• Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage
• 2012-2021close
• Publications close
• bod close

The eighteenth century is a key period for Amdo, a region which sits at the crossroads between Tibetan, Mongolian, and Chinese cultural and political spheres of influence. Due to the shifting geo-political landscape of this period, studies have frequently focused on the many historic events, overlooking more localised and personal accounts. This thesis will add to the growing trend of studying personal histories by focusing on the experiences and perspectives of one individual; Sumpa Khenpo Yeshe Paljor (Sum pa mkhan po Ye shes dpal 'byor; 1704–1788). An influential and respected incarnate lama, research on this figure in the West has shown him to be an important diplomat in these tripartite relations and he is often labelled as an interlocutor between the Tibetan, Mongolian, and Chinese cultural spheres. The main text investigated in this thesis is the autobiography of Sumpa Khenpo titled 'A Description of the Activities of the Khenpo Known as Erdeni Paṇḍita, [which is like] Nectar for the Ear' (mKhan po erte ni Paṇḍi tar grags pa'i spyod tshul brjod pa sgra 'dzin bcud len). As a starting point for my investigation, I translated and analysed the work in its historical, religious and political context. During the research, it became clear that Sumpa Khenpo’s role as diplomat was only one of the many roles he assumed. The most interesting facet of his writings, and a key contribution of this thesis, is how he blends all these many roles – or, as the title of this thesis suggests, wears his many hats – and can switch between them as required across the networks he develops. This thesis will highlight three important roles that feature prominently in Sumpa Khenpo’s autobiography. The first aspect studied in this thesis is his influence as a pilgrim; while the main aims of his travels were religious, these journeys also opened and developed networks to further religious, institutional and economic goals as it was expected of the head of monastic institutions. The second aspect is his use of rhetoric to further his roles as a peacekeeper, teacher, and abbot, and to encourage virtue and build his own reputation. The final aspect is more practical in nature, focusing on the use of medicine in his role as healer, teacher, and writer of medical literature, which is still in use today. Sumpa Khenpo’s autobiography bears witness to the fact that he was a true polymath; a frontier cosmopolitan scholar whose many skills, knowledge, and prominence allowed him to comfortably navigate across cultural boundaries and build a reputation to spread the dharma across the region and across time, through his autobiography.