The Treasury of Lives

Dorje Sengge, popularly known as Aja (a 'ja') was born in 1877.^[1] His father was the forty-fifth king of Derge, Pelden Chime Takpai Dorje (dpal ldan 'chi med rtag pa'i rdo rje, 1851–1898). His mother's identity is not certain. This is because sources are unclear as to whether his father had one or two wives. If Chime Takpai Dorje did indeed have to wives, the name of the first is not known, but she was likely Dorje Sengge's mother. If there was only one wife, then his mother was Tseten Dolkar (tshe brtan sgrol dkar), the daughter of the Tibetan aristocrat and cabinet minister Dokhar Tsewang Norbu (mdo mkhar tshe dbang nor bu, d. 1902), who appears to have participated in the Tibetan defeat of the chieftain of Nyarong, Gonpo Namgyel (mgon po rnam rgyal, 1799–1865).^[2]

Dorje Sengge and his younger brother, Ngawang Jampel Rinchen (ngag dbang 'jam dpal rin chen, d, 1918), also known as Baba (ba ba), were educated by court chaplains at the palace.^[3]

During his childhood Derge fell into factionalism, which took multiple forms. Although it initially appeared to have been the local chieftains allied against the king, by the end of the century the king and queen occupied opposing positions, with Dorje Sengge said to have been allied with his father, and Jampel Rinchen with his mother, each with support of various chieftains. Jampel Rinchen and his mother, Tseten Dolkar, appear to have had the support of the Tibetan high commissioner in Nyarong, Dudul Dorje (bdud 'dul rdo rje), and may have succeeded in driving Chime Takpai Dorje and Dorje Sengge out of Derge in 1892.^[4]

In 1895, when Dorje Sengge and his brother would have been nearly of ruling age, a conflict erupted between the Chakla kingdom and Nyarong over nomadic territory on their shared border. The Tibetan army in Nyarong occupied Dartsedo, the Chakla capital, which was Chinese territory. Although the governor-general of Sichuan, Lu Chuanling (鹿傳霖 1836–1910), protested to Lhasa, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Tubten Gyatso (ta la'i bla ma 13 thub bstan rgya mtsho, 1876–1933), refused to recall his troops.^[5]

The conflict offered Lu an opportunity to expand Qing control in Kham, which at the time meant instituting a policy of "transforming chieftainships into district administration," or gaitu guiliu 改土歸流, under which border polities were annexed by the Qing state and hereditary local rulers were replaced by appointed imperial officials. Lu sent troops in 1895 and quickly drove out the Tibetan army from Chakla and Nyarong. The army, under the command of Zhang Ji (張繼), then continued on to Derge, with orders to locate the recently deposed king and his eldest son. On reaching the city, however, they abducted the entire royal family. The chieftains initially offered resistance to the Qing army but eventually capitulated, and Zhang Ji arrested the king, queen, and the two princes (no mention is made in sources of a second wife).^[6]  

The family was taken to Chengdu and imprisoned. Lu petitioned the court to formally annex Derge and Nyarong, but the Dalai Lama sent envoys to Beijing to protest the invasion. The Guangxu emperor (1871–1908), although eager to proceed with Lu's program in Kham, was wary of alienating the Dalai Lama in a time when both Russia and Britain were active on Tibet's other frontiers. He accepted the Dalai Lama's protest, and Qing forces were removed from both Derge and Nyarong.^[7]

Nyarong returned to Tibetan control, and the Derge royal family was released from their confinement in Chengdu. However, both Chime Takpai Dorje and Tseten Dolkhar died in China, either in custody or soon after their release, probably in 1897 or 1898.^[8]

Both brothers returned from Chengdu to Derge in 1897, and Dorje Sengge was installed as king, with the backing of the Tibetan army, while Jampel Rinchen was instructed to ordain and assume the abbacy of the royal monastery, Lhundrubteng (lhun grub steng).

The death of their parents did nothing to quell the political conflicts that had undermined their father's reign, with the two brothers each fronting different factions of chieftains. Monks at Lhundrubteng are also said to have split their loyalty between the two brothers.^[9] The Tibetan historian Ge Le (dge legs) described years of intense fighting in which partisans and villagers alike were killed, adding that at the end of each battle the victor would claim the throne and the vanquished would organize another violent attack.^[10]

At some point, before 1903, Dorje Sengge married two sisters from the Gyeldrong (rgyal grong) family in Tibet, Karma Chokyi (karma chos skyid) and Namgyel Peldzom (rnam rgyal dpal 'dzom).^[11] Lodro Puntsok (blo gros phun tshogs) adds, however, that first, in 1907, he married a woman named Sonam Tsomo (bsod nams mtsho mo), the daughter of a Tibetan government official. But because she was a commoner, he later married Namgyel Peldzom.^[12] This information, or at least the date, appears to be incorrect.

According to Lodro Puntsok, Dorje Sengge fathered six children, two of whom died in infancy. The eldest, Kelzang Chodron (skal bzang chos sgron) was married into the royal family of Ling; Tsering Yudron (tshe ring g.yu sgron) married into the rulers of Nangchen. Their son Tsewang Dudul (tshe dbang bdud 'dul, 1916–1942) inherited the throne, and the youngest daughter, Dechen Peldron (bde chen dpal sgron) married into a Chamdo family.^[13]

The details on the conflict between Dorje Sengge and his brother Jampel Rinchen are murky, with sources offering only partial and sometimes contradictory information. Both brothers appear to have shifted their appeals for support between Lhasa and Beijing. In the early years of the twentieth century Dorje Sengge went to Lhasa to be proclaimed king of Derge by the Dalai Lama. In his absence Jampel Rinchen's backers mounted a rebellion that required the intervention of the Tibetan forces stationed in Nyarong.^[14] Probably in the wake of this restoration of power, on February 9, 1903, the twelfth day of the twelfth month of the water-tiger year, Dorje Sengge, his brother, his wives, and several ministers all swore an oath of loyalty to the Tibetan Government.

The document, which was translated into English and published in Beijing as part of a tranche of materials relating to the Simla Convention of 1913-1914, begins with the statement that the Thirteenth Dalai Lama awarded Dorje Sengge the title of “Ruler of Derge,” after which the king graciously acknowledges the Tibetan role in liberating Derge from the chieftain of Nyarong, that is, Gonpo Namgyel, and the gift of a constitution from the cabinet minister Pulung Tsewang Dorje (zhabs pad phu lung tshe dbang rdo rje) and the first Tibetan administrator in Nyarong, Punrabpa Tsering Pelden (phun rab pa tshe ring dpal ldan).

Dorje Sengge then continues with the statement,

Again, in the fire-monkey year [1896], when we two brothers were young and inexperienced, our parents having died in China owing to the doings of the Chinese, the parental government most graciously assisted us by deputing the [Tibetan cabinet minister] Horkang Dzasak [Sonam Tobgye] (hor khang dza sag bsod nams stobs rgyas) to advise us in the management of state affairs and to superintend our marriage.

The document then lists eight articles, in the first five of which the king affirms that he fulfill the duties assigned to him by the Dalai Lama's government; to be virtuous and avoid non-virtue in accordance with the teachings of the Buddha; to impose just and reasonable taxes and enforce the law consistently; to "treat the prince Baba with constant fraternal affection and love"; and to treat his two queens with dignity and respect. The final three articles are oaths sworn by his younger brother, his wives, and ministers; Jampel Rinchen affirms that he will take up a religious vocation, hold himself aloof from politics, and, "I promise I will not in any way dispute his lawful claim and position." All affixed their seals.^[15]

Dorje Sengge appears to have gone again to Lhasa several years later, assigning his supporters Gyangkhang Dechen (gyang khang bde chen) and Juchung Jamyang Puntsok ('ju chung 'jam dbyangs phun tshogs) as regents. With his brother again absent, in 1906 Jampel Rinchen now petitioned Beijing to legitimize his hold on the throne. In response, the chieftains who were allied with Dorje Sengge called him back from Lhasa. Dorje Sengge arrived with troops mustered in western Kham and forced his brother into the Mesho valley, placing him under house arrest in the Sokmo Palace (sog mo pho brang). According to some sources, the Jago family (bya rgod tshang) sent men to free Jampel Rinchen, who then fled to Sershul. Other accounts have it that Dorje Sengge's backers convinced him to allow his brother to assume his duties as abbot of Lhundrubteng, but Jampel Rinchen declined to end his rebellion and occupied villages in the Sershul area.^[16]

In 1908 Dorje Sengge informed the Chinese representative in Dartsedo about his brother's continued rebellion, and as a result, in December 1908, the Chinese general Zhao Erfeng (趙爾豊, 1945–1911) arrived in Derge. Some sources imply that either Dorje Sengge or Jampel Rinchen requested his intervention, and whether either was true, the conflict between them was a welcome opportunity for a general who was intent on annexing the entire region east of the Drichu River. The invasion lasted until the middle of summer, 1909, with Dzachuka being the main battleground, and concluded with Jampel Rinchen being driven out of Derge.^[17]

In his memorial to Beijing, as quoted in Teichman, Zhao stated that Dorje Sengge was "a man of no ability" and that the conflict between the two brothers had caused great hardship to the people. Further, because of the strategic importance of Derge, Zhao recommended that the kingdom be placed under direct Chinese rule. Thus he deposed Dorje Sengge, and carved Derge into five administrative sections.^[18] Chinese anthropologist Li Anche concludes, "such was the end of the formal rule of the Derge family."^[19]

While Jampel Rinchen fled to Amdo or elsewhere,^[20] the new Chinese rulers of Derge sent Dorje Sengge to Batang with his family, granting him an imperial rank and a pension, but effectively imprisoning him.^[21]

The Qing Empire collapsed in 1912, and within several years the Tibetan and nascent Republican armies were battling once more for control of Kham. The Tibetans drove the Chinese out of Derge in the spring of 1918, clearing the way for Dorje Sengge to return. He was in the kingdom by September, 1918, when he welcomed Eric Teichman, then halfway through his year-long journey through Kham. Teichman described him as "the former rajah."^[22] Around this time he was photographed by the American missionary Dr. Albert Leroy Shelton (1875–1922), with his two wives and young son.

The Chinese, eager to preserve their influence in Derge, granted Dorje Sengge titles such as "battalion commander of indigenous soldiers" and "commissioner in charge of the corvée and grain tax."^[23] The Tibetan army that enabled Dorje Sengge's return, however, did not restore him to power. Teichman noted that political power was in the hands of Dapon Tethong Gyurme Gyatso (mda' dpon bkras mthong 'gyur med rgya mtsho), one of the Tibetan generals who had expelled the Chinese from northern Kham and had participated in the negotiations for the Rongbatsa agreement between the Tibetan and Chinese armies in October 1918 and who served as the Tibetan representative in Derge (spyi khyab).^[24]

Dorje Sengge was instead brought to Lhasa, where he passed away in 1919.^[25] The year 1926 has sometimes been given for the year of his death, but this is because it is the year his son Tsewang Dudul was appointed to the then-ceremonial office; the Eleventh Tai Situ, Pema Wangchuk Gyelpo (ta'i si tu 11 padma dbang mchog rgyal po, 1886–1952) served as regent until his son came of age.^[26] Tibet maintained control of Derge until 1933, when yet another border skirmish with China forced them to pull back to the west bank of the Drichu River.

 

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