The Treasury of Lives

Kunga Rinchen (kun dga' rin chen) was born in Langdun (glang mdun) in the Dakpo region (dwags po). He was the father of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Tubten Gyatso (tA la'i bla ma 13 thub bstan rgya mtsho, 1876-1933), who was his fourth son. His wife was Lobzang Dolma (blo bzang sgrol ma). Kunga Rinchen became the head of Yabzhi Langdun when the family was ennobled.

Yabzhi (yab gzhis) status was granted to families of the Dalai Lamas, a tradition beginning with the family of the Seventh Dalai Lama, Kelzang Gyatso (tA la'i bla ma 07 bskal bzang rgya mtsho, 1708-1757). The installation of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama took place on April 12, 1879. Kunga Rinchen was ennobled with the title of gong (公), commonly translated as "duke," Several months later, on August 10, 1879, he was granted a jewel button and peacock feathers, both appendages used to denote high-ranking elite during the Qing dynasty. The family was thus ennobled with the name of Yabzhi Langdun (yab gzhis glang mdun).

Kunga Rinchen served as an advisor to the National Assembly (tshog 'du) of the Tibetan Government. When the covert activities of Sarat Chandra Das (1849-1917), the Bengali scholar who was spying for the British, were exposed, the Tibetan government sought to arrest him. Das was forewarned and managed to flee to India. A number of Tibetans were punished for aiding Das, including the Palha (pha lha) family. Kunga Rinchen recommended that rather than confiscate their property and evict the family, the government should take possession of it and force the family to pay a large penalty to continue to live there.

Kunga Rinchen died in 1887. He had five sons, each of whom held important positions in either religious or political affairs.  His eldest son, Dondrub Dorje (don grub rdo rje, d.1909), succeeded him as head of the house and was named gong in 1888. Dondrub Dorje's son, Kunga Wangchuk (kun dga' dbang phyug, b. 1906), served as Prime Minister (srid blon), jointly in 1924, and in full from 1926 until 1939; he was also an active part of the Communist government, having been elected or placed in various positions until 1968.