The Seventeen Tantras of the Esoteric Instruction Series (Tibetan: མན་ངག་སྡེའི་རྒྱུད་བཅུ་བདུན, Wylie: man ngag sde'i rgyud bcu bdun) or the Seventeen Tantras of the Ancients (rnying-ma'i rgyud bcu-bdun) are an important collection of tantras in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. They comprise the core scriptures of the "esoteric instruction series" (Menngagde) of Dzogchen teachings and are its most authoritative scriptures.

The Seventeen Tantras are part of the Vima Nyingthig ("Inner Essence of Vimalamitra"), a terma cycle of Dzogchen texts revealed by the treasure discoverer Zhangton Tashi Dorje (c. 1097-1127) and associated with the 8th century Indian monk Vimalamitra who is traditionally believed by the Nyingma school to have first brought these texts to Tibet.

The Vima Nyingthig itself consists of 'tantras' (rgyud), 'agamas' (lung), and 'upadeshas' (man ngag). The other texts are mainly exegetical literature on the material found in the Seventeen tantras. The Seventeen Tantras explain the view (lta ba) of Dzogchen, the two main forms of Dzogchen meditation (sgom pa) - kadag trekchö ("the cutting through of primordial purity"), and lhündrub tögal ("the direct crossing of spontaneous presence") - and the conduct (spyod pa) of a Dzogchen practitioner, along with other ancillary topics.

Contemporary Tibetologists like David Germano and Christopher Hatchell hold that the Vima Nyingthig was likely composed by its discoverer, the terton Zhangton Tashi Dorje (1097-1127). Germano also holds that the first historically attested figure connected with these tantras is Chetsün Sengé Wangchuk (lce btsun seng ge dbang phyug, c. 11th century).

Samten Karmay writes that while Vimalamitra is attested in the sources as a Buddhist monk, there is "a fair amount of uncertainty" about this figure (and likewise about his supposed student, Nyangban Tingzin Zangpo). Vimalamitra's name does appear in some Tibetan inscriptions however. Karmay also notes that certain critics of Dzogchen claimed that it was Chetsün Sengé Wangchuk who authored the Seventeen Tantras.

According to Bryan J. Cuevas, while the traditional Nyingma view is that the Seventeen Tantras were divine revelations received by Garab Dorje, these texts seem to have been "compiled over a long period of time by multiple hands." Cuevas also writes that "the precise identity of these unknown redactors is a riddle that I hope may soon be solved. Whatever the case, we must accept that the collection in the form it is known to us today consists of several layers of history reflecting diverse influences."

Germano also notes that from the time of Chetsün Sengé Wangchuk onwards, "we have datable [historical] figures" in what constitutes a lineage of the Seventeen Tantras. This lineage is as follows: Chetsün Sengé Wangchuk's disciple Zhangton Tashi Dorje (1097-1167), Zhangton's son Nyima Bum (1158-1213), Nyima Bum's nephew Guru jo 'ber (1172-1231), Jo 'ber's disciple Trulzhik Sengge Gyabpa (khrul zhig seng ge rgyab pa, 1200s), Trulzhik's disciple Melong Dorje (1243-1303), and Melong's disciple Kumaradza (1266-1343), who was the root guru of Longchenpa (1308-1363).

In the Nyingma school, the Seventeen Tantras are traditionally said to be translations of Indian texts by figures of the Early Dissemination period, mainly the 8th-century Indian monk Vimalamitra, through his teacher Shri Singha. They are traced back to the quasi-historical figure of Garab Dorje, who is said to have received them from the Buddha Kuntu Zangpo. According to Germano the traditional account of the history of the Seventeen tantras can be found in the sNying thig lo rgyus chen po (The Great Chronicles of the Seminal Heart), a history found in the Vima Nyingtik, which was "possibly authored" by Zhangton Tashi Dorje.