According to the Ladakh Chronicles, the Namgyal dynasty was founded by Bhagan, the son of Bhara in the kingdom of Maryul. Bhagan was described as warlike, and established the Namgyal dynasty in 1460 after he formed an alliance with the people of Leh and dethroned the Maryul king Blo-gros-mc-og-ldan and his brothers drun-pa A-li and Slab-bstan-dar-rgyas. He took the surname Namgyal and founded a new dynasty which still survives today. King Tashi Namgyal managed to repel most Central Asian raiders, and built a royal fort on the top of the Namgyal Peak. Tsewang Namgyal temporarily extended his kingdom as far as Nepal. , based in Leh.
Expansion
, known as the "Lion" King, made efforts to restore Ladakh to its old glory by an ambitious and energetic building program including the Leh Palace and the rebuilding of several gompas, the most famous of which are Hemis and Hanle. He expanded the kingdom into Zanskar and Spiti, but was defeated by the Mughals, who had already occupied Kashmir and Baltistan. His son Deldan Namgyal had to placate the Mughal emperorAurangzeb by building a mosque in Leh. However, he defeated the Mughal army in Baltistan. His son Delek sided with Bhutan in a religious dispute between Tibet and Bhutan, which resulted in an attempted invasion by the fifth Dalai Lama. The Moghuls withdrew after being paid off by the 5th Dalai Lama. With the help of reinforcements from Galdan Boshugtu Khan, Khan of the Zungar Empire, the Tibetans attacked again in 1684. The Tibetans were victorious and concluded a treaty with Ladakh then they retreated back to Lhasa on December 1684. The Treaty of Temisgam in 1684 settled the dispute between Tibet and Ladakh, but its independence was seriously restricted.
Downfall
The Namgyal dynasty ended in 1842 after a surprise invasion of Ladakh from the Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab. By the beginning of the 19th century, the Mughal empire had collapsed and Sikh rule had been established in Punjab and Kashmir. However the Dogra region of Jammu remained under its Rajput rulers Rajput ruler were given the control of their states but under the name of Punjab and they were part of khalsa empire, Under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh ——his General Zorawar Singh invaded Ladakh in 1834. King Tshespal Namgyal was dethroned and exiled to Stok.
