Jaisang Depa (jaisang sde pa) was born as Trinle Gyatso ('phrin las rgya mtsho) in the Ü province of Tibet around the beginning of the seventeenth century. He was also known as Drongmene (grong smad nas) meaning the person from Drongme (grong smad) village. A monk of the Geluk tradition, he served as Personal Assistant to Lobzang Gyatso, the Fifth Dalai Lama (blo bzang rgya mtsho) from 1632 to 1660. In 1660 he was appointed as Regent, de facto Ruler of Tibet, by Lobzang Gyatso, who renamed him at that point as Trinle Gyatso. In this post he succeeded Depa Norbu (sde pa nor bu) (r. 1659-1660) and retained it until his death in 1668. He was the Fifth Dalai Lama's third Regent out of a total of six and was succeeded by Lobzang Tutop (blo bzang mthu stobs).
Place and date of birth Jaisang Depa was born as Trinle Gyatso in the village estate of Drongme in Nyangtren (nyang bran), to the north of Lhasa (lha sa) and not far from Sera Monastery,Richardson 1998, p.451 an estate which Lobzang Gyatso visited in 1629.Karmay 2014, p. 75 (Dukula p. 97) His birth date is not recorded but since he served as an attendant of the infant Fifth Dalai Lama (b. 1617) from around 1620 or 1622, it is likely that he was born around the end of the sixteenth century or the start of the seventeenth.
Family history, names and titles Jaisang Depa's family claimed descent from the Kagyud teacher Tshurton Wang-nge (mtshur ston dbang nge). He was given the title of 'Jaisang Depa' in 1637 by the Mongol chieftain Gushri Khan (gushri khan), who had come to Lhasa in triumph after defeating his fellow Mongol Chogtu Tayiji (chog thu tha'i ji) and his army in the Amdo (a mdo) region, north east Tibet. Chogtu had been an ally of the Tsangpa (gtsang pa) and enemy of the Geluk tradition of Tibetan Buddhism to which Lobzang Gyatso and his followers belonged. When Lobzang Gyatso gave Gushri Khan a Tibetan name and the title of "King" in recognition of his feat he responded by awarding titles to Lobzang Gyatso's senior staff, including Trinle Gyatso who was accorded the title of Jaisang Depa. In the autobiography of Lobzang Gyatso he retained this as his name for 23 years, from 1637 until his appointment as Regent in 1660, after which he became known as Trinle Gyatso again, but with the title 'Depa'.Karmay 2014, pp. 129-130 (Dukula pp. 168-171)
Jaisang Depa's father, Gopa Tashi () of Drongme fought as a commander with Geluk forces against Tsang during the 1641-42 Tibetan Civil War. He was injured by shrapnel after Depa Norbu, who was to be Jaisang Depa's predecessor as Lobzang Gyatso's second Regent, and who was under Gopa Tashi's command, fled the battlefield.Karmay 2014, p. 156, p. 159 (Dukula p. 203, p. 207) When Gopa Tashi died in Shigatse (gzhis ka rtse) in 1642 his teeth and hair were sent to Lobzang Gyatso who purified and burned them, out of respect for the deceased; he then used the ashes, which, wrote Lobzang Gyatso, were tinged with gold, to make ink to write the kinds of dharani that were said to liberate those who wore them, or to purify the lower realms; some was also used in making small votive clay images called 'tsha-tsha'.Karmay 2014, p. 174 (Dukula p. 229)
Jaisang Depa's brother, Nangso Asug (nang so a sug), who died of an illness in 1656,Karmay 2014, p. 369 (Dukula pp. 499-500) was the father of Desi Sangye Gyatso (sangs rgyas rgya mtsho) (1653-1705) who was destined to be Lobzang Gyatso's sixth, last and best-known Regent. Sangye Gyatso was thus Trinle Gyatso's nephew; he lived with him from an early age and was trained and educated by him, studying all fields of knowledge.Shakabpa 2010, p. 400Shakabpa 1984, p. 125 After Nangso Asug's death Lobzang Gyatso performed the bone ritual for moulding his bones and hair into many tsha-tsha images.
At some point the family acquired the wider estate of Nyangtren (nyang bran) and Jaisang Depa also became known as Nyangtren Depa (nyang bran sdepa), as well as Depa Drongmepa (sdepa grong smad pa). In 1660, in succession to Depa Norbu, who had rebelled and been banished, Lobzang Gyatso the Fifth Dalai Lama appointed him to the highest office in the land, that of Desi or Depa, meaning Regent, Viceroy, Prime Minister or 'Ruler'.Karmay 2014, p. 435 (Dukula pp. 587-588) He is also referred to as Desi Drongmepa Trinle Gyatso.Shakabpa 2010, p. 361, p. 363, p. 400
Early career As Trinle Gyatso, Jaisang Depa had started his career as a monk of the Ganden Phodrang, the Dalai Lamas' establishment at Drepung Monastery, and helped take care of Lobzang Gyatso the Fifth Dalai Lama from the latter's infancy.Karmay 2014, p. 6 In 1632 he was appointed as Lobzang Gyatso's personal assistant, replacing Changngo Chodze (byang ngos chos mdzad) who had displeased the Chagdzo (), or principal attendant, Sonam Rapten ().Richardson 1998, p. 450Karmay 2014, p. 105 (Dukula pp. 137-138)
Lobzang Gyatso states in his autobiography that concerning coverage therein of events up to the age of 15, i.e. his life from his birth in 1617 up to 1632, he had relied on notes that had been taken by Jaisang Depa, amongst others.Karmay 2014, p. 20 (Dukula p. 17)
Trinle Gyatso is next referred to in the autobiography in 1637 when he began to teach Lobzang Gyatso astronomy in return for the transmission of a sacred text and generous payment,Karmay 2014, p. 127 (Dukula p. 166) and a little later he assisted Lobzang Gyatso working on his calendar.Karmay 2014. p. 133 (Dukula p. 173) His expertise and knowledge of astrology is further revealed in 1639 when he started making the calculations for a detailed astrological calendar that Lobzang Gyatso was creating, a job he continued with for the next twelve years.Karmay 2014, p. 139 (Dukula p. 181)
Later in 1637 the title Jaisang Depa was awarded to him by Gushri Khan. Apart from mentioning certain projects he was given, references to Jaisang Depa/Trinle Gyatso in the autobiography are for the most part trivial, recording for example on seven occasions, in 1648, 1650, 1654 (twice), 1656 (twice) and 1661, that he helped nurse Lobzang Gyatso when he was ill.Karmay 2014, pp. 220, 234, 330, 337, 364, 371, 442-443 (Dukula pp. 292, 309, 446, 452, 493, 502, 598) respectively
In 1638, Jaisang Depa seems to have himself displeased Sonam Rapten who was unhappy with something he had done and sent him away to Olga to collect the autumn harvest. Sonam Rapten wanted to replace him with Depa Norbu but Lobzang Gyatso prevented this and in the end one Lopa Chodze (lo pa chos mdzad) stood in for him.Karmay 2014, p. 135 (Dukula p. 175)
The projects he was assigned were generally of a religious nature. For example, in 1640, Sonam Rapten decided to restore the practice of Jampal Zilnon, involving complex rites, recitations, costumes and ritual sacred dance, which had been a tradition at the time of the Third Dalai Lama but discontinued during the reign of the Fourth. As Sonam Rapten became preoccupied with the looming Tibetan civil war implementation of the project was delegated to Jaisang Depa.Karmay 2014, p. 146 (Dukula p. 190) In 1655 and for several years he was put in charge of another project to make numerous statues of various lamas and deities with the help of a team of Nepalese artists.Karmay 2014, p. 352 (Dukula pp. 474-475) In 1659 Nechung Chogyal (gnas chung chos rgyal) through its oracle advised Lobzang Gyatso to have an image of Dorje Drolo (rdo rje gro lod), a manifestation of Guru Rinpoche, made and installed in the Gonkhang (mgon khang) of his room for his own wellbeing and Jaisang Depa was tasked with organising this.Karmay 2014, p. 392 (Dukula p. 531) Then in 1660 a retreat house was to be built at the gorge of Phagri (phag ri) and Jaisang Depa made it a compulsory service to transport the wood there from Yung Dargye Ling (g.yung dar rgyas gling). He also made the rough design for a fenced courtyard for the retreat house. At the same time, he was charged with raising funds for the preparation of a large quantity of precious medicine for fever being made by Pontshang Changngo (dpon tshang byang ngos) and he supervised the physician Lhagsam (drung 'tsho lhag bsam) in gathering all the necessary medicinal substances.Karmay 2014, p. 422 (Dukula p. 572)
In 1652, Sonam Rapten made him Head of Delegation and Joint Treasurer of Lobzang Gyatso's historic visit to the Manchu Imperial Court in Beijing.Karmay 2014, p. 269 (Dukula p. 355) In China, he was given gifts by the emperor as a noble, along with other members of the entourage.Karmay 2014, p. 297 (Dukula p. 397)
In 1654 on returning to Lhasa from China he requested Lobzang Gyatso to write a text on making tsha-tshas, small votive images.Karmay 2014, p. 330 (Dukula pp. 444,445)
In 1658 the news that Sonam Rapten was seriously ill, two days before his death, was broken to Lobzang Gyatso through Jaisang Depa.Karmay 2014, p. 384 (Dukula p. 519)
In 1659 when the rebellion of Depa Norbu and his associates became known, Lobzang Gyatso summoned Jaisang Depa and other aides to a council of war which resolved to send an expeditionary force to Shigatse.Karmay 2014, p. 412 (Dukula 557) During the standoff, when the two Mongol chieftains arrived at Shigatse fort and parleyed with the two main rebels, the rebels, taking the Mongols for mediators, alleged that they, the Mongols, had been misled by the doings of Jaisang Depa and other senior officials in Lhasa.Karmay 2014, p. 415 (Dukula 561) The rebels eventually gave up, however, and dispersed without a fight in the spring of 1660.Karmay 2014, p. 424 (Dukula p. 575)
In the fourth month of 1660 Nechung Chogyal urged Lobzang Gyatso to go into strict retreat as, following the death of Sonam Rapten, he was becoming unduly distracted by political duties. He discussed this with Jaisang Depa and other senior officials and it was decided that Lobzang Gyatso should start by reducing his busy periods and delegate such duties, dictating decisions briefly to Jaisang Depa and giving further clarification when necessary.Karmay 2014, pp. 431-432 (Dukula pp. 583-585)
Appointment as Regent From the spring of 1660 senior officials had been expressing their opinions, verbally and in writing, that Jaisang Depa was the best candidate to be appointed as the next Depa, following Depa Norbu's fall from grace. The Mongol King, Tenzin Dayan Khan (bstan 'dzin da la'i han) wrote to Lobzang Gyatso on the subject and Jinon (ji nong) and the Mongol prince Hung Taiji (hung tha'i ji) also urged him to make a decision, saying "We want you to complete the process of enthronement of the Depa before we leave for Kokonor. People regard Depa Norbu, Sepo (sras po) and Jaisang Depa as the best of all, but the first two are no longer acceptable. Thus no other person is more acceptable than Jaisang Depa." After discussion Lobzang Gyatso made the decision, inviting the King from Dam and sending his chamberlain to inform Jaisang Depa of his appointment. He declined twice, saying it would hinder his spiritual practice, but on the third request he accepted the office of Regent.
The Scottish scholar Hugh Richardson indicated that Jaisang Depa might not have been Lobzang Gyatso's first choice because he had relied on Dronnyer Drungpa () as his right-hand man since Sonam Rapten's death, but there is little or no evidence to be found in the autobiography to support this contention.Karmay 2014, pp. 384-435 (Dukula pp. 520-587)
Jaisang Depa was ceremonially enthroned at Gaden Yangtse Monastery on the 13th of the 7th month, 1660, and Lobzang Gyatso conferred the title of Sakyong (Depa) on him and the name Trinle Gyatso, the same as his birth name. A new seal was created for him and its first imprints were offered to the Jowo Buddha at Lhasa's Jokhang temple and other important statues, and many other special rituals were carried out over the following month.Karmay 2014, p. 436 (Dukula pp. 588-589)