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Sacred Texts: Buddhism

Chapter VII. Historical Account of the Introduction of Buddhism into Tibet

19th Century BuddhologyBuddhist IconographyTibetan Buddhism

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This is a scholarly historical account, likely a 19th-century European work on Tibetan religion and history, drawing on primary Tibetan and Mongolian sources (Csoma, Ssanang Ssetsen, Klaproth) as well as Indological scholarship. It traces the displacement of Tibet's pre-Buddhist religion — described as a sorcery-and-idolatry system administered by a powerful priesthood — by Buddhism, arguing that early Buddhist missionaries deliberately adopted supernatural claims and made tactical concessions to local beliefs in order to win converts. The narrative centers on two pivotal reigns: King Srongtsan Gampo (born 617 A.D.), who sent a delegation to India to create a Tibetan alphabet and translate Buddhist scriptures, and King Thisrong de tsan (728–786 A.D.), under whom Buddhism became permanently established after surviving suppression attempts. A distinctive claim is that Buddhism's success depended less on doctrine than on strategic mimicry of the existing magical-priestly tradition, with figures like Padma Sambhava credited with subduing demons and performing miracles as a conversion tool. The text also highlights the role of Srongtsan Gampo's two foreign wives — a Nepalese and a Chinese princess, later venerated as the goddess Dolma — as active agents in Buddhism's spread, bringing scriptures, relics, and temple-building patronage to Tibet.

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