Abstract
The thirty-third King of Tibet, Srongtsan Gampo [Tib: Srong-btsan sgam-po] is a well known figure in Tibetan history. In fact, many scholars maintain that the written history of Tibet started from his period only. Many aspects of Tibetan history and cultural developments are attributed as being King Srongtsan Gampo’s achievements. But the strange and unresolved side of his story is that historians and scholars are divided on the question of how long the King lived. From the varied hypotheses, that he lived until 33 years, 36 years, 82 years and 94 years of age, the two most popular theories are that he lived up to 33 years or 82 years of age. This paper seeks to look into the latter two proposed ages and present a logical answer to this long-standing enigma. It enumerates six logical points to support the theory that says King Srongtsan most likely lived up to the ripe age of 82 years.
Keywords: Srong-btsan sgam-po, Srongtsan Gampo, Tibetan King, Avalokitesvara [Source]