The Treasury of Lives

Norbu (nor bu) was born in the village of Gyale (rgyal le) in the Tolung Valley (stod lung), northwest of Lhasa. As younger brother of Desi Sonam Chopel (sde srid bsod nams chos phel, 1595-1658) he was born sometime after 1595. His early title of Nangso (nang so), literally meaning 'internal spy' or 'border protector,' indicates an official with military and religious power, or a manager, and is often applied to the younger sibling of a ruling house.

As a young man Norbu was retained as an aide by his brother who was already Treasurer and Chagdzo (phyag mdzod) -- the personal manager and principal attendant -- of Lobzang Gyatso, the young Fifth Dalai Lama Lobzang Gyatso (tA la'i bla ma 05 blo bzang rgya mtsho, 1617-1682). Only a few histories covering this period even mention Depa Norbu in passing, and the best source that we have for his life and activities is the autobiography of Lobzang Gyatso, who is not sympathetic to him.

Lobzang Gyatso first mentions Norbu as attending a tea party in 1626, invited by the young Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen (sprul sku grags pa rgyal mtshan,1619-1656), their neighbor at Drepung Monastery ('bras spungs dgon); the Dalai Lama's residence was then at Drepung. Drakpa Gyeltsen offered Norbu a ceremonial scarf with a sacred knot but Norbu later undid the knot and exchanged the scarf for some baubles from Kongpo. A monk attendant observed: 'Norbu has no faith in the Tulku.' Norbu is alleged by some, including the Third Trijang Lobzang Yeshe Tendzin Gyatso (khri byang 03 blo bzang ye shes bstan 'dzin rgya mtsho, 1901-1981), to have suffocated the same Tulku thirty years later with a similar scarf.

A little later when Lobzang Gyatso caught the measles and cats were brought to keep him awake, apparently as an antidote, Norbu beat these cats and even stabbed one with a knife. Lobzang Gyatso's comment on this cruelty was that "it was the first crowing of a man who would eat man if he had power."

Early in 1638, acting as Drepung's Treasurer in a project to construct new sets of the Eight Classical Stūpa (mchod rten cha brgyad), Norbu insisted on changing the proportions of the Drepung set, which had been designed by master Zur Choying Rangdrol (zur chos dbyings rang grol, 1604-1669). This resulted in their shape being the worst among the Geluk monasteries.

Shortly afterwards Sonam Chopel was displeased with his chief assistant Jaisang Depa (ja'i sang sde pa) who eventually became the Fifth Dalai Lama's third Regent in 1660; he wanted to appoint Norbu in his place, but Lobzang Gyatso was not happy about it. He objected and vetoed Norbu's promotion.

In the summer of 1638, Norbu married Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen's sister, whose name is not recorded, at Gekhasa (gad kha sa) village in Tolung (stod lung), probably modern-day 'Gyekhar' between Yangpachen (yangs pa can) and Tsurpu (mtshur phu). The heirs to the Gekhasa family had been killed by Mongols and they needed a bridegroom but Lobzang Gyatso felt that Norbu was a poor choice, commenting that the family accepted him "as if it wished to be punished." According to another history, Drakpa Gyeltsen's sister, his only surviving sibling, felt obliged to marry the ambitious Norbu, who was proud of being Sonam Chopel's brother. After the marriage, Norbu was also called Gekhasa or Gekhasapa Norbu. Norbu was not personally well-off but the marriage increased his wealth and status, enabling him to enter politics; he then became notorious for the violent and unscrupulous ways in which he later dealt with certain practical issues on the regent's behalf that were embarrassing for a high-ranking religious dignitary like Sonam Chopel.

Military Commander & Governor of Shigatse 1641-1644

In 1641, during the Tibetan civil war between U (dbus) and Tsang (gtsang), Norbu was deputed as military commander to lead a body of troops west from Shun (shun), six miles west of Lhasa, via upper Tolung to reinforce Gushri Khan's Mongol army besieging the fort at Shigatse (gzhis ka rtse). Avoiding Kagyu resistance en route he progressed at a snail's pace, finally reaching Chushur (chu shur) on the north bank of the Tsangpo (gtsang po) after dawdling along and losing time. His men eventually engaged in battle in Tsang under Gopa Tashi of Drungme (grong smad dgo pa bkra shis). Some were assigned to operate cannons, others to take positions on hilltops. However, Norbu refused to do anything and when the cannon station was lost to the enemy he was the first man to leave his post and run away.

In the summer of 1642 during the first uprising in Tsang after the war he was charged with holding Gyantse fort (rgyal rtse rdzong) but when a small group of rebels attacked he abandoned it and fled.

Regent Sonam Chopel appointed Norbu as Governor of Shigatse in 1644. Lobzang Gyatso wrote that most people now began to call Norbu 'Desi' (sde srid) or 'Depa' (sde pa) and he put on airs of being the Regent's brother. 'Depa' ('Governor' or 'Commissioner') and 'Desi' were both in current use. Norbu retained the post of governor until 1659.

In the same year, 1644, Sonam Chopel and Gushri Khan, thinking that their victorious, combined Tibetan/Mongolian forces were invincible, sent an invasion force into Bhutan while they were busy looking for rebels in Lhodrak near the Bhutan border. Western Bhutan had only recently been unified under Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel (zhabs drung ngag dbang rnam rgyal, 1594-1651), and its defense forces dealt the joint Tibetan and Mongolian forces their first defeat; the expedition was crushed and twenty five of its leaders were captured. This surprise defeat became a popular topic for mockery of Tibet's new Geluk regime in Lhasa. In 1646 Norbu was sent south to the Bhutan border to investigate the humiliating rout. Norbu returned to report that the Bhutanese had indeed captured the army officers and all its weapons, armor and equipment.

A satirical song then became popular using word-play to mock Norbu for acting as a common spy (Tibetan: 'so pa'), playing on his earlier title 'Nangso ('border protector'), on his name Norbu ('jewel'), on the Zhabdrung's renown as a magician as the lama in the south and finally on Bhutan's precious vertebrae relic of the First Drukchen Tsangpa Gyare Yeshe Dorje (gtsang pa rgya ras ye shes rdo rje, 1161-1211), brought from Tibet by the Zhabdrung:

The lama must be residing in the south, 
For all offerings were made to the south.
The Drukpas have captured Ngodrub; 
Norbu has worked as a spy.

Here the "offerings" refers to armor and weapons, and "Ngodrub" (dngos grub), the name of one of the commanders means "yogic powers."

Army commander, 1648-1649

Sonam Chopel negotiated a post-1644 invasion peace treaty with Bhutan, obtaining release of the hostages, but then broke it in 1648 by sending in a much bigger, three-pronged invasion force. He appointed Norbu as commander of the main army, marching east from Shigatse via Phari (phag ri) to Paro in western Bhutan where he tried to attack the fort. When the Bhutanese counter-attacked, Norbu retreated to Tibet with his men following after him, abandoning all their arms, weapons and equipment. Hearing of this, the other two columns retreated from Punakha and headed home, making a fiasco of the attempted invasion. Due to Norbu's mistakes, the army had great difficulty retreating and the other commanders made endless complaints about his behavior. This shameful defeat went down as disgraceful in the history of Tibet. People rebuked Norbu for his cowardice and made a mockery of his flight, as Lobzang Gyatso later noted. Despite all this, under his brother's protection he retained his position as Governor of Shigatse.

Norbu was even accused of betrayal, indulging in secret dealings with the Bhutanese enemy, but despite his incompetence, cowardice and duplicity Lobzang Gyatso tried to come to terms with him, hoping that he might yet turn out to be a good leader.

In 1652 Lobzang Gyatso, invited by the Qing Shunzhi Emperor (1638-1661), left for Beijing. Amongst others Norbu accompanied his party as far as the foot of the Nyuklai Lanying pass (snyug la’i la snying). Everyone going to China was apprehensive about the diseases and other dangers of the perilous journey, wrote Lobzang Gyatso, but Norbu, who was to remain in Lhasa, and seemingly convinced that nobody would be returning, was delighted that he did not have to go and he did not hide his pleasure.

In 1654 Lobzang Gyatso proposed to offer a public long-life empowerment, a major personal blessing, to all his followers, aware that it would be very popular. The Desi agreed but Norbu started drawing up a tariff of fees to charge everyone for attending the event, according to their status. The Dalai Lama recorded that he felt embarrassed by this, but rather than rebuking Norbu he simply gave up the idea, not wishing to appear greedy by charging people to attend his teachings.

In 1656 Lobzang Gyatso was busy organizing various religious projects, creating murals, statues, multiple copies of the Buddha's teachings and so forth. A sculptor called Dol Nesarwa (dol gnas gsar ba) had neatly carved a complete set of ritual kīla daggers from teakwood for him and was working on other themes when Norbu suddenly had him transferred to the south of Tibet to help construct military catapults. Lobzang Gyatso lamented that Norbu made this artist, incapable of doing anything harmful, suddenly disappear from his project staff.

A little later in 1656 Norbu gets a positive mention, the only one he earns in Lobzang Gyatso's autobiography. Diplomatic tensions with Nepal necessitated the rescue of the famous Āryawati Avalokiteśvara statue from Kyirong temple near the Nepal border. Norbu and Dronnyer Drungpa (mgron gnyer drung pa) were deputed to go there and retrieve it and they actually succeeded in doing so. Lobzang Gyatso noted this success as an auspicious occasion. However, he refers to a prophecy warning that the relocation of the statue to central Tibet could portend the death of an important personage. Next mentioned in the autobiography is the illness and death of Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen who was thirty-six years old. His spirit is then said to have manifested as the spirit Shugden (shugs ldan), and some, including Trijang Rinpoche, allege that he was murdered by suffocation at the hands of Depa Norbu.

Commander-in-Chief, 1656-57

After Gushri Khan's death in 1655 Sonam Chopel organized one last attempt at capturing Bhutan to obliterate the memory of his earlier defeats and suppress Kagyu resistance against the Geluk, which was a constant threat to internal stability. He appointed Norbu as overall commander of four large invading armies but Norbu asked Lobzang Gyatso to have the invasion postponed. Seeing no purpose in this and knowing Sonam Chopel and other leaders would not agree, he refused; there was also no indication from divinations or oracles of a need to delay.

Norbu advanced in the summer of 1656, but too slowly and cautiously and his tactics were inept. The Nechung Oracle had predicted success but later blamed the failure on Norbu's incompetence; Lobzang Gyatso also criticized him for not sticking to the agreed plan. As he continued to employ delaying tactics his army gradually wasted away through illness. The Bhutanese used guerrilla tactics to sap morale and after an entire year of ineffective campaigning in the inhospitable climate and the dense jungles Norbu retreated to Tibet and camped near the border at Phari.

Internal divisions arose due to Norbu's poor leadership. The two Mongol princes with their own troops, Dalai Batur (da la'i bA thur) and Machik Taiji (ma gcig tha'i ji), quarreled with Norbu about his cowardly strategy. In fact, Norbu is said to have poisoned Machik Taiji after the latter severely criticized his policy. One of Norbu's men, Taklung Mendrongpa (stag lung sman grong pa), wrote to Sonam Chopel to defend Norbu and blame the Mongols, claiming they would not care if everyone in Tibet died. Lobzang Gyatso, however, disagreed and defended the Mongols and their good character; they were simply too ashamed to have to retreat from battle under Norbu's orders.

Norbu's behavior was dubious; he let himself be defeated and his army retreated from Phari in disgrace after the disastrous campaign. These Tibet-Bhutan wars highlight the difficulty the Tibetans faced in trying to invade Bhutan; warfare was still conducted seasonally, and in the hot Bhutanese summers the invaders generally found themselves retreating back to the Tibetan plateau. Eventually, a peace treaty was negotiated by the Fourth Paṇchen Lama, Lobzang Chokyi Gyeltsen (blo bzang chos kyi rgyal mtshan, 1570-1662) and others, allowing for the release of prisoners by the Bhutanese. Thus ended the third Bhutan war involving Norbu.

There had been many instances of Norbu's botched leadership but he was never held to account and his brother Sonam Chopel pretended not to hear about it. In the end, however, the proliferation of negative reports from his stint in Shigatse and his dishonest activities became so notorious that he was publicly censured.

Appointed as Regent, 1659

Sonam Chopel died in the spring of 1658 but Lobzang Gyatso kept it a secret to hold off political instability while he arranged the succession by Norbu, heir apparent as he was Sonam Chopel's next of kin. The Dalai Lama wanted to ensure that Norbu would be unable to dominate him. For thirteen months this pretense was maintained while prayers and rituals were carried out, ostensibly dedicated to Sonam Chopel's return to health, until the spring of 1659 when the death was announced and funeral rites were carried out.

Soon Lobzang Gyatso nominated Depa Sepo (sde pa sras po), a friend and associate of Norbu, to replace Norbu as Governor of Shigatse; he then spent eight days negotiating discretely with the Mongol successors of Gushri Khan, Tendzin Dayan Gyelpo (bstan 'dzin da yan rgyal po) and Tendzin Dalai Han (bstan 'dzin da la'i han rgyal po), to ensure and arrange their support in case of need, probably making contingency plans in case Norbu got too out of control after his promotion. The Mongols left Lhasa to stand by at their pastures in Dam ('dam) to the north, just before Norbu arrived from Shigatse.

Two weeks later, on the sixteenth day of the sixth month of the earth-pig year (i.e. August 3rd, 1659), Lobzang Gyatso told his chamberlain to go and inform Norbu that he was to be appointed as Regent to succeed the late Sonam Chopel. The surprised chamberlain hesitated, saying that if this was simply a tactful gesture he risked it being accepted by Norbu which would not have been appropriate. But the Dalai Lama insisted that he was serious, the message was delivered, and Norbu accepted. Next day, Lobzang Gyatso sent a second message to Norbu, scolding him for having failed in the past to do his duty well. He restricted Norbu's powers regarding the Regent's official residence, preventing him from using it for personal ends. All this would have been hard to bear for Norbu who was used to doing as he liked with impunity under his now deceased brother's protection.

There was no inauguration ceremony apart from a gathering of important teachers and monks at the Potala to pay respects to Norbu. It was apparently expected there would be exchanges of gifts, but Norbu, he wrote, was as selfish as the Taklung treasurer: they merely exchanged vases of water.

Reign as Regent and Rebellion of 1659-1660

There is no account of Norbu's activities in office as regent. In the ninth month of the earth-pig year (October-November, 1659) however, Lobzang Gyatso consulted Nojin Chenpo (gnod sbyin chen po), the wrathful spirit which had been oath-bound and installed at Samye Monastery by Padmasambhava (padma 'byung nas) eight hundred years before. The spirit warned him: "If you are not careful about Norbu, it will be as if you fail to act when the goat is in its enclosure; you will not catch it, [he will be] like a musk deer running away on the rocks."

In the tenth month, Norbu made his move. Norbu's relatives and close associates, his nephew Ngodrub (dngos grub) and family asked permission to visit the hot springs in Tsang. Lobzang Gyatso allowed it, although he was suspicious of their motives. Then, with the connivance of the new Shigatse governor Depa Sepo, they and other accomplices such as Tegangpa Tsering (bkras sgang pa tshe ring) seized and occupied Shigatse fort in an open act of rebellion against the Ganden Podrang government. Eventually Norbu himself deserted his post to join his co-conspirators in Tsang.

Norbu's rebellion was supported by the Tsang nobility, the Sakya hierarch and the Fourth Drukchen Padma Karpo ('brug chen 04 pad+ma dkar po, 1527-1592). Shigatse's close affiliation with the Tsangpa regime, the previous rulers of central Tibet, and with the Karma Kagyu tradition, made it the ideal location from which to instigate a rebellion against the Geluk government. Any disturbance in Tsang was bound to cause alarm. In an additional act of treachery, Norbu sent his co-conspirator Tegangpa south to persuade the Bhutanese to send their army to enter Tibetan territory and join the rebel army against the Lhasa government.

Lobzang Gyatso sent investigators to check on the situation in Shigatse. They reported that Depa Sepo had improperly dismissed and expelled from the fort all officials unwilling to join the revolt, Tegangpa had intimidated Tashilhunpo (bkra shis lhun po) and the revenue collectors and Norbu and Ngodrub had seized control of the Shigatse fort. Hearing this, Lobzang Gyatso summoned his loyal ministers and generals, including Jaisang Depa and Dronnyer Drungpa, for a council of war. They decided to immediately send an expeditionary force to Shigatse. Taiji of Ukhere, a Mongolian prince who had, conveniently, just arrived from the north with a hundred soldiers and gifts of gold, silver, silk and porcelain, agreed to march his men to Shigatse right away. Dronnyer Drungpa was detailed to guide him. Two army commanders were appointed and orders for the rapid mobilization and dispatch of additional forces were issued.

Rituals of suppression and liberation targeting the rebels, based on the violent rite of Jampel Leyshin Marmo ('jam dpal las gshin dmar mo), were carried out, led by the chief officiating prelate Ngakrampa Lobzang Dondrub (sngags ram pa blo bzang don grub), and signs of success occurred. Meanwhile the expelled Shigatse fort officials and Lobzang Gelek (blo bzang dge legs), Treasurer of Tashilhunpo, were keeping Lhasa informed about the goings-on at the fort, and advised that Tashi Tsepa of Shang (shangs bkra shis rtse pa), near Shigatse, was proving very helpful, providing the army with useful advice and information.

Others, however, had defected to the rebels. The eighty-nine-year old Paṇchen Lama, still in Shigatse and trying to negotiate a compromise, corresponded with the Dalai Lama who concluded, after discussion, that the impending conflict with Norbu's rebels could not be postponed. Meanwhile, more rituals were being carried out to bring Norbu down. Lobzang Gyatso had decided on a two-pronged attack: a show of military force to scare the rebels and a series of magic rituals designed to terrify the more superstitious amongst them.

Meanwhile Taiji of Ukhere had reached Shigatse fort to find Tegangpa had returned from his mission to Bhutan and fortified the areas around the castle. In the clashes that followed, Tegangpa was captured and brought out 'like a lamb to the slaughter.' The plan to recapture the fort was put into operation.

The two royal Mongol brothers, Tendzin Dayan Gyelpo and Tendzin Dalai Han, now arrived on the scene in Shigatse with their forces. It would appear that this was not a coincidence. Shortly before Norbu had arrived in Lhasa from Shigatse a few months earlier they had met Lobzang Gyatso for eight days of detailed conversations concerning leadership, history and matters of concern to the Mongols. Considering the incompatibility and animosity between Norbu and the Mongols following the three military debacles in Bhutan it is likely that they were preparing contingency plans in case things went awry with Norbu after his expected promotion to Desi. When Norbu deserted and made Shigatse the base of his rebellion, the Mongols turned up with their armies as if they had been ready and waiting for it and it seems they had been empowered by the government to avoid violence and negotiate with the rebels.

The second part of the strategy, magic ritual, was also unfolding. Lobzang Gyatso detailed the government's chief ritual official, the young Nyingma master Pema Trinle, the Fourth Dorje Drak Rigdzin (rdo rje brag rig 'dzin 04 pad+ma phrin las), and his team of thirty assistants to go to Gongkar (gong dkar) and perform "the rite of the wind wheel" through suppression and destruction. Lobzang Gyatso then consulted the spirit Gyelpo Tsangpa Dungtochen (rgyal po tshang pa dung thod can), through its oracle, to see what it suggested. To defeat Norbu's rebellion and promote loyalty to the government the spirit specified the "demon-exorcism"(bdud bzlog) rite to be performed by all members of Geluk establishments that were philosophical in nature and the "torma exorcism" (gtor bzlog) by the rest. In the context of this rebellion the purpose of publicly propitiating, in this way, loyalty to the Tibetan government seems clear: any superstitious members of the Tibetan public who sympathized with the rebels might have second thoughts if the threat of supernatural retribution was brought into the equation. The lamas and stewards of two hundred and fifty monasteries were ordered to carry out these services nonstop and the government funded all the participants' tea offerings three times a day.

More rituals were undertaken, with frequent signs of success: sudden windstorms arising, ritual wheels bursting into flames, torma flashing and the like. In Kyisho, the Lhasa valley, the performance of rituals intensified. Renowned tantric sorcerers such as Jingpa Ngakrampa (bying pa sngags ram pa) were commissioned by Lobzang Gyatso to increase pressure on the rebels. Nyingma artists Agur (a gur) and his brother Ngawang Trinle (ngag dbang 'phrin las) of Shar estate (gzhis ka shar) in Lhasa drew the wind wheels of Lungmar (rlung dmar), the 'Red Wind' deity and Bektse (beg tse) and the rite was performed immaculately. Others were sent to shoot the torma of Lungmar towards Tsang where Norbu was installed and to place the wheel of Bektse at the corner of the Potala's temple hall. According to the Fifth Dalai Lama, as soon as they began the wheel rite, a powerful windstorm broke out each day. Even where negotiations were being held at Shigatse, the felt tent was nearly overturned by a storm. Others reported having to have their food well before noon since from midday until sunset, due to the gale the only thing they could do was to pull down the lower parts of the tent and hold them down with heavy objects. Similar effects continued to occur, windstorms and so forth being attributed to the presence of wrathful deities and spirits manifesting their power and intent. In support of the tantric rites, the thousands of monks of the three great monasteries and others, recited scriptures. All this must have created a tremendous amount of gossip and speculation amongst the superstitious populace as they wondered about what would happen to Norbu's rebels under this tremendous onslaught of destructive rituals.

Superstitious attitudes and spirit-fear may have not only dampened support for the rebels from the people of Tsang and Bhutan but also caused the rebels themselves to lose heart, negotiate and abandon Shigatse fort. Monks led by the Drakna Choje (brag sna chos rje), ritual master of Drepung, performed the rites of protection, aversion, liberating and suppression based on a form of Mañjuśrī known as "Flaming Sword" ('jam dpal me'i spu gri). The idea of the rebels being bought off with landed property recurred again. Rumors circulated that Norbu would probably be given Khartse (mkhar rtse) fort in Penyul (phen yul) and that of Meldro Gongkar (mal gro gung dkar) would go to Ngodrub. A negotiated settlement seemed to be on the cards, when all of a sudden Norbu and Ngodrub quit the fort, handing it over to the commanders of the government forces, and left for Samdrub Dechen (bsam grub bde chen) in Dam, north of Lhasa. It was about March 1660 and Norbu's rebellion was over, less than three months after it had begun. The Tibetan soldiers dispersed.

Norbu's sudden departure is directly linked by Lobzang Gyatso to a rite carried out by the Drakna Choje. The rebels’ departure took place after Lobzang Ngawang (blo bzang ngag dbang), the Drakna Choje, with some monks, practiced the rite of the wheel of expulsion and sent the ritual item representing the rebels away to the northern plain as a ritual gesture of expulsion. Norbu and Ngodrub promptly accepted the offer that was on the table, quit the fort and headed north themselves.

Apparently, following Tegangpa’s mission described above, the Bhutanese army had crossed the border into Tibet and reached Phari. The Tibetans had anticipated this, however, and sent a force to Phari to repel them. No actual fighting was reported and the Bhutanese withdrew. It is also possible that after hearing the news of the Bhutanese army's withdrawal from Phari, Norbu and Ngodrub gave up hope and surrendered the fort.

In any case the entire rebellion ended without significant violence; in fact, it seems from Lobzang Gyatso's account as if it was mainly fought by gods and demons on the spiritual plane.

Norbu and Ngodrub, the rebel ringleaders, had been promised forts and land by the Mongol brothers, Tendzin Dayan Gyelpo and Tendzin Dalai Han. Lobzang Gyatso was not at all happy to reward their treachery in this way but out of respect for the Mongols he was grudgingly making arrangements to cede some suitable territories to them. However, while Norbu and Ngodrub were being escorted to Lhasa from Dam, they panicked, escaped and sought sanctuary as fugitives in Taklung Monastery (stag lung dgon).

The Mongols saw this act as a betrayal of trust; their offer of forts and land was now off the table. Norbu and Ngodrub were then held at Taklung Monastery under guarantee and that is the last that is related about Norbu by the Fifth Dalai Lama. Tibetan historian Dungkar Lobsang Trinle (dung-dkar blo bzang 'phrin las, 1927-1997) writes that Norbu ultimately fled to exile in Bhutan.