Review Article

Tibet–Past and Present
M R Rajagopalan

The word Tibet brings to one's mind a Himalayan nation of lamas where people practice Buddhism. One may also imagine that all through the history of the country China had some control over Tibet till in 1959 when it was formally annexed by the Communist Government of China and made an integral part.

Reality is quite different. Tibet was an empire which had conquered China and Nepal. As for their religion and culture, the author Sam Van Schaik observes:
"Tibetan's adherence to Buddhism did not lessen their enjoyment of drinking, dancing and music. Nor did it lessen their anxieties about ordinary things such as birth, marriage and livelihood. Rather than trusting such things entirely to the impersonal force of Karma, they often turned to ritualists who specialized in placating the gods, demons and spirits that populated the sky, land and rivers."

This well written *book under review running to 400 pages presents the history of Tibet in some detail. There are Ten Chapters with interesting titles—such as—"The Holy Tibetan Empire," 'The Rise and Fall of Dalai Lamas'. 'Independence', 'Under the Red Flag' etc. The tenth chapter is titled aptly 'Two Tibets, 1959 to the Present.'

The first foray of the Tibetans into China happened in 763 C.E. A victorious Tibetan army entered the Imperial Tang Empire's Capital Changan. At that point of time the Chinese had not even heard of Tibet. However, Tibetans didn't rule over China, but set their border a few hundred miles east of the capital and forced the Chinese emperor into a series of peace treaties that cut China from the West.

During the empire phase beginning from 600CE, a system of writing for Tibetan language was achieved. The new Tibetan alphabet was soon put to work in the administration of this vast new empire. The latter was divided into five ru, or 'horns', each of which contained ten 'thousand districts', each of which comprised a thousand households. These were sources of revenue through taxes, and soldiers through forced draft. The Huns, Turks and Mongols all organized their territories in a similar fashion, which suggests that the Tibetans inherited this system from their nomadic ancestors. If the new way of parceling up Tibet meant that the clans were split between different administrative districts, so much the better.

China had developed a good diplomatic relationship with king Harsha who ruled much of northern India. Envoys had been travelling back and forth between China and India through 640s.

In 648, the Chinese envoys arrived in India to find that Harsha had died. A new Indian warlord attacked the envoys—killing all—except two who escaped to Tibet. Songsten, the king of Tibet provided them military assistance with which they marched back to India and defeated the warlord. Thus a part of India came under Tibetan rule.
The year was 692, just half a century after the Tibetans had started to create their own empire. In that time Tibet had become a participant in the currents of world culture, with its capital, Lhasa, developing into an unlikely cosmopolitan centre, home of Nepalese and Chinese nobility and a destination for foreign missionaries and merchants keen to have a stake in the new expanding empire.

Pushing into the deserts of Central Asia, the Tibetans had crossed and recrossed the ancient Silk Route arteries of world trade that carried silk, jade, spices and slaves between East and West. Of course, these trade routes were conduits for culture and ideas too. Ideas from Rome, Byzantium, Persia, India and China were passed along these ancient arteries throughout the first millennium, making the world a much more interconnected place than is often thought. Tibetan aristocrats wore Chinese silks and sipped Chinese tea; a Persian lion still stands over one of the Tsenpo's tombs. As the seventh century drew to a close, Tibet was poised to take its place among the world's great cultures.

Tibet before Buddhism
The Tibetans have always lived in a world swarming with spirits, demons and minor deities. All sorts of names for these still exist in Tibet. Sometimes it is said that the world is ruled by three types of spirit: the lha in the heavens, the nyen in the air and on the peaks of mountains, and the lu in the underworld and rivers. The mountain deities were particularly revered, with each clan having its own mountain and the clan leaders considering themselves the descendants of the mountain's divine embodiment. The mightiest mountain of all was Yarlha Shampo., from which the ancestor of the tsenpos (rulers) first came down to earth.

All of the ceremonies that marked life in Tibet were accompanied by poetic recitations telling the story behind the ritual.

Buddhism as State Religion
In the year 762 Trisong Detsen (the ruler of Tibet) declared that Buddhism will be the official religion of Tibet. This was done because, as the Tibetan empire was expanding, it encountered Buddhist countries on every side, India, Nepal and China all had long histories of supporting Buddhist monks and monasteries.

If the attraction of Buddhism over other religions was due to its prestige among Tibet's neighbours, what about the Buddha's teachings themselves? The missionary pamphlets of Tibet's first Buddhists, written to convert adherents of the old religions, emphasise one thing again and again: Karma, the Buddha's fundamental teaching on cause and effect. The word literally means 'actions'. The Buddha taught that 'our current situation in this life is the result of our previous actions, and only through our actions we can change this situation for the better'. This was a radical contradiction of the Tibetan belief that the way to avoid misery and ensure happiness was to worship and placate the gods and spirits.

Buddhist scriptures from India were brought to Tibet and translated into Tibetan language. When there were collected together centuries later, they filled some three hundred volumes. This astonishing feat remains, among the greatest achievements of the medieval world. It required a transformation of the Tibetan language, as hundreds of new terms were invented for the technical vocabulary of Buddhist Sanskrit, and it resulted in the wholesale import of one culture into another. Tibetan Buddhism would develop its own flavor and individual approaches to the Buddha's teachings, but all of this flowed from the faithful translation work that began in earnest under Trisong Detsen.

Trisong Detsen's achievements would shape not only the future of Tibet, but that of Mongolia and China as well. His twin concerns, to expand the empire and spread Buddhism, made the Inner Asian reaches of the Tibetan empire receptive to Tibetan Buddhism long after the fall of the empire itself. This would make it possible in later centuries for Tibet to enter into relationships with the Mongols based on their shared religious heritage. It also led to China being governed for centuries by two Inner Asian dynasties that followed Tibetan Buddhism: first the Mongols and then the Manchus. Thanks to Trisong Detsen, Tibet's cultural influence would extend much further than its frontiers.

Tibet under Genghis Khan and his successors
In the year 1225 Genghis Khan's Mongol army attacked Tibet. After an year of siege and violence, the Tangut capital Xingzhou was completely destroyed by the Mongols. After Genghis Khan's death his empire was divided between his descendents. The Tibetan border lands of Amdo came under the rule of Goden, one of the grandsons of Genghis Khan. Goden decided to bring Tibet into the Mongolian empire through the patronage of Buddhism. Kunga Gyaltsen, the fourth Khan descendent to sit on the Sakya throne was chosen to represent Tibet in the Mongol court. He was also known by the respectful nickname Sakhya Pandita because of his deep understanding of Sanskrit language and Indian culture. He reached the Mongol court in 1246 and agreed in principle to act as the representative of Tibet, Tibet had to accept Mongol rule unconditionally. From now on the authority of the local clan leaders would depend on their recognition by the Mongol ruler. Sakya officials would oversee the administration of local clan holdings and assist in collecting tax for the Mongols.

After the death of Sakya Pandita in 1251, Mongols patronized Drigung, followers of Marpa's Kagyu lineage. The Mongols were now ruled by Kublai Khan. In 1258 he asked Pagpa for a major tantric empowerment which as Kublai knew would establish Pagpa as his Tantrik Guru. He was given the title of'state perceptor'.

Life under the Mongols
Mongols had never been interested to fully incorporating Tibet into their empire. They preferred appointing local rulers who would keep order in the country and pay them tribute.

As in all of their dependencies, 'tribute' or taxation brought a sizeable income to the Mongol empire's coffers. Tibet, in addition, offered a great deal of cultural capital to the Mongols in the form of Tibetan Buddhism, which, after Kublai, became the main religion of the Mongol court. Along with the powerful methods of the tantras, Tibetan Buddhism provided the Mongols with the philosophical sophistication of Buddhist India, which Pagpa presented in clear and simple terms in his textbooks for the Mongol court. Pagpa of course,also provided the Mongols with their own imperial script.

Mongoli contribution to Tibet was their efficient taxation system and their postal service which acted as the nerve centre of the Mongol empire. It also ended the idea that some kind of central authority was achievable.

The Rise and fall of Dalai Lamas (1543-1757)
Sonam Gyatso, the young lama was invited by the Mongol prince to the Mongol court of Altan Khan in the year 1578. He bestowed Buddhist teachings and tantric initiations upon Altan Khan. In return he received a promise of patronage and a lengthy honorific title ending with the word Dalai. Since the title was too long Tibetans shortened it to Dalai. Sonam Gyatso became the first Tibetan to receive the title Dalai. Since he was the third in a line of rebirths the title was posthumously awarded to his predecessors, which made him the third Dalai Lama. After the death of Sonam Gyatso, Yonten Gyatso became the fourth Dalai Lama (year not mentioned)

How is the Dalai Lama Chosen?
Often claims are made about some child being the re-incarnation. Some senior religious leader is sent to test the claim. In such tests, child is presented with vairious objects some of which belonged to the previous incarnation, and some of which did not. If the child consistently chooses the right objects, this is considered a proof that he is a genuine rebirth. In some cases when the child fails to pass the test, the religious leader conducting the tests could still use his prerogative and select the failed child. The Panchen Lama was also considered as divine incarnate, often chosen in the same manner as that of the Dalai Lama either from Mongols or from the China's borders with Tibet as a countercheck for Dalai Lama's influence. Though mostly Panchen Lamas played a subordinate role, there were occasions when Panchen Lamas with the support of the Chinese attempted to rule Tibet.

British adventure
The Panchen Lama sent two messengers to the Government of East India company in the year 1777 when Warren Hastings was the Governor General. The British were interested in opening a Trade outpost in Lhasa but nothing much happened on this occasion.

Lord Curzon who was the Viceroy of India from 1898 to 1905 had ambitions to bring Tibet under the British control since the Chinese-hold on Tibet was tenuous at that time. But the Dalai Lama sent an emissary to Moscow seeking the support of the Russians. Though the emissary was received by the Tsar and shown some courtesy, the Russians were not keen to intervene in Tibet.

But the British were suspicious. The British Indian army did march into Tibet, but the British government in England was not interested in such a venture. The Manchu Government in China succeeded in signing a treaty with the British acceding China's right over Tibet. The British were allowed to station two trade agents and a telegraph wire in Lhasa.

Tibet Independent 1904-50
In 1904 Dalai Lama sent his right-hand man Dorjieu to St. Petersburg seeking Tsar's help against the British menace. Russia had just been beaten by Japan in a naval war. It was not keen to come to the rescue of Tibet but offered to help negotiating with China and the British. In the meanwhile the ninth Panchen Lama was making attempts to rule Tibet with British assistance. He met the Viceroy Lord Minto in 1906. Russians felt concerned. The Manchu court was also jittery about an innocuous telegram from the Tsar to Dalai Lama expressing his esteem for the spiritual qualities. The Chinese warned Dalai Lama that he would be deposed if he intrigued with the Russian officials. The Dalai Lama moved into British Indian territory and camped in Sikkim. Manchus were afraid of an invasion by the British and thought that Tibet could act as a buffer and that they should have a control over it. Around this time Khampas in eastern Tibet were revolting. Chinese army put an end to this rebellion. They started looting the city when some Tibetans began to fight with them. Dalai Lama sprang into action. He sent one of his best young ministers secretly to Tibet to set up a war council and co-ordinate the uprising. When the British warned him that he should not encourage fighting in Tibet, he responded, 'we must fight for the religion and our own freedom'.

The fighting was drawn out and bloody with Lhasa divided into Tibetan and Chinese zones, both sides using brutal street warfare. Without re-enforcement from China, the Chinese troops could not keep up the fight. In early 1912 they were defeated and deported to China. The four ministers of Kashag who had collaborated with the Chinese during the absence of Dalai Lama were executed. In June, Dalai Lama returned to Tibet. He walked through the gates of Lhasa in January, 1913.

Declaration of Independence
Just three weeks after his return to Lhasa, the Dalai Lama issued a proclamation asserting his own authority to rule Tibet. He stated, "Lord Buddha from the glorious country of India, prophesied that the reincarnations of Avalokiteshvara, through successive rulers from the early religious Kings to the present day would look after the welfare of Tibet. Meanwhile, the Manchu empire collapsed. Tibetans were encouraged to expel the Chinese from Tibet. "Chinese intention of colonizing Tibet under patron priest relationship had faded".

Chinese Republic under Sun Yat Sen
A new Chinese Republic came into existence in 1914 under the leadership of Sun Yat Sen. The new Chinese Nationalists spoke of the union of the five races: Chinese (Han), Manchus, Mongols, Muslims and Tibetans. In this spirit the new Chinese president started making overtures to the Dalai Lama. The titles conferred by the Chinese were not accepted by the Dalai Lama.

Nevertheless China declared that Tibet was part of the Chinese Republic. It also sent an army into Kham authorizing to continue upto Lhasa, if possible.

The British opposed this move. They invited the Chinese and the Tibetans for a meeting. The Simla Agreement (year not mentioned—1914?) was the result. The operative part of this agreement was the recognition that Tibet is under the suzerainty of China. The territorial integrity of outer Tibet was also recognized. China was not to interfere in the administration including the selection and installation of Dalai Lama.

But China refused to ratify this treaty.

The line that demarcated Tibet's border with India and China, known as the McMahon line after the British delegate at the conference. This line became the cause of war between India and China in 1962.

China was economically and politically weak and had no opportunity to exercise its suzerainty.

Tibet Under The Red Flag 1950-59
The communist government under Mao Ze Dong's communists also had a similar vision as that of the Nationalists and wanted to unite the five races. In September 1949 Peking Radio broadcast stated that Tibet was an indivisible part of China. In January 1950, Mao sitting with Stalin in Mascow casually mentioned his plan to conquer Tibet. Stalin agreed.

A seventeen point agreement was signed on 23 May 1951. Tibet's independence came to an end and the People's Liberation Army (PLAs) entry into Tibet and Lhasa was allowed. The concession allowed was that there would be no change in the authority of Dalai Lama and his government; that there would be religious freedom; and that any reforms would be gradual. There was a secret supplement about the size of PLA to be stationed in China. Another stated if Dalai Lama fled into exile he could return within a year. Reassuringly for the Tibetans there was not a single mention of communism or the role of communist party.

When Dalai Lama's brother Tubten Norbu talked to the State Department Officials in New York, the US asked Dalai Lama to repudiate the agreement and go into exile. The US offered asylum and also military assistance for resisting the Chinese. The British also concurred.

What the British and Americans failed to appreciate was that the majority of the Tibetan government actually wanted to accept the agreement. Most powerful among these factions were abbots from Lhasa's three major monasteries, including the Dalai Lama's own tutor. The abbots had long memories of Tibet's history. They knew that when a great power had risen on Tibet's borders in the past, the Buddhist leaders had usually come to an arrangement with Kublai Khan, the fifth Dalai Lama had come to an arrangement with Gushi Khan, and Pholhane had come to an arrangement with the Qianlong Emperor. In every case these foreign leaders had left Tibetans to run the country and allowed the monasteries to thrive. Why then should Mao be any different?

The Lamas in Tibet asked Dalai Lama to come to Lhasa and accept the agreement. Dalai Lama arrived in Lhasa in September and a month later sent a telegram to Mao accepting the agreement. The Chinese army entered Lhasa.

Appeasement—Dalali Lama goes to China
In 1954, Dalai Lama and whole host of eminent Tibetans came to Beijing to attend the inauguration of the new governing body of China, the National People's Congress. The leaders of all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism including the sixteenth Karampa and the Panchen Lome attended.

Indeed having previously had very little direct access to the Dalai Lama, Mao saw this visit as a unique opportunity to win him over, and was determined to make the visit a success. A few days after they arrived, the Dalai and Panchen Lamas had a meeting with the highest Party echelons, including Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping and Mao himself. In some ways it was a very traditional event, the Dalai and Panchen Lamas repeating the visits of their predecessors, with Chairman Mao in the emperor's role and the upper echelons of the Communist Party, as his court.

In practical terms, the main purpose of the visit was the establishment of the Tibetan Autonomous Region. Mao continued to stress that reform in Tibet had to be taken slowly.

But later when the Chinese introduced land reforms there was resistance. The PLA attacked the rebels. In February 1956 Sampling was bombed. This made the PLA and the Chinese very unpopular for the Tibetans.

Dalai Lama's escape into India
The conditions in Tibet worsened with the PLA ruling the roost. In the year 1959 Dalai Lama felt insecure and slipped out of Tibet disguised as a pilgrim along with his family members and some officials. He sought asylum in India and Nehru agreed to accommodate him in Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh. This gesture of Nehru worsened the relationship between India and China leading to the Indo Chinese war in 1962.

The Cultural Revolution of 1967 started by Mao and the Red Guards indulged in widespread destruction of temples and burning of books. The Red guards burnt Buddhist books of Jokhang temple in Lhasa and destroyed statues.

Within a year, much of what made Tibet different from China was lost to view. In its place was the cult of Mao, whose portrait was everywhere. Millions of copies of Mao's Red Book in Tibetan translation was sent to Tibet-the number far exceeding the Tibet's population. Unable to practice any of the old rituals, some Tibetans used copies of the Red Book as magical talismans to ward off spirits and hail storms.

After the death of Mao
After the death of Mao in 1976, Maoism was rejected in China.

The new leader Deng released political prisoners in Tibet and invited Dalai Lama's representative for talks. Dalai Lama sent his representative to Lhasa. They were received with enthusiasm by Tibetans. They also shouted slogans against the Chinese. It became clear to the Chinese Government that twenty years of indoctrination had failed to extinguish the Tibetan people's attachment to their own religion, and their reverence for the Dalai Lama. It sacked the leading party members in Lhasa and in 1980 Huyaohang party secretary made his own fact finding visit for Tibet.

Soon all kinds of restrictions began to be lifted. Exiled Tibetans were given visas to return to Tibet. The lamas who had become well-off through their Western Patrons returned to rebuild their old monasteries.

As for the Dalai Lama, Hu felt that enticing him to come and live in Beijing would stop him becoming a rallying point for the Tibetans' nationalistic feelings. With this in mind, talks began between Beijing and Dharamsala in 1982.

Again Deng announced that the Dalai Lama could return to live in Tibet if he publicly gave up the idea of Tibetan independence. Dalai Lama did not accept.

There were demonstrations in Lhasa on 5th March, 1989 as the thirtieth anniversary of the 1959 uprising approached. There was another riot and martial law was declared in Tibet.

Recent Developments
The Chinese government took up development projects in Tibet. The incredible feet of crossing the shifting permafrost of the Changtang plateau constructed the high speed rail track to Lhasa in 2006.

The popular support for Dalai Lama kept increasing in the new millennium. However the emergence of the Tibetan issue as a cause celebre in the West had little effect on the world international diplomacy. Britain now recognized the sovereignty of China over Tibet—not suzertainty of the Simla Agreement of 1914.

In spite of developmental efforts of the Chinese Tibetans—both in Tibet and in exile—are perhaps more conscious of their cultural and identities than ever.

Novels, poetry and other forms of writing have emerged from Tibetan authors from different parts/sections of Tibet.

And in defining what it means to be Tibetan largely in contrast to what it means to be Chinese, these writers are attempting to transcend the old regional and religious identities determined by which part of Tibet one was born in or which religious school one supported. Yet there is also room for debate about how this Tibetan cultural identity fits into the modern world. Some have argued that attachment to traditional ideas is giving the Chinese the advantage, and that if the Tibetans are to have any hope of engaging with the Chinese as equals, they must embrace modernity. For some, independence from China is not a viable or even particularly desirable option. Others fear that, without independence, Tibet will simply disappear. What is Tibet? Surely the most important answers will be those put forward not by foreign historians or political theorists, but by Tibetans themselves.

One drawback about this well written book is that in some places the author does not mention the date/year. One has to search for the date in the preceding or succeeding pages. Nevertheless, on the whole, the book is highly readable and it would be very useful for the readers who are interested in the history and culture of Tibet.


*Tibet—A History

by Sam Van Schaik

Frontier
Vol. 45, No. 40, Apr 14- -20, 2013

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