The mythological origin of the monarchy lay in the Tsangpo valley, where the first legendary king Nyatri Tsenpo was in 127 BC. Supposed to have founded the Yarlung dynasty, which existed until around 842 AD. Under their 33rd King Srongtsan Gampo (around 629–649), Tibet quickly became the dominant power in Central Asia; it extended from northern Burma via Nepal to Gilgit and from western Turkestan to the north-western border regions of China.
Srongtsan Gampo suggested inter alia introduced the Tibetan calendar and script and founded the city of Lhasa, which has been the political and religious center of Tibet ever since. Through his marriage to a Nepalese (Bhrikuti; historically controversial) and a Chinese princess (Wencheng), he introduced Buddhism to support kingship, which partially ousted the pre-Buddhist Bon religion rooted in the nobility (numerous mixed forms) and the unification of the empire made possible. Under Trisrong Detsen (755–797) Tibet reached its greatest geographical expansion; In 763 his troops even conquered the Chinese capital Chang’an (now Xi’an). He called Padmasambhava from India, who founded the first Buddhist monastery with Samye. After a Buddhist persecution under King Langdarma (836–841 / 42) Tibet split up again into numerous small states. When Buddhization from India began again around 1000, a monastic Buddhism established itself, which from this time on can be referred to as Tibetan Buddhism (name in the West: Lamaism) and produced various schools of thought. Thanks to the support of the Mongolian Yuankaiser (1271-1368), the Sakyapa School with its center in the SakyaMonastery became a major political force. Under the most important reformer of Tibetan Buddhism, Tsongkhapa (* 1357, † 1419), who founded a monastery east of Lhasa in 1409, the strict ascetic Gelugpa school (“school of the virtuous”, “yellow hats”) developed. In 1578 its head Sonam Gyatso received the title of Dalai Lama from the Mongolian prince Altan Khan. With Mongolian help the Gelugpa set up in 1642 (defeating the king from the dynasty of Tsangpa) its rule over Tibet and obtained there the “great fifth” Dalai Lama Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (* 1617, † 1682) at about the institutionalized Principle of reincarnation (Tulku) permanently the position of political and religious head. Visit rctoysadvice for China Travel Guide.
In 1661, two Jesuits were the first Europeans to visit Lhasa. In 1717 the Djungars seized the Tibetan capital; the troops of the Chinese Qing dynasty called for help recaptured Lhasa in 1720. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Manchu emperors established a protectorate over Tibet, stationed troops there and installed ambane (imperial governors) as controllers of the Tibetan government. In 1750 an attempted anti-Chinese coup failed. The Panchen Lama often stayed at the Chinese-Manchurian imperial court as a representative of Tibet. – In 1788, 1791/92 and 1854–56 Nepalese Gurkhas invaded the Tibetan area. At the end of the 19th century, Tibet came into conflict between China, Great Britain and Russia. A British military expedition under Colonel F. E. Younghusband forcibly advanced to Lhasa in 1904 (flight of the Dalai Lama, who remained in exile until 1909). Great Britain (1906) and Russia (1907) surprisingly recognized Chinese sovereignty over Tibet. In 1910 the Dalai Lama fled again from advancing Chinese troops (return in 1912). After the collapse of the Chinese Empire (1911), Tibet became independent as a theocratic-Lamaist state under the leadership of the 13th Dalai Lama (Tubten Gyatso, * 1876, † 1933) with the help of the British-Indian government. The Panchen Lama, who sympathized with China, was temporarily able to assert itself in eastern Tibet, but after a failed Chinese attempt at reconquest in 1917, he had to go into exile in Nanking (Nanjing) in 1923. 1940 became the 14th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso, * 1935), at whose court H. Harrer stayed from 1946.
After the communists’ victory in the Chinese Civil War and the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (1949), Mao renewed Zedong Taking advantage of the rivalry between the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama, China’s claim to Tibet. In the fall of 1950, units of the Chinese “People’s Liberation Army” invaded Tibet and occupied Lhasa on September 9, 1951. In a Tibetan-Chinese 17-point treaty (May 23, 1951) brokered by India beforehand, Tibet received internal autonomy within the state association of the People’s Republic of China. After an agreement with the Panchen Lama (1952), the Dalai Lama was to be the head of state and, together with the Panchen Lama, the religious head and member of the Chinese central government. The People’s Republic of China justified its legitimation with historical (“since the Tang period”), political (“liberation of the Tibetan people from feudalism”) and economic arguments (“modernization”).
The growing dissatisfaction with the political supremacy of the Chinese communists in Tibet, which had already led to serious unrest in the first half of the 1950s (peak in 1956), erupted in an uprising in March 1959, which was, however, bloodily suppressed. The Dalai Lama fled into exile in India; around 80,000 Tibetans fled to India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim and Europe. Tibet was now fully involved in the all-China “revolutionary” process. The Panchen Lama, initially appointed chairman of the “Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region,” fell out of favor in 1964 (imprisoned in China until 1978, then reinstated in public offices). On 9.9. In 1965, Tibet, which had been reduced by about half its territory, was officially granted the status of an Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China; Large areas were administratively annexed to the Chinese neighboring provinces of Yunnan, Sichuan and Qinghai.
After around four-fifths of the Lamaist monasteries and temples had been destroyed by 1966, almost all of the remaining monasteries (with the exception of 13) were devastated in the turmoil of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The peasants as well as the nomads were forced to live in people’s communes; Thousands of Tibetans died in labor camps, from persecution or starvation. Since 1979, under Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese communist leadership allowed Tibet to be cautiously opened up, encouraged economic development, which was linked to the ruthless exploitation of natural resources, and, under strict supervision, tolerated a limited revival of indigenous religious and cultural traditions (reconstruction some temples and monasteries).
At the same time, the People’s Republic of China pursued a strict policy of Sinization (settlement of Han Chinese in particular, who already form the majority of the population in all major cities; birth control among the Tibetan population, destruction of old cities by demolishing entire historical quarters and building new Chinese settlements) and secured their power through strong Military presence (stationing hundreds of thousands of soldiers). Starting in the Lamaist monasteries, there have been repeated serious unrest since 1987, when violent protests against Chinese rule began again for the first time (especially in March 1989 [then 1989/90 imposition of martial law], 1993 and 1995). The dispute over the successor of the Panchen Lama (since 1995) with the Chinese government and the campaign of “patriotic re-education” initiated in 1996 in the monasteries had a major impact on the religious-monastic life of the Tibetans. The Chinese leadership met the diplomatic efforts of the Dalai Lama, who is in exile in Dharamsala, to end the Tibet conflict and his efforts to achieve greater autonomy for Tibet with strict rejection. It adhered to the course of repression and the policy of sinization and forced the exploitation of resources as well as economic development (2005 completion of the railway line to Lhasa). The Chinese leadership met the diplomatic efforts of the Dalai Lama, who is in exile in Dharamsala, to end the Tibet conflict and his efforts to achieve greater autonomy for Tibet with strict rejection. It adhered to the course of repression and the policy of sinization and forced the exploitation of resources as well as economic development (2005 completion of the railway line to Lhasa). The Chinese leadership met the diplomatic efforts of the Dalai Lama, who is in exile in Dharamsala, to end the Tibet conflict and his efforts to achieve greater autonomy for Tibet with strict rejection. It adhered to the course of repression and the policy of sinization and forced the exploitation of resources as well as economic development (2005 completion of the railway line to Lhasa).
On the occasion of the 49th anniversary of the suppression of the Tibetan uprising in 1959, new protests were directed against the Chinese occupation on March 10, 2008, and on March 14, 2008 these protests turned into massive riots against the immigrant Han Chinese. The government in Beijing had the military put down the uprising, which spread to other places in Tibet and neighboring provinces. According to official figures, 19 civilians were killed, and the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India assumed that the number of victims would be many times higher. The Tibetan monasteries were cordoned off, foreigners were asked to leave Tibet and additional Chinese police and military units were relocated to the crisis areas. The Dalai Lama, whom the Chinese authorities blamed for the protests, warned of a “cultural genocide” in Tibet and called for an independent investigation into what was happening, but at the same time nonviolence on the part of the demonstrators. Shortly before the start of the Olympic Games in Beijing, international pressure also increased on the Chinese government to resolve the Tibet conflict peacefully. Talks between the Chinese leadership and representatives of the Dalai Lama, which began in May 2008, were declared unsuccessful by the Chinese side in November 2008, alleging that the Dalai Lama had allowed interference during the Olympic Games. Shortly before the start of the Olympic Games in Beijing, international pressure also increased on the Chinese government to resolve the Tibet conflict peacefully. Talks between the Chinese leadership and representatives of the Dalai Lama, which began in May 2008, were declared unsuccessful by the Chinese side in November 2008, alleging that the Dalai Lama had allowed interference during the Olympic Games. Shortly before the start of the Olympic Games in Beijing, international pressure also increased on the Chinese government to resolve the Tibet conflict peacefully. Talks between the Chinese leadership and representatives of the Dalai Lama, which began in May 2008, were declared unsuccessful by the Chinese side in November 2008, alleging that the Dalai Lama had allowed interference during the Olympic Games.
After the talks broke off, the Chinese government tightened security in Tibet. Nevertheless, there were repeated protests in the years that followed. In 2011 a wave of self-immolation set in. According to sources from the Tibetan government-in-exile, 136 Tibetans burned themselves to death between 2011 and early April 2015 to show their resistance to Chinese policies.
