The traditional list of the ancient Tibetan rulers consists of 42 names. The first 26 rulers may belong to the realm of legend, as there is insufficient evidence of their existence, but modern scholars believe that the kings from no. 27 to no. 32 were historical. The rulers from no. 33 to no. 42 are well documented in many reliable Tibetan, Chinese and foreign sources.
A unified Tibetan state did not exist before the times of the kings number 31, 32, and 33. The earlier rulers, known as the Yarlung dynasty, were probably just local chiefs in the Yarlung Valley area, certainly not emperors of Tibet.
Traditional Tibetan titles for the emperor include tsenpo ("Emperor") and lhase ("Divine Son").
In the list the common transliteration is given first, the academic one in brackets.