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.
[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.
The dominant religion of Gyalrong was once Bon, but in the early 15th Century CE the region received missionaries from central Tibet teaching the doctrine of the Gelug order of Tibetan Buddhism.
[3] Before the Chinese Land Reform Movement there were 18 Gyalrong kingdoms/chiefdoms (嘉绒十八土司) in this area: