Struggle Against The Gelugpa
The history of Karma Tseten's closest successors is not well known, but in the early 17th century the dynasty is frequently mentioned as a competitor for power over Tibet. The family was generally opposed to the Gelugpa and Dalai Lamas, whose power meanwhile increased in Ü (East-Central Tibet). The Tsangpa ruler Karma Phuntsok Namgyal (or, in another account, his uncle Karma Tensung) reacted by invading Ü from his base in Tsang in 1605 and attacking the monasteries Drepung and Sera. 5,000 monks are said to have been massacred on this occasion. Tsangpa expelled the Mongol troops which assisted the Fourth Dalai Lama Yonten Gyatso, himself a Mongol prince by birth. Yonten Gyatso had to flee and the Tsangpa ruler was close to become king of Tibet. In 1612 and 1613 he subjugated a number of local regimes in West Tibet: the Ngari Gyalpo, Lhopa and Changpa. He was less successful against Bhutan, where his enemy Ngawang Namgyal, the abbot of Ralung, had taken refuge.
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