The Treasury of Lives

Polhane Sonam Tobgye (pho lha nas bsod nams stobs rgyas) was born on an auspicious day in the autumn of 1689. His mother Dolma Butri (sgrol ma bu khrid) was the daughter of a well-known artist, and his father Pema Gyelpo (padma rgyal po) was a government official who served variously as a soldier and civil official. While little is known of the extended history of Polhane's family, his namesake estate—Drum Polha ('brum pho lha), near Gyantse (rgyal rtse)—was a gift for his grandfather's service to the Fifth Dalai Lama (ta la'i bla ma 05, 1617–1682) during a rebellion of Tsangpa officials in the late 1650s. 

Before his birth, a local lama instructed the boy's parents to call him Gonkyab Dorje (mgon skyabs rdo rje) and declared him the reincarnation of Ganden Tsewang (dga' ldan tshe dbang), a recently deceased Mongol war hero and erstwhile monk at Tashilhunpo Monastery (bkra shis lhun po). This identification was affirmed in auspicious meetings with the Fifth Paṇchen Lama, Lobzang Yeshe (paN chen 05 blo bzang ye shes, 1663–1737) and Desi Sanggye Gyatso (sde srid sangs rgyas rgya mtsho, 1653–1705). It was also said to have been evident in the child's fondness for shooting games and all things Mongol. He displayed more devotional inclinations, too, with a natural reverence for the Dalai and Paṇchen Lamas, and a proclivity towards material generosity.

The boy took to study, quickly learning the alphabet and memorizing tracts of text several pages long. After briefly serving as a civil official (khrims kyi kha lo pa) in the Dujung valley ('dus byung) near his family estate, he and his uncle Dradul (dgra 'dul) traveled to Mindroling Monastery (smin grol gling) to study under Terdak Lingpa (gter bdag gling pa, 1646–1714) and Lochen Dharmaśrī (lo chen d+harma shrI, 1654–1717). While Polhane would never ordain, Mindroling was an unofficial center of learning for young aristocrats and would-be lay officials. Aside from various teachings in the arts and sciences—astrological calculation, Kāvya poetics, and Dzogchen philosophy foremost among them—Terdak Lingpa also conferred upon the youth the name by which he is known to this day: Sonam Tobgye.

After some time back in Tsang, during which he married a woman from the Kyibuk (skyid sbugs/sbug) family named Pelzang Kyipa (dpal bzang skyid pa, d. 1733), he traveled to Lhasa to serve as an official under Lhazang Khan (lha bzang khan, d. 1717), the Khoshut Mongol ruler of Tibet. Although Lhazang only gained his authority after deposing the regent Sanggye Gyatso in 1705, he managed to maintain a good rapport with some of the Tibetan aristocracy, including Polhane. The young official spent this time in the capital studying accounting and mathematics and was appointed as an official near his home in Gyantse. However, Lhazang soon realized the youth's talents and elected to keep him by his side in the capacity of an emissary (gser yig pa). It was at this time that Polhane first proved his mettle in battle, impressing Lhazang in a campaign against rebellious Kokonor Mongols in the north, and a short-lived invasion of Bhutan in the south.

The Turbulent Decade (1717–1728)

Things took a turn for the worse when the Dzungar Mongols invaded Tibet in late 1717. The Dzungars had long enjoyed favorable relations with Geluk authorities, including Sanggye Gyatso. Thus, the regent's downfall and attendant rise of Lhazang Khan and the Khoshut were a major blow to their standing in the region. The Dzungars faced a formidable threat in the east, too; as the last remaining nomadic empire abutting the nascent Qing dynasty, the Kangxi emperor made it his personal mission to eliminate them once and for all. The alliance between Kangxi in Beijing and Lhazang in Lhasa spelled disaster for the Mongols of Ili, and so they sent an army to oust the Khoshuts from Tibet. Soon after, Lhazang Khan was killed, the invaders took the Potala (po ta la), and Polhane was imprisoned. As proponents of an extreme brand of Geluk hegemony, the Dzungars did not only take action against officials; they unleashed a wave of destruction against Nyingma and Kagyu institutions. After a period of ill-treatment, Polhane was released under the good auspices of Taktsepa Lhagyel Rabten (stag rtse pa lha rgyal rab brtan, d. 1720), the Dzungar invaders' Tibetan frontman during the occupation period (1717–1720).

Polhane made the most of his freedom, regaining some of his estates, patronizing Tashilhunpo and Pelkhor Chode (dpal 'khor chos sde), and recovering his health while serving as an official in Nyanang (gnya' nang) on the border with Nepal, just as his father had years prior. He also worked to protect those most threatened by the Dzungars, bribing officials not to harm Nyingma prelates, and harboring former attendants of Lhazang Khan at his own estate.

In 1720 the Kangxi emperor sent a force to expel the invaders. Upon hearing of the imminent approach of a Qing army, Polhane gathered what Tibetan troops he could and joined together with Kangchenne Sonam Gyelpo (khang chen nas bsod nams rgyal po, d. 1727) in Ngari. The imperial troops arrived in Lhasa in September 1720, and the Dzungar occupation was over. The Qing army brought along the young Seventh Dalai Lama, Kelzang Gyatso (ta la'i bla ma 07 skal bzang rgya mtsho, 1708–1757), who had been carefully watched over in eastern Tibet since his recognition almost a decade earlier, protected from Lhazang Khan.

The Ganden Podrang government of the Fifth Dalai Lama, founded in 1642, provided the symbolic and ritual apparatus at the heart of Tibetan government. As for secular administration however, Khoshut Mongol allies provided much of the military muscle, and routine administration was entrusted to a regent (sde srid). Under the imperial administration that took root after the ousting of the Dzungars, a garrison of Chinese troops were tasked with defending Tibet from further Mongol incursions, and a small council of loyal Tibetan elites (which would later become the Kashak, or cabinet) shouldered the secular administration. In addition, a pair of imperial representatives —almost invariably Manchu or Mongol, and best known by the Manchu title "amban"—were stationed in Lhasa to provide the emperor a pair of eyes in the field. The first iteration of the administrative council was composed of four aristocrats: Kangchenne, Ngapopa Dorje Gyelpo (nga phod pa rdo rje rgyal po, d. 1728), Lumpawa Tashi Gyelpo (lum pa ba bkra shis rgyal po, d. 1728), and Jarawa Lodro Gyelpo (sbyar ra ba blo gros rgyal po, d. 1728). Polhane remained involved in politics as an ally of Kangchenne, who appointed him as a representative (rgyal tshab) responsible for state affairs. In practice this meant that he would take charge of his home region of Tsang, spending the warmer months patrolling Naktsang (nag tshang) in the north, and the cooler months either at his estate or in Lhasa.

In 1723, at the behest of the Qing emperor Yongzheng, the council was expanded and Polhane received his formal appointment. Two years later he received the honorary title Taiji (Tib. tha'i ji, Man. taiji, Ch. taiji台吉), the first among several imperially bestowed honors he would receive over the course of his life. The Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors would later promote him to Beile Prince (Tib. pas se; Man. beise; Ch. beizi 貝子, 1729), Beile (Tib. pa'i li; Man. beile; Ch. beile 貝勒, 1731) and Commandery Prince (Tib. jun wang; Man. jiyūn wang; Ch. junwang 郡王, 1740).

The council appointments of the mid-1720s were tenuous, and the arrangement was short-lived. Dissension within the council, along with numerous dreams, prophecies, and portents, led Polhane to warn the others of impending disaster, but to no avail. On August 5, 1727, tensions exploded when Ngapopa, Lumpawa, and Jarawa murdered Kangchenne in an office located directly above the entrance to the Lhasa Tsuklakhang (lha sa gtsug lag khang). Polhane escaped his comrade's fate by hiding out at his estate in Tsang, where he had earlier gone on the pretense of attending to his sick wife. After gathering allies and provisions in Ngari, Tsang, and Dam, Polhane retook Lhasa from the usurpers in July, 1728. Having secured the backing of the Qing court, Polhane was solidly in control of the Ganden Podrang administration from this point on until his death.

Polhane adopted the ruling title of "Lord of Men" (mi dbang), which was more an epithet than a formally appointed office. Still, outsiders understood his authority easily enough and graced him with the title of "king." Italian missionaries in Lhasa often refer to him as "re del Thibet" and some Qing sources do likewise (zangwang 藏王). This supreme political position was bolstered by circumstance, too, as the young Dalai Lama and his family spent the post-war years far removed from the capital in Kham, an exile imposed by Qing authorities in response to the political machinations of the Dalai Lama's father, Sonam Dargye (bsod nams dar rgyas, d.1744). The family returned to Lhasa only in 1735.

Reign of the Lord of Men (1728–1747)

As supreme political authority, Polhane found himself in the unenviable position of navigating the new Qing presence in Lhasa. In some senses this was a natural relationship; the king had great respect for the so-called Mañjughoṣa Emperor ('jam dbyangs gong ma), with whom he communicated via the ambans, memorials, and private messengers. However, his deference was not a sign of absolute acquiescence. Polhane habitually reprimanded the imperial representatives for even minor disagreements and did everything in his power to limit the imperial army's presence in Lhasa. He also maintained considerable autonomy in what we may now refer to as foreign affairs. The king negotiated deftly with embassies of Dzungars, Torghuts, Ladakhis, Bhutanese, and others.

The Italian Capuchin friars who maintained hospices in Lhasa and Dakpo found Polhane an amicable and charismatic ruler. In a court audience on September 9, 1741, they presented him with a letter and gifts from Pope Clement XII (1652–1740); Polhane issued a friendly reply the following month, together with gifts of gold, brocade, and musk. This warm rapport was eventually chilled by an incident in 1742 in which Tibetan converts refused their service obligations to the government, resulting in twenty lashes each outside of the Lhasa City Court. Polhane permitted the friars to remain in Lhasa, but stipulated that evangelization was no longer a possibility. As a result, the vitality the Capuchin mission had once enjoyed faded, and although the mission was officially abandoned in 1745, communications of the friars indicate that they considered Polhane their greatest advocate among Tibetan elites.

Sonam Tobgye also left a mark on Tibet as a patron of religious institutions. Aside from the aforementioned protection of Nyingma institutions, he endowed and restored monasteries all around central and western Tibet, including Ganden (dga' ldan), Sera (se ra), and Drepung ('bras spungs), Tashilhunpo, Nartang (snar thang), Reting (rwa sgreng), and many smaller institutions in his home region of Upper Nyang (myang stod). From 1729 onward he increased the scale of the Great Prayer Festival (smon lam chen mo) in terms of alms, food offerings, and overall attendance.

Polhane sponsored the production of the first printed canon in central Tibet, the Nartang Kangyur, published in 1730–32, and Tengyur, in 1741–42. He also underwrote the Golden Manuscript Tengyur (gser bris ma), an ornate 225 volumes composed entirely in golden ink, which remains in Ganden Monastery to this day. These projects were far from economical and speak to the king's desire to outdo his predecessors in the eyes of the clergy. His biography emphasizes that neither Lhazang Khan, Taktsepa, nor Kangchenne were able to complete the Kangyur, a project initiated under the Sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso (tA la'i bla ma 06 tshangs dbyangs rgya mtsho, 1683–1706). Such sponsorship of Buddhist foundational material was key to his performance as king of Buddhist Tibet; in practical terms, reproducing the scriptures was a necessary step in his obligation to his Buddhist subjects. 

As an administrator, the Lord of Men implemented a number of noteworthy reforms, many of which were aimed at assisting the common people. Taxes and military obligations were made more equitable by limiting evasion by the well-off, and petty officials were forbidden to impose extortionary fees. He even offered general debt amnesties on occasion. He also reorganized the postal system such that it was more difficult to exploit subjects for corvée service and pack animals. This new "horse station" (rta zam) system was so effective that even Qing officials took to using it in their own communications.

Despite these achievements, not all writers remember the king fondly. Several eighteenth-century Geluk thinkers from Amdo—most notably Changkya Rolpai Dorje (lcang skya rol pa'i rdo rje, 1717–1786) and Tukwan Chokyi Nyima (thu'u bkwan chos kyi nyi ma, 1737–1802)—call into question Polhane's devotion to the Dalai Lama. While Tukwan never met Polhane, and likely just parroted the statements of his teacher, Changkya's disapproval is more telling. Both Changkya's biography of Kelzang Gyatso and Dokhar Tsering Wanggyel's (mdo mkhar tshe ring dbang rgyal, 1697–1763) autobiography attest to the souring relations between Polhane and the Dalai Lama in the latter half of the 1740s. Polhane's own biography suggests that this disagreement may have gone back to the civil war of 1727–1728, in which the Dalai Lama's father pitted himself against the future king.

Things remained cordial enough between the two for several years; the Dalai Lama's biography mentions the two men meeting relatively frequently, if only for symbolic public appearances, such as post-retreat audiences, departure ceremonies, and the like. However, those quietly simmering tensions boiled over in 1745, when a rumor circulated that the Dalai Lama's attendant was performing suppression rituals (mnan pa) against the king. Whether it was dark magic or a specter of paranoia that haunted Polhane, the relationship between the two figureheads became so strained that Qianlong felt compelled to send a court letter demanding the king set the matter aside.

It is also possible that Polhane's critics took issue with more personal affairs. The biographical work known as the Exemplary Deeds of the Lord of Men (mi dbang rtogs brjod), completed in 1733 by his fellow official and confidant Dokhar Tsering Wanggyel, is no stock hagiography. While laudatory at times, it also provides an unprecedented window into its subject's private life and thoughts. Numerous candid accounts of Polhane's hot temper, competitive fire, and immodest inclinations no doubt ruffled the feathers of more conservative readers. Even if there is little evidence of its circulation outside of aristocratic circles, the fact that such a work could be composed in the first place speaks to the dynamic and cosmopolitan intellectual climate of the Tibetan capital at this time.This is not to say that the king was entirely divorced from the numinous. The biography informs us that Polhane was identified with both the worldly deity Begtse and the transcendent deities Yamantaka and Hayagrīva. This double vision speaks to one of the work's larger concerns; namely, parsing a kingly identity capable of reconciling ultimate ideals and this-worldly felicities.

Shortly after the Prayer Festival of 1747, a boil appeared on the king's neck, and after a short bout with illness, he passed away. Several years later, his remains were laid to rest in a reliquary in Ganden Chokhor Ling Monastery (dga' ldan chos 'khor gling) in the Yarlung Valley. His presence remains in Lhasa as well, where an unassuming maṇi wheel (bar skor ma Ni lha khang) he sponsored as a young official has been rebuilt on the Barkhor following its destruction in the Cultural Revolution, standing directly between the former ambans' office in the Tromsikhang (khrom gzigs khang), the Nangtseshar, or Lhasa City Court (snang rtse shar/shag), and the Jokhang; a fitting locale for this larger-than-life diplomat, administrator, and patron.