The Treasury of Lives

Jago Tsewang Drolma (tshe dbang sgrol ma) is known for her activities between the death of her husband and the restoration of her family's status in Derge. Nothing is otherwise known of her life.

She was most likely born before or around the year 1895, as she had given birth to two sons already at the time of her husband's death in 1906 or 1907.

Her husband, Jago Tashi Namgyel (bya rgod bkra shis rnam rgyal), was one of four chief ministers (gnyer chen) of the Derge court, an office he inherited from his father. During the civil war between the two Derge princes, Tashi Namgyel supported the younger brother, Ngawang Jampel Rinchen (ngag dbang 'jam dpal rin chen), against the eldest, Dorje Sengge (rdo rje seng ge, 1877–1919), and was likely assassinated as a result. As both her sons, Jago Tobden (bya rgod stobs ldan, 1898–1960) and Jago Tsenam (bya rgod tshe rnam), were minors at the time of their father's death, Tsewang Drolma took on the leadership of the family. The Jago family was a member of the Derge aristocracy known as the dunkhor (mdun skor), the families from which government officials were drawn, and which each controlled a number of villages, responsible for collecting taxes and enlisting labor. Tsewang Drolma thus became the head of not just the family, but a sizable territory with the ability to conscript men to fight for Jampel Rinchen.^[1]

Soon after Tashi Namgyel's death, Jampel Rinchen was placed under house arrest at the Sokmo Palace (sog mo pho brang) in the Mesho valley in southeastern Derge. Tsewang Drolma sent several of her men, including monks from the royal monastery, Lhundrubteng (G193 lhun grub steng), to free him. She and her family then fled with Jampel Rinchen to Sershul. From there, with Tsewang Drolma's support, he launched a successful attack on the capital, driving his brother out of the kingdom.^[2]

In December, 1908, only several months after Jampel Rinchen took the throne, the Chinese general Zhao Erfeng (趙爾豊, 1945–1911) arrived in Derge to overthrow the kingdom and institute direct Chinese rule. He drove Jampel Rinchen into exile, and sent Dorje Sengge to Batang, where he remained for a decade. Tsewang Drolma went north with Jampel Rinchen, fleeing first to Sershul and then to Golok. With the help of the Fourth Jamyang Zhepa, Kelzang Tubten Wangchuk ('jam dbyangs bzhad pa 04 bskal bzang thub bstan dbang phyug, 1856–1916), they secured protection from local warlords in the Tsolho region.^[3]

At the end of 1909, when the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Tubten Gyatso (ta la'i bla ma 13 thub bstan rgya mtsho, 1876–1933) passed through Amdo on his return to Lhasa from Beijing, Jampel Rinchen and his supporters, including Tsewang Drolma and her dependents, joined his caravan. With the Dalai Lama's support the Jago family and the Derge prince settled initially in Nakchu before moving to Lhasa. Jampel Rinchen secured the title of taiji (tha'i ji), which gave him a place in Tibetan aristocracy, and the Jago family was appointed the head (mgo pa) of Janggyab (byang rgyab), a small territory there.^[4]

Tsewang Drolma continued to support Jampel Rinchen, and her family rose in the Lhasa aristocracy alongside him. In 1910 Jampel Rinchen organized a troop of Derge soldiers to resist the Chinese invasion of Tibet, stationing them at Gyantse. The Thirteenth Dalai Lama rewarded the Jago family with an estate near Sera Monastery (se ra dgon) with over a dozen indentured families (khol pa).^[5]

In 1917 the Tibetan army drove the Chinese out of Kham, and Tsewang Drolma took the opportunity to return her family to Derge. She successfully petitioned the Dalai Lama to instruct Kalon Jampa Tendar (bka' blon byams pa bstan dar, d. 1921), the Kham Governor (mdo smad spyi khyab) to restore the Jago family to their previous status in Derge and to further exempt them from taxes and corvée labor, although it took some years before she and her family returned to Derge. Dorje Sengge was also returned to Derge, although he himself was brought to Lhasa by the Tibetans and the Eleventh Tai Situ, Pema Wangchuk Gyelpo (ta'i si tu 11 padma dbang mchog rgyal po, 1886–1952), was made regent while his son, Tsewang Dudul (tshe dbang bdud 'dul, 1916–1942), was in his infancy. Because of her family's support for Jampel Rinchen, Tsewang Drolma initially avoided the kingdom, settling instead in Jomda while she reestablished her family's base of support.^[6] She meanwhile enrolled her two sons, Tobden and Tsenam, in the Potala School (rtse slob grwa), which trained the sons of aristocrats for government service. Ultimately, in 1921, the Tibetan governor of Derge, Dapon Tethong Gyurme Gyatso (P5116 mda' dpon bkras mthong 'gyur med rgya mtsho), appointed Jago Tobden as steward, the office held by his father and grandfather before him.^[7]

With the elevation of Jago Tobden, Tsewang Drolma succeeded in reclaiming the status lost after her husband's death. She likely engineered, in 1933, her eldest son's marriage to Sonam Chotso (bsod nams 'tsho), the daughter of Kelzang Puntsok (bskal bzang phun tshogs) the chieftain of Yilhung, a wealthy region in northeast Derge. It was a fruitful marriage in that Jago Tobden became chieftain of Yilhung when his wife's brother died.^[8]

Details of the remainder of her life are not currently recorded.

 

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