page_title: Sonam Rapten
section_title: His last years
hierarchical_section_title: Sonam Rapten / His last years
caption_attribution_description: English: Depa Sonam Rapten (1595-1658) and Gushri Khan (1582-1655) attending a teaching most probably given by the Fifth Dalai Lama (1617-1682). Sonam Rapten is seen offering a hand mandala. Gushri Khan has removed his hat out of respect for his teacher. This is taken from a blog where Sonam Rapten is mistaken for Sangye Gyatso, one of his successors as Desi who was only born 2 years prior to Gushri's death. Said to be a detail from a mural at the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet.
context_page_description: Sönam Rapten, initially known as Gyalé Chödze and later on as Sönam Chöpel, was born in the Tholung valley in the Central Tibetan province of Ü. He started off as a monk-administrator of the Ganden Phodrang, the early Dalai Lamas' residence at Drepung Monastery, outside Lhasa, Tibet. From around or before the age of 20 he became the Treasurer and the "Chagdzo" of the Fourth and, subsequently, the Fifth Dalai Lama. He presided as the most senior official of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism for over 40 years.
  The Gelugpa school was twice threatened with extinction in the first half of his tenure, in 1618 and again in 1634. Despite this, under Sonam Rapten's leadership, and thanks to both Mongol military assistance and the pre-eminence of his Ruler the Fifth Dalai Lama as a spiritual leader, the Gelugpa rose to govern most of Greater Tibet by the time he reached 47 years old. Subject to intermittent interference from neighbouring countries, the government he helped to found continued to rule at least the main area of Central Tibet for over 300 years.
  After the civil war of 1641-42 and until his death in 1658 Sonam Rapten acted as de facto ruler of Tibet with the title of Depa.
context_section_description: Sonam Rapten, in general, continued to dominate the Dalai Lama and Tibetan political affairs until his death in 1658. Until Güshri Khan died in 1655, as a pious and devoted disciple of the Dalai Lama he made his troops and advice freely available to Sonam Rapten in their joint collaboration. This ensured the authority of the Dalai Lama was maintained over the widest unified Tibetan Kingdom established since the time of Langdarma in the 9th century.
  According to Richardson's reading of Dukula, however, Sonam Rapten after living a strenuous life "devoted himself more to religion than to politics" during his last few years. His prestige may have suffered, mused Richardson, from the serial failures of his attempts to invade and conquer Bhutan since these failures were ascribed to the shortcomings of his close relative and assistant Depa Norbu.
caption: Sonam Rabten and Gushri Khan sitting at a teaching most likely being given by the Fifth Dalai Lama. From a mural at the Potala Palace, Lhasa, Tibet.
exif: {"Image Software": "Google", "Image ExifOffset": "2118", "Image Padding": "[]", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}