The sku bla of the Tibetan emperors and its metamorphosis in Yungdrung Bön

In the late 12th century Yungdrung Bön text Grags pa gling grags a deity that has a special relationship to the Tibetan ruler plays a prominent part in the narrative of the Tibetan kings. However, it is not called sku bla but gur lha a term that would seem to be unknown in the imperial period Its characteristics and functions partly overlap with those of the sku bla but to a significant extent also those of the post imperial yul lha. My paper will focus on a study of the gur lha and suggest why this otherwise somewhat obscure term was given prominence in the narrative of the Grags pa gling grags.