Who was the first Tibetan Buddhist imperial preceptor of the Yuan dynasty?

The first Tibetan Buddhist imperial preceptor of the Yuan dynasty was Drogön Chögyal Phagpa. A leading figure of Tibet’s Sakya school, he became a close religious adviser and political ally of Kublai Khan.

Born in 1235, Phagpa was the nephew of the influential Sakya Pandita. He entered the Mongol political world as a young religious leader and developed a priest-patron relationship with Kublai. When Kublai became khagan in 1260, he appointed Phagpa Imperial Preceptor, a position that placed the Tibetan Buddhist scholar near the center of Yuan religious and administrative affairs.

Phagpa also directed the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs, established in 1264, and played a major role in bringing Tibet within the Yuan administrative system. He later received the title Dishi in 1270, partly in recognition of creating the Phagpa script for writing Mongolian and other languages.

Karma Pakshi was another important Tibetan Buddhist figure associated with the Mongol court, while Sakya Pandita was Phagpa’s uncle and predecessor in the Sakya-Mongol relationship. Neither was the first Yuan Imperial Preceptor; that distinction belongs to Phagpa.