Drogon Chogyal Phakpa

Drogon Chogyal Phakpa (Lodro Gyaltsen) (1235–1280) was the seventh Sakya Trizin and fifth of the five founding masters of the Sakya order. Although his religious name is Lodro Gyaltsen, he is better known by his title, Drogon Chogyal Phakpa. Chogyal Phakpa was Sakya Pandita’s primary disciple, religious heir, and paternal nephew. He accompanied Sakya Pandita on his travels to the Mongol Court and participated in his activities there. He was at Sakya Pandita’s side to witness the miraculous nature of the great master’s passing into parinirvana, described in vivid detail in his biography. Shortly thereafter, at the age of only nineteen, Chogyal Phakpa so impressed Emperor Kublai Khan that the khan designated him his personal religious master with the title of tishri, and gave him religious and secular authority over the three provinces of Tibet.