Thönmi Sambhota
This Tibetan grammarian is credited with inventing the Tibetan alphabet and grammar. Minister to King Songtsen Gampo (c.617-698 CE), Thönmi Sambhota (b. seventh cent.) was sent to India to learn the art of writing and later devised the Tibetan script, basing it on a northern form of the Indian Gupta alphabet, and wrote several texts outlining the rules of Tibetan grammar, of which only two survive today.
Since the early 8th century, Tibetans and Himalayan people have treasured "Namtars" as written or spoken narratives that demonstrate the realization of the Buddhist path by exceptional practitioners. These namtars, or spiritual biographies, serve as inspirational guides on the path to enlightenment.
Today, Namtars Foundation aims to record, preserve, and freely offer the world a written and electronic treasury of the oral wisdom of Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhism.
