Tensung Namgyal (Sikkimese: བསྟན་སྲུང༌རྣམ་རྒྱལ་; Wylie: bstan srung rnam rgyal) (1644–1700)[1] was the second Chogyal (monarch) of Sikkim. He succeeded his father Phuntsog Namgyal in 1670 and moved the capital from Yuksom to Rabdentse near Geyzing. He had three wives from Bhutan, Nambi Onmo, Tibet, Lhacham Pema Putik, and a Limbu princess from the Arun valley, Thungwamukma. After establishing Rabdentse as his new capital he built a palace and asked his Limbu Queen to name it. She named it "Song Khim" which in Limbu language means "New Palace". This later went on to become "Sukhim" and "Sikkim".[2] He was succeeded by his son Chakdor Namgyal, borne by his second wife in 1700.[3] He had one last son with his third wife. Though he is not well known his grandson becomes a king of a small kingdom inside his father's rule.[citation needed]
| Tensung Namgyal | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chogyal of Sikkim | |
| Reign | 1670–1700 |
| Predecessor | Phuntsog Namgyal |
| Successor | Chakdor Namgyal |
| Born | 1644 |
| Died | 1700 (aged 55–56) |
| Spouse | Numbe Ongmu Debasam-serpa Thungwamukma |
| Issue | Pende Ongmu Chakdor Namgyal Shalngo-Guru Pende Tshering Gyemu |
| House | Namgyal dynasty |
| Father | Phuntsog Namgyal |
| Religion | Buddhism |
Tensung had an affair with Numbong, a Lepcha noblewoman married to Tasa Aphong, a prominent Lepcha tumyang (village leader), who had a son by him named Yugthing Arub, who would become Sikkim's treasury official during the reign of Tensung's son, Chagdor. Yugthing would later be captured by Bhutanese forces during their invasion of Sikkim in the early 1700s, but gained the respect of the Bhutanese Deb Raja. His descendants, the Barphungpas, would become a significant clan of the Sikkimese aristocracy.[4]
References
edit- ^ Sikkim Archived 13 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Chumlung, Yakthung (2014). "chapter 5, Kirat Kings of Namgyal Dynasty". Kirat History and Culture: All about south asian Monoglians. ASIN B00JH8W6HQ.
- ^ Alex McKay (1998). Pilgrimage in Tibet. Routledge. ISBN 0-7007-0992-4.
- ^ Kazi, Jigme N. (2020). Sons of Sikkim. Chennai: Notion Press. pp. 74–75.
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