Gyal Khatun

Gyal Khatun (Balti: རྒྱལ་ཁ་ཐུན།,lit. 'Royal Queen') was a princess from the Maqpon Dynasty in Baltistan. She was the daughter of King Ali Sher Khan Anchan, a very important person in Balti history. Khatun married Jamyang Namgyal, the ruler of Ladakh in the 17th century, becoming the Great Mother Queen of Ladakh. In Balti and Ladakhi language songs, she is also called Silima Khatun, meaning “Untainted and Pure Queen”.

Even though Gyal and her daughter-in-law Gyal Kelsang, who was also a Balti princess, were Muslims, the Ladakhi Buddhists see them in high regard. They consider them same as the Tibetan Buddhist Goddess Tara. Gyal Khatun is also famous for starting the Gelugpa order of Tibetan Buddhism in Ladakh by putting the Je Tsongkhapa sculpture in the Basgo Temple.

Gyal Khatun is respected in Ladakh because she supported both Gompas and Mosques. Her leadership brought peace between the kingdoms of Maqpon and Ladakh. Her son, Sengge Namgyal, later became the most important person in Ladakhi history, known as the “Lion King of Ladakh”. The Balti and Ladakhi rulers saw her as a strong and secular role model.