Tibet

Common questions

What was Tibet?

After the Mongol conquest (1240s) Tibet had been governed under the Yuan dynasty by the Sakya lamas and the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs (Xuanzheng Yuan).

When did Tibet exist?

Tibet existed c. 1350 – 1642 and later. On this map it is drawn 1363–1793, 1912–1952.

How large was Tibet?

At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Tibet covered about 1.6 million km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.

Where was Tibet?

The Phagmodrupa ruled from their palace at Nêdong in the Yarlung valley; effective power covered Central Tibet (Ü and Tsang), receding to Ü alone in the 16th century as the Rinpungpa rose in Tsang. Later centres were Shigatse (Tsangpa) and finally Lhasa (Ganden Phodrang).

Who ruled Tibet?

Changchub Gyaltsen (r. 1354–1364) abolished Mongol laws for milder traditional Tibetan ones and organised the country into dzong districts under non-hereditary dzongpons. The 47-year reign of Gongma Drakpa Gyaltsen (1385–1432) was remembered as a peaceful golden age; the era saw the "rediscovery" of ancient texts and the work of the reformer Je Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), founder of the Gelug school, with Ganden, Drepung and Sera monasteries founded near Lhasa.

How did Tibet end?

Eclipsed by the Tsangpa, the last Phagmodrupa incumbent was expelled from Lhasa in 1635. In 1642 Güshi Khan of the Khoshut defeated the Tsangpa and transferred the old possessions of Sakya, Rinpung and Phagmodrupa to the Fifth Dalai Lama, founding the Ganden Phodrang government — with Lhasa as capital and the Potala Palace begun in 1645 — which, with Qing overlordship after 1720, governed Tibet until 1951.

How was Tibet governed?

A Buddhist theocracy in which lama-rulers initially declined royal titles, ruling as desi (regents) in the name of the ancient Tibetan kings; succession passed through collateral kinsmen while family continuity was preserved by a designated "preserver of the family."

Why does Tibet still matter?

This four-century interlude reasserted Tibetan autonomy after Mongol rule, revived national culture consciously modelled on the ancient empire, and incubated the Gelug school and the Dalai Lama institution that came to define Tibet.