Creating Tibetan Identities
The Imperial Era: The Yarlung Dynasty
627 AD King Songtsen Gampo (609-650) becomes king of Tibetan Yarlung empire; unifies vast kingdom under organized military districts
641 Songsten Gampo marries Chinese princess; (Wencheng); Tibetan histories say this is the time when Buddhism first introduced to Tibet ("1st dissemination")
650-754 After death of Songtsen, series of 4 kings
754 King Trisong Detsen takes throne, begins supporting Buddhism in earnest.
779 Samye, first Buddhist monastery established in Tibetan Yarlung valley.
842 Assassination of King Langdarma, who is said to have opposed Buddhism, and break-up of Tibetan kingdom. End of effective Tibetan power on Chinese frontier. Buddhism said to decline in Central Tibet.
Tibetan Local Rule
9th-10th “Age of Fragmentation” (“dark ages”). Buddhist monasteries closed, but Buddhism localized and popularized, rise of local charismatic teachers, great interest in tantric Buddhist ritual.
11th-13th Monastic Buddhism flourishes again in Central Tibet ("2nd dissemination"). Major Buddhist sects emerge and build monasteries in the valley, compete for lay patrons.
Mongol Overlordship
1206 Genghiz Khan (Chinggis Khan) declared Supreme Khan of Mongols; later Mongol and Tibetan sources say Tibetan king/chiefs surrendered; but this unclear.
1240 Mongol troops first sent into Tibet; Buddhist sects vie for Mongol patrons.
1249 Sakya lama appointed Tibetan viceroy by the Mongols, succeeded by his nephew Phagpa.
1268 Mongol domination over Tibet completed with pacification of Tibetan resistance.
1368 Fall of the Mongol Yuan dynasty; Tibetans independent
Tibetan/Mongol Local rule
14th-17th Period of lay Tibetan rule, series of rival principalities
1409 Emergence of Gelug sect, establishment of first Gelug monastery
1578 Sodnam Gyatso given title of Dalai Lama by Mongol ruler Altan Khan
1642 Gushri Khan, Mongol leader, defeats lay king of Tibet and sets up 5th Dalai Lama as ruler of Tibet. 5th Dalai Lama first ruler to unite Buddhist and secular; builds stature of Tibet, builds Potala, new monasteries, meets Qing emperor.
1682 Death of 5th Dalai Lama. His regent hides his death for 15 years.
Qing Overlordship
1705-1723 Period of civil war, struggles with Mongols over rule of Tibet. No other Dalai Lama holds actual power from here on until the 13th. Qing emperor establishes authority in Lhasa.
1723-1747 Lay noble Pho Lha defeats rivals and governs Tibet with Qing support. Qing ambans in Lhasa.
1750's-1870's 8th-12th Dalai Lamas die young; Tibet governed by series of monk regents through a monastic bureaucracy.
1904 British Younghusband expedition, British troops force their way into Lhasa, forces signing of "treaty" to open trade access.
1910 Zhao Erfeng's Qing troops occupy Lhasa. 13th Dalai Lama flees to India, denounces relationship with Qing.
(1911 Fall of Manchu Qing dynasty)
De facto Independence
1913 13th Dalai Lama evicts Chinese from Lhasa; begin period of de facto independence.
1914 Simla Conference between China, Britian and Tibet. Tibet gains no legal status.
1934 Death of 13th Dalai Lama, begin period of conflict over succession.
1930's-40's Tibetan elites in Lhasa refuse attempts to modernize. Expel and imprison Tibetan intellectuals advocating change.
1950 Chinese Communist troops march on Central Tibetan territory.