The name of Akyong is said to have been the name of the first head of the clan. His son Tenzin inherited his position and was appointed as chieftain by the Qing court, which included the duties of administrative leader, commander of the armed forces, and regulator and enforcer of the rules. When Tenzin's son Tsering Puntsok was in power, a new branch of the tribe formed, which came to be known as Gongma. Tsering Puntsok had two sons: Tsewang Bum, who had no sons of his own, and Danlong, who inherited his elder brother's position and passed it on to his own sons. The eldest of Danlong's four sons initiated the Khangsar family, which means "new house," while the second son took charge of the main line of the Akyong clan and renamed it Khanggen, or "old house." Danlong's fourth son was the first head of the Gongma, the name of which refers to the location of the family in the upper, or higher part of the valley. Together these three—Khangsar, Khanggen, and Gongma—made up the three divisions of the Akyong clan. Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje was born into this clan in the nineteenth century.