Jigme Dorje Palbar Bista

Jigme Dorje Palbar Bista (Tibetan: འཇིག་མེད་རྡོ་རྗེ་དཔལ་འབར།; Nepali: जिग्मे दोर्जे पलवर विष्ट; 1930 – 16 December 2016) was the King of Mustang (Tibetan: Lo Gyalpo, Nepalese: Mustang Rājā) between 1964 and 2008, until monarchy, semi-monarchy, vassals and titular kingship were abolished in Nepal. He was descendant in the 25th generation of King Amadpal bist (1440–1447), who was founder of the Kingdom of Lo. King Amadpal Bist was from the direct lineage of the greatest king of Tibet, Songtsen Gampo.^[1]

H.R.H. King Jigme Dorje Palbar Bista was born in Lo-Manthang Palace in Upper Mustang in the Himalayan Range of Nepal. He was the third son of H.R.H. King Angun Tenzing Trandul, King of Mustang, by his wife, Queen Kelsang Choeden of the Zhalu Kushang family of the Che clan. She was the elder sister of Ngawang Khyenrab Thupten Lekshe Gyatso, the 18th Chogye Trichen Rinpoche. The Zhalu Kushang family of the Che clan is a distinguished aristocratic lineage from the Tsang region of Tibet. Historically, they were lords of the Zhalu area during the Yuan dynasty (13th–14th centuries) and were known for their patronage of Buddhist monasteries, including Zhalu Monastery, Ngor Monastery, and Nalendra Monastery. Their name, "Kushang," meaning "royal maternal uncle," reflects their significant role in Tibetan nobility, particularly through intermarriages with Sakya throne holders .^[2]

Jigme Dorje was educated privately at Shigatse, Tibet. He was appointed as the Heir Apparent recognised by the Nepal Government in 1959. He succeeded as the Head of the Royal House of Lo and to the title of Lo Gyalpo and King of Mustang upon the death of his father H.R.H. King Angun Tenzing Trandul Palbar in 1964 and elder brother H.R.H. King Wangdu Nyingpo Palbar in 1968. With King Angdu Nyingpo Palbar leaving only two daughters and no male heir, the throne passed to his younger brother, Jigme Dorje.

Bista was a title gifted by King of Nepal which means Distinguished Baron in the Nepali language and not the Nepali family name Bista. He was a member of the Raj Sabha between (1964–1990) and a Lieutenant Colonel of Nepalese Army (1964).

He married a noble lady from Shigatse, Tibet, H.H. Rani Sahiba Sidol Palbar Bista in the 1950s.^[3] He had one son, Angun Tenzin, who died at the age of 8, and later adopted his nephew, Jigme Singhe Palbar Bista (b. 1957) as the heir apparent.

• King Birendra Coronation Medal (24 February 1975).
• King Gyanendra Coronation Medal (4 June 2001).

• Kingdom of Mustang

• Paul Raffaele, Il re del Mustang, <Le ultime tribù sulla Terra>, pp. 205–220, fbe edizioni, Trezzano sul Naviglio 2003.

• Media related to Jigme Palbar Bista at Wikimedia Commons