Ngawang Tashi Drakpa (Tibetan: ངག་དབང་བཀྲ་ཤིས་གྲགས་པ, Wylie: Ngag dbang bkra shis grags pa, 1488–1564) was a king of Tibet who ruled in 1499–1554 and 1556/57–1564.
The dynasty originally wielded strong executive power over Central Tibet (Ü and Tsang), but after 1435 the various fiefs gained an autonomous position.
This family acted as patrons to the Karmapa lama, whose religious influence in Ü (East Central Tibet) was greatly enhanced when the Rinpungpa captured Lhasa in 1498.
In 1499, after a turbulent regency, Tsokye Dorje handed over powers to Ngawang Tashi Drakpa who was enthroned as king (gongma, "the high one", "superior").
[5] He later married Sangye Pal Dzomma of the house of Nelpa, a strong-willed woman who actively assisted her husband in expanding their common power base.
His allegiance to the Karmapa hierarch Chödrak Gyatso led him to harass the monks of the Gelugpa sect (the Yellow Hats) in the Lhasa area.
Queen Sangye Pal Dzomma was a main sponsor of the festival, and had close contacts with the Second Dalai Lama, the leading Gelugpa figure.
The historical sources give a generally favourable image of Ngawang Tashi Drakpa and his queen, as being successful in warfare and great patrons of all the major religious sites in the Lhasa area.
Arriving to Tibet they heard that the former ruler Kunga Lekpa had died (actually back in 1481 according to Tibetan chronicles), and that his "son" (actually nephew) Ngagi Wangpo asked for investiture.
The two envoys therefore gave the investiture to his son in turn, whom they called Awang Dashi Daba Jianzan (Ngawang Tashi Drakpa Gyaltsen).
The Jiajing Emperor issued a patent in 1562 where a certain Drakpa Tashi Gyaltsen, son of the old ruler, was appointed as his successor since the father was old and sick and unable to run the affairs.
[16] Although gongmas continued to be appointed up to the early 17th century, the main struggle for power in Tibet was henceforth between the Gelugpa and the Karmapa and their patrons, the Tsangpa.