Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c13.s3.t1.45

v2.c13.s3.t1.45

In the 790s, the Tu-bo was extremely powerful, and the territory under their control extended west to Congling, north to the Tianshan and east to the western part of the present-day Sichuan and Longshan Gansu. They prevented incursions by the Arabs to the east and on the north they formed alliances with Karluk and Qırğız to fight against the Uighur. In 821-22 CE, the Tang made an alliance with Tu-bo to commemorate which a Tang-Tuobo stele was built. In 846 CE (or 842 CE), after Tsenpo Dharma died, Tu-bo collapsed. In 848 CE, a Shazhou Chinese named Zhang Yichao rebelled against Tu-bo, expelled the Tu-bo governors and established the Guiyi military regime. Hexi was brought back within the Tang jurisdiction. Overall, from the time of Srongtsen Gampo, there had been nine Tsenpoes in Tibet in a period of 218 years.