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Tibetan History
Tuesday, April 5, 2005-12:26 PM
TIBETAN PRIMER: Practical information for first-time visitors to the Himalayan Kingdom
PART 3: THE CHINESE, BRITISH, AND MONGOLIANS: A Brief History of Tibet
Tibetan history doesn't follow a straight line. Monks, kings, generals, and Hollywood film stars have pulled the country in many different directions.
During most of the first millennium Tibet was divided into many independent entities. The ruling classes practiced the indigenous religion Boen even though Buddhism had been imported from India as early as 173 AD.
In the seventh century King Songtsen Gampo unified Tibet, married a Chinese princess, and established a capital in Lhasa. Two centuries later the dynasty he established fell victim to rising tensions between the people and their religion of Buddhism and the leadership, who still practiced Boen. Buddhists steadily gained more and more power.
In the thirteenth century Genghis Khan took control of Tibet. Centuries later Altyn Khan, whose grandson eventually became the next Dalai Lama himself, first used the Mongolian word dalai to designate Sonam Gyatso of the Gelug sect of Buddhism the Dalai Lama.
Later conflicts between the Mongolians and Dalai Lama resulted in the sixth Dalai Lama being driven into exile and caused a rival Mongolian tribe, the Dzungars, to take up the Gelug cause. The Dzungars gained control of Lhasa.
But that only aggravated the Qing dynasty in China, who had sour relations with the Dzungars. The Chinese responded by seizing Tibet and establishing suzerainty there that lasted until 1911.
In 1904 the British Colonel Younghusband used force to turn Tibet into a British protectorate in order to protect Britain's trade interests. A couple years later, Britain changed course and supported China's claim to Tibet. After the Chinese revolution of 1911, Tibet declared independence. Tibet managed it's own affairs despite the fact that their independence claims were disputed.
In 1950, the PLA entered Tibet and made Tibet an autonomous region of China. By the end of the decade, a rebellion supported by the CIA provoked a response from China that resulted in the Dalai Lama being implored by his people to flee to India. Martial law was declared.
Martial law ended in 1990, but the situation is far from resolved.
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