Nyatri Tsenpo Became Neck-Enthroned King

According to one Tibetan legend, an outsider named Nyatri Tsenpo wandered through the Himalayas before becoming Tibet's first king. Buddhist accounts described his great strength, webbed hands, and, in one version, eyelids that closed from the bottom. Believing these abnormalities signaled divinity, the Tibetans enthroned him and carried him on their necks and shoulders, earning him a name that means "Neck-Enthroned King." Tradition dates his reign to 127 BC, the first year of the Tibetan calendar.

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