Kapala cups for use in tantric rituals within a Qing palace. Made from the skulls of the enemies of the Qianlong Emperor in 1776, now housed in the Palace Museum Taipei. Labeled “It’s Khwāja-i Jahān” and “It’s Sonom,” both defeated princes [1046 x 809]

Shamelessly stolen from [this twitter thread, ](https://x.com/AdamDSmith1970/status/1831214840787927319)these images are shared [courtesy of the Taipei Palace Museum.](https://theme.npm.edu.tw/Academic/Book-Content.aspx?a=5964&eid=69&bid=3667&listid=2597&type=13&l=1)

Khwāja-i Jahān was a member of the Khoja dynasty and fought the Qing as part of [their complicated campaigns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolt_of_the_Altishahr_Khojas) in Central Asia before his defeat. His severed head was presented to the Qianlong Emperor in front of the court. Sonom was a local leader in the border regions of modern Tibet and Sichuan who opposed the Emperor during the [Jinchuan Campaigns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jinchuan_campaigns#The_History_of_Jinchuan).

Kapala cups are important ceremonial objects in Tibetan Buddhist practice, although more often made from the heads of holy men. These examples were found in a cupboard of a Qing palace in modern times before being evacuated to Taiwan with the nationalist forces.