The Gyalrong (Tibetan: རྒྱལ་རོང), also called the rGyalrong or Jiarong (Chinese: 嘉绒人), are speakers of the Qiangic Gyalrong language who live in the southern part of Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan, China. They are also found in Danba County of Garze Prefecture. The word Gyalrong is an exo-ethnonym and loanword from the Tibetan word rGyal-mo tsha-wa rong.^[1]

The Gyalrong refer to themselves as Keru.^[2] During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Gyalrong were ruled by local chieftains (Tusi). In 1746, Slob Dpon, the chieftain of Greater Jinchuan, was trying to unite tribes in Sichuan, forcing the Qing dynasty to launch campaigns to suppress them. After 1950, the People's Republic of China classified them as a sub-group of the Tibetan people.

Notable Gyalrong

• Alan Dawa Dolma (born 1987), singer
• Sanggyai Yexe (1917–2008), communist official
• Sonom (died 1776), chieftain of the Gyalrong

Before the Chinese Land Reform Movement there were 18 Gyalrong kingdoms/chiefdoms (嘉绒十八土司) in this area:[3] Kingdom of Chakla (ལྕགས་ལ། Wylie: lcags la; Chinese: 明正土司) Chiefdom of Gotod (མགོ་སྟོད། Wylie: mgo stod; Chinese: 冷边土司) Chiefdom of Shenbian (Chinese: 沈边土司) Chiefdom of Gomai Damkala (མགོ་སྨད་དམ་ཀ་ལ། Wylie: mgo smad dam ka la, Chinese: 天全六番土司), annexed by Qing China in 1729 Chiefdom of Muchi (མུ་ཕྱི།Wylie: mu phyi, Chinese: 穆坪土司) separatist regime: Chiefdom of Guthang (འགུ་ཐང་། Wylie: vgu thang, Chinese: 鱼通土司) Chiefdom of Geshitsa (དགེ་ཤིས་ཙ། Wylie: dge shis tsa, Chinese: 革什咱土司), annexed by R.O. China in 1912 Chiefdom of Dando (མདའ་མདོ། Wylie: mdav mdo, Chinese: 丹东土司), rump state of Chiefdom of Geshitsa since 1912 Governor of Geshitsa (Chinese: 革什咱总管), puppet regime of R.O. China since 1912 Chiefdom of Bawam (པ་ཝམ། Wylie: pa wam, Chinese: 巴旺土司), annexed by R.O. China in 1912 Chiefdom of Trateng (བྲག་སྟེང་། Wylie: brag steng, Chinese: 巴底土司), annexed by R.O. China in 1912 Chiefdom of Trokyap (ཁྲོ་སྐྱབས་། Wylie: khro skyabs, Chinese: 绰斯甲土司) Chiefdom of Chuchen (ཆུ་ཆེན། Wylie: chu chen, Chinese: 祈浸土司) aka Greater Jinchuan, annexed by Qing China in 1776 Chiefdom of Tsanlha (བཙན་ལྷ། Wylie: btsan lha, Chinese: 赞拉土司) aka Lesser Jinchuan, annexed by Qing China in 1776 Chiefdom of Ogshi (འོག་གཞི། Wylie: vog gzhi, Chinese: 沃日土司) Chiefdom of Tsenpa (བསྟན་པ། Wylie: bstan pa, Chinese: 党坝土司) Chiefdom of Dzonggag (རྫོང་འགག Wylie: rdzong vgag, Chinese: 松岗土司) Chiefdom of Jotse (ཅོག་ཙེ། Wylie: cog tse, Chinese: 卓克基土司) Chiefdom of Somang (སོ་མང་། Wylie: so mang, Chinese: 梭磨土司) Chiefdom of Gyalkha (རྒྱལ་ཁ། : Wylie: rgyal kha, Chinese: 杂谷脑土司) Chiefdom of Lungu (ལུང་དགུ Wylie: lung dgu, Chinese: 瓦寺土司)

References