Yeshe Rinchen
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Yeshe Rinchen (Wylie: Ye shes rin c'en) was a Tibetan Imperial Preceptor (Dishi) at the court of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. He lived from (1248-1294) and hailed from Sakya, the foremost monastic regime in Tibet in this period, and held the title from 1286 to his dethronement in 1291.
In the course of the 13th century, the Sakya abbots Sakya Pandita and Phagpa forged a working relationship with the Mongol conquerors, becoming their agents in Tibetan affairs. In 1270, Phagpa was appointed Imperial Preceptor (Dishi) by Kublai Khan. This office was not merely religious but also political: the Dishi exerted a paramount influence in the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs (Xuanzheng Yuan) which was the office that oversaw Buddhist and Tibetan affairs.[1] His decrees bore the same weight as the great khan in Central Tibet. He usually resided close to the Yuan emperor. The first three Dishi belonged to the Khon lineage, members of which were hereditary abbots of the Sakya Monastery. The disciples of the abbots Sakya Pandita and Phagpa were grouped in the so-called Three Schools, namely the eastern (Shar), western (Nub) and middle (Gun). The Shar was headed by a family of Zhangzhung origins, known as Sharpa.[2]