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Tartse Khenchen Jamyang Kunzang Tubten Chokyi Gyeltsen (thar rtse mkhan rin po che 'jam dbyangs kun bzang thub bstan chos kyi rgyal mtshan) was born in 1903 at the Peling estate (dpad gling) of his maternal grandfather. His mother, Sonam Drolma (bsod nams sgrol ma), was the first child of Tartse Zhabdrung Namkha Zangpo (thar rtse zhabs drung nam mkha' bzang po) of the Drangti (brang ti) family, which traditionally headed the Tartse Labrang (thar rtse bla brang) at Ngor Ewaṃ Choden Monastery (ngor e waM chos ldan dgon).

Tartse Zhabdrung Namkha Zangpo had disrobed and married at his family's request to maintain the family line. He produced many daughters and one son who became a monk: Sonam Drolma's younger brother, the sixty-third Ngor abbot, Jamyang Kunzang Tenpai Gyeltsen ('jam dbyangs kun bzang bstan pa'i rgyal mtshan, died circa 1929). Sonam Drolma's first husband, whom she married at age fourteen, was Jungne Zangpo ('byung gnas bzang po, 1840s–1890s) of the prominent Rakhashar family (rag kha shar) of Lhasa, which was also known as Dokhar (mdo mkhar). He entered the family as an adopted bridegroom, or makpa (mag pa), taking his wife's family name. He either died in 1895 or she left him, after which she married a much younger man, a bursar of Tartse Labrang named Ngawang Puntsok (ngag dbang phun tshogs).^[1]

Tartse Khenpo had five elder siblings from his mother's first marriage to Jungne Zangpo. The eldest brother, Wara Zhabdrung Jampa Kunzang Tenpai Nyima (wa ra zhabs drung byams pa kun bzang bstan pa'i nyi ma, b. 1870s), was a disciple of Jamyang Loter Wangpo (blo gter dbang po, 1847–1914) and a teacher to Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro ('jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse chos kyi blo gros, 1893–1959). The second brother was Peling Rinchen Wangdu (dpal gling rin chen dbang 'dus, c. 1878–1937) who married as an adopted groom into the Tanak Shukhupa (rta nag shu khud pa) family. The third was Yutok Khenchung Wangdu Norbu (g.yu thog mkhan chung dbang 'dus nor bu, b. 1884), who was adopted by his maternal uncle Yutok Khenchung Jamyang Tenzin (g.yu thog mkhan chung 'jam dbyangs bstan 'dzin, died c. 1912–1913). His sister Chime Dolkar ('chi med sgrol dkar, 1895–1966) was born in 1895, and rumors persisted that she was the daughter not of Jungne Zangpo, but of Ngawang Puntsok. An additional sister is not named in sources.^[2] The children of his mother's second marriage may have numbered eight, including a brother who married into a family in Uyuk ('u yug) called Rasa (ra sa), and several sisters who married into noble families.^[3]

As a child Jamyang Kunzang Tubten Chokyi Gyeltsen was identified as the reincarnation of the fifty-eighth Ngor abbot, Jamyang Rinchen Dorje ('jam dbyangs rin chen rdo rje, 1837–1901).^[4] His maternal uncle, the sixty-third Ngor abbot, trained him and assigned him, as a young child, to the position of Tartse Zhabdrung (thar rtse zhabs drung), meaning the abbatial candidate of Ngor from the Tartse Labrang.^[5] He received the Lamdre instructions and all three monastic vows from his uncle.^[6] He studied with other masters as well, including Nyendrak Tarpa (snyan grags thar pa), a lama from a nomad family of Amdo, who taught him grammar and other subjects.^[7]

He ascended to the throne of Ngor in 1927 and served for the customary three-year tenure. While abbot he gave lay vows to the future Chogye Trichen Rinpoche Tubten Lekshe Gyatso (bco brgyad khri chen rin po che thub bstan legs bshad rgya mtsho, 1920–2007), the son of his sister Chime Dolkar. He gave the boy the name Jamyang Namkha Gyeltsen ('jam dbyangs nam mkha' rgyal mtshan) and he attempted to claim him for the Tartse Labrang by designating him as the reincarnation of Wara Zhabdrung Namkha Gyeltsen (wa ra zhab drung nam mkha' rgyal mtshan), a Ngor abbatial candidate from the Tartse Labrang who did not return to Ngor when he was called, and who was a prominent teacher of Jamyang Loter Wangpo. ("Wara Zhabdrung" was an epithet given to Ngor abbatial candidates who were based at Wara Monastery [G4687 wa ra dgon] in Derge while fundraising in Kham.) The identification was rejected, however. He also gave Chogye Trichen the Hevajra initiation.^[8]

After stepping down from the abbacy he visited Kham a few times and mainly stayed at the large Sakya monastery at Jyekundo, Dondrub Ling (skye rgu don grub gling). While in Kham, he also received the Lamdre instructions from Gaton Ngawang Lekpa (sga stong ngag dbang legs pa, 1867–1941), one of the most influential Sakya masters of the region at that time.

He returned to Ngor in 1940 after his nephew, the seventy-first abbot of Ngor, Jampa Namkha Kunzang Tenpai Gyeltsen (byams pa nam mkha' kun bzang bstan pa'i rgyal mtshan, 1907–1940) died after only a few months in office. He appears to have remained in office until the end of his nephew's term, 1942. Either during his second tenure or directly after he stepped down, he supervised the renovation of one of Ngor's two main temples, the old Zimkhang Khadrukma (gzims khang kha drug ma), which housed Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo's (ngor chen kun dga' bzang po, 1382­–1456) original living quarters.^[9]

On stepping down the second time he first spent a summer in a tent at Chukpozhing (phyug po zhing) and then retired to Uyuk, in northern Tsang, where his brother and a sister both lived. He stayed in a hermitage called Uyuk Chubzang ('u yug chu bzang), but later disrobed and married.^[10]

 

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