Zhangzhung
ancient culture and kingdom of western and northwestern Tibet
Zhangzhung or Shangshung was an ancient kingdom in western and northwestern Tibet, existing from about 500 BC to 625 AD, pre-dating Tibetan Buddhism. The Zhangzhung culture is associated with the Bon religion, which has influenced the philosophies and practices of Tibetan Buddhism. Zhangzhung people are mentioned frequently in ancient Tibetan texts as the original rulers of today's western Tibet. Only in the last two decades have archaeologists been given access to do field work in the areas once ruled by the Zhangzhung.
Extent
Tradition has it that Zhangzhung consisted "of three different regions: sGob-ba, the outer; Phug-pa, the inner; and Bar-ba, the middle. The outer is what we might call Western Tibet, from Gilgit in the west to Dangs-ra khyung-rdzong in the east, next to lake gNam-mtsho, and from Khotan in the north to Chu-mig brgyad-cu rtsa-gnyis in the south. Ladakh, including Lahaul and Spiti, was part of sGob-ba. The inner region is said to be sTag-gzig (Tazig) [often identified with Bactria], and the middle rGya-mkhar bar-chod, a place not yet identified." While it is not certain whether Zhangzhung was really so large, it was an independent kingdom and covered the whole of what is today's Western Tibet, Ladakh and Gilgit.
The capital city of Zhangzhung was called Khyunglung (Wylie: Khyunglung Ngülkhar or Wylie: Khyung-lung dngul-mkhar), the "Silver Palace of Garuda", southwest of Mount Kailash (Mount Ti-se), which is identified with palaces found in the upper Sutlej Valley.
According to Rolf Alfred Stein, author of Tibetan Civilization, the area of Zhangzhung was not historically a part of Tibet and was a distinctly foreign territory to the Tibetans:
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Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Zhangzhung” is ancient culture and kingdom of western and northwestern Tibet. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Zhangzhung, ancient and culture, not as a finished interpretation.
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