Tibetan: མགོན་པོ་རྣམ་རྒྱལ, Wylie: mgon po rnam rgyal, THL: Gönpo Namgyal, sometimes, Gönpo Namgyel ; simplified Chinese: 波日·工布朗结; traditional Chinese: 波日·工布朗結; pinyin: bōrì gōngbù lǎngjiē), also known as Bulungwa (literally 'Blind Man'), was a Tibetan rebel leader from the Nyarong who unified the region, then all of Kham in a series of campaigns from the 1840s to the 1860s, warring against the Qing Dynasty and the Ganden Phodrang. While he was initially successful in evading his powerful enemies, he was eventually captured and killed, putting an end to his state of Nyarong.

Background[]

Gombo Namgye was born in Nyarong; his parents descended from a lineage of local chieftains who ruled the middle of that valley. His father had refused to submit to Qing rule and had been killed for it.^[1] The region of Nyarong was poor due to its isolation and inaccessibility, and its inhabitants made their living by raiding caravans and bandit activity.^[2] Soon Namgye inherited the chieftainship from his parents, marking his entry into the historical record.

Rise to power[]

By the end of the 1840s, Namgye had united the three chiefdoms of the Nyarong Valley, marking a break from its historical disunity. This was met with a Qing campaign into Nyarong, however, it was driven back. However, it soon became apparent that his ambitions were greater than this, as he soon attacked the Hor States, Derge, and Litang, as well as, in the words of Tibetan historian Yudru Tsomu, "harassing and plundering the domains of the Chakla king". To avoid Namgye's campaigns, due to his reputation for being merciless, states such as Golog, Nangchen, Serta, and Jyekundo decided to submit to his rule. By the early 1860s, he was confident enough to impede trade linking Kham and Tibet.^[3] However, what alarmed both the Ganden Phodrang and Qing China the most was his threat to enter Lhasa's Jokhang accompanied by his forces. There, he would steal two of the holiest statues of Tibetan Buddhism and install them at Nyarong, forcing pilgrims to travel there.^[4] By 1860, he controlled almost all of Kham.

Defeat and capture[]

These threats, along with the disruption of trade and the defeated Khampa rulers petitioning to get their land back, meant the Ganden Phodrang and Qing governments had to take action. As Aten, a Tibetan exile from Nyarong, recalled:

Then, in the early nineteenth century, there rose a man in Nyarong who, through sheer ability and ruthlessness, united the whole of Eastern Tibet, drove the Chinese back to the border of the ancient emperors, and made the Manchu Emperor of China quiver in his satin shoes ... He failed only to conquer the province of Amdo, the extreme northern extent of Tibet. Otherwise he had taken back and united every inch of land within the frontiers established by the ancient Tibetan emperors ... The Manchu Emperor of China became enraged. This barbarian upstart, this petty chief of some insignificant Tibetan tribes, had in a few strokes deprived the Celestial Empire of the fruits of centuries of painful conquests and brainracking intrigues.^[5]

The government in Lhasa was particularly concerned about his conquest of Kham, which they believed could serve as a base for the conquest of all of Tibet. In 1863 a campaign to subdue Namgye's forces began; forces were mobilised in the middle of Tibet in concert with Qing forces from Sichuan.^[6] By 1865, continued defeat led to him being pursued into his homeland. There he was trapped in a castle, which was set alight, killing him.^[7]

Legacy and views[]

After the death of Namgye, the Ganden Phodrang government took control of Nyarong, as well as influencing Derge and the Hor States. This resulted in renewed conflict between Ganden Phodrang and Qing leaders, eventually culminating in Zhao Erfeng's expedition into Tibet. As Namgye's opposition to the Gandren Phodrang forms a parallel to the Chinese Communist Party's opposition towards the 14th Dalai Lama, the Communist government has praised Namgye as a peasant leader and hero; hotels have been erected bearing his name. The party's praise of him is in spite of his noble origins; this is justified with the slogan "where there is oppression, there is resistance".^[8] Some historians contend that if Namgye's state had survived, it would have been more effective than the Ganden Phodrang at dispelling Chinese invasion.^[9]

References[]