Pome

Pome, or Powo, lies among the forested valleys and high mountains of southeastern Tibet. Long governed by its own rulers, this district formed a kingdom at the eastern edge of the Tibetan world. Its old name Puwo recalled a connection with the dynasty of Tibet's early imperial kings, while its rugged terrain helped sustain a distinct local polity.

Tradition records that the Sakya leader Phagpa gave the region's chief lama a seal and authority to rule in the thirteenth century. His cousin Pöngen Anyak brought outlying territories under his family's control and organised taxation. In the early fourteenth century he built Kanam Sinpo fortress and established himself as king, giving Powo a ruling lineage that endured through the centuries that followed.