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Tubo kingdom:Songtsan Gambo's Administrative system

 
the image of Sontsan Gambo in the remains of Redhill PalaceAnother contribution Songtsan Gambo made to the Tubo people is that he set up an administrative system that combined a military and civilian system. He divided the middle and lower reaches of the Yarlung River into four Ru's: Wu Ru, with Lhasa as its center, Gyo Ru, centered on Neitong, Gyas Ru, centered on Namlin, and Ru Lag, centered on Laze. According to Five Remaining Teachings, every Ru was composed of an Upper Ru and Lower Ru, with one General in charge of the former and one Deputy General in charge of the latter. Altogether, there were four generals and four deputy generals in the army of the four Ru's, and every leader among of them had four units with one thousand men each, plus two additional smaller units, one directly belonging to each Ru and the other being an Imperial Guard unit (according to A Happy Feast of the Wisdom), bringing the total to forty units with one thousand men each. A Happy Feast of the Wisdom also has it that after Tubo conquered Zhangzhung and Sobi, the administrative and military system of Ru and one-thousand-men unit was promoted there, too, with Zhangzhung and Sobi contributing eleven and ten units respectively, making sixty-one units in total in the Tubo kingdom. The leader of each unit was appointed directly by the Tsampo, and those who had given outstanding service to the state were entitled to become hereditary leaders of a one-thousand man unit.

The Tsambo divided the four Ru's and one-thousand-men units according to regions instead of clans and tribes, which was a royal administrative system breaking away from blood relationship of the tribal unions. Every one-thousand-man unit was divided into numbers of tribes, each of which had a tribal leader, vanguard officer, agricultural officer, financial and taxation official, secretary and other officials in charge of production, military affairs, finance and taxation and so on. Historical evidence of the Tubo kingdom, which include the documents excavated in Dunhuang and inscribed wooden slips found in Xinjuang, show that it was a general phenomenon for there to be various surnames in a tribe, and in some tribes there were even members of former nationalities. So, it can be concluded that the tribes of the Tubo kingdom were transferred to the level of an administrative system.
Master Catherine Jigme

About the Author - Master Catherine Jigme

With exceptional passion and outstanding leadership, Mrs. Catherine has dedicated herself to Tibet inbound tourism and China tour for 15 years. As one of the handful females who see great potential of Chinese inbound tourism, Catherine has made great contribution to promoting Tibet tourism and enhancing the employment of Tibetans and prosperity of local Tibetan community.

Over the years, she travelled overseas with Tibet Tourism Bureau many times to promote Tibet tourism. Currently, Catherine works as the marketing director of Tibet Vista, an opinion leader behind the whole team of Tibet Vista.

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