Rinchen Gyaltsen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rinchen Gyaltsen was born in 1238 as the son of Zangtsa Sonam Gyaltsen and his wife Jomo Dro.[1] His father belonged to the Khon family, members of which were hereditary abbot-rulers of the Sakya Monastery in Tsang in western Tibet. In the time of his uncle, the abbot Sakya Pandita (1182–1251), Sakya became brokers between the various Tibetan petty lords and the Mongol power. Rinchen Gyaltsen's elder half-brother Phagpa enjoyed a close relationship with Kublai Khan and was appointed to the title Imperial Preceptor (Dishi) in 1270. As such he was a standing institution in the Yuan government, enjoying extraordinary honours and resources.[2] The Dishi had a paramount influence on the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs (Zongzhi Yuan, later Xuanzheng Yuan). Meanwhile, another brother, Chakna Dorje, was the viceroy of Tibet from 1264 to 1267.[3]