Rinpung

Rinpung lies in the Tsang country of central Tibet, along the valley of the Yarlung Tsangpo. Its name is shared with the fortress west of Shigatse from which the Rinpung family took its title. Rising from local authority under the Phagmodru rulers, the family transferred its administration to the fortress of Samdrubtse at Shigatse in 1435. Its power subsequently extended across Tsang, and in the late fifteenth century its leaders intervened in the affairs of Lhasa and Ü.