Songtsän Gampo Monarch

Songtsän Gampo (Tibetan: སྲོང་བཙན་སྒམ་པོ, Wylie: srong btsan sgam po, 569–649?/605–649?) was the founder of the Tibetan Empire (Tibetan: བོད, Wylie: bod; Chinese: 吐蕃; pinyin: Tǔbō/Tǔfán; Wade–Giles: T'u3-po1/T'u3-fan2), by tradition held to be the thirty-third ruler in his dynasty. (In Chinese records, his name is given as Chinese: 松贊干布; pinyin: Sōngzàn Gānbù; Wade–Giles: Sung1-tsan4 Kan1-pu4 or Chinese: 棄宗弄贊; pinyin: Qìzōng Lòngzàn; Wade–Giles: Ch'i4-tsung1 Lung4-tsan4).His mother, the queen, is identified as Driza Tökarma (Wylie: 'bri bza thod dkar ma "the Bri Wife [named] White Skull Woman"). The dates of his birth and when he took the throne are not certain. In Tibetan accounts, it is generally accepted that he was born in an Ox year of the Tibetan calendar, which means one of the following dates: 557, 569, 581, 583, 605 or 617 CE.) He is thought to have ascended the throne at age thirteen (twelve by Western reckoning), by this reckoning c. 629 CE.There are difficulties with this position, however, and several earlier dates for the birth of Songtsän Gampo have been suggested, including 569, 593 or 605. The question must remain open.