CHRONOLOGY OF TIBETAN HISTORY

By Andrew Andersen

? - c. 500 B.C.
Early Tibetan tribes (Ch'iang/Poeba) migrated from the Koko-Nor  region to Tibetan Plateau, and merged with the native inhabitans. Their history before the 7th century A.D. is obscure.

c. 600 - 620 A.D.
Namri Songtsengambo united most of the Tibetan tribes and found the first Tibetan Kingdom.

620 - 649 A.D.
King Sontsen Gambo expanded the kingdom and created the Empire. He married Princess Wencheng, the daughter of the Emperor of Tang of China who introduced Buddhism to the Tibetan nobility.

747 A.D.
Indian Buddhist monk Padmasamphava arrived in Tibet and started teaching Buddhism.

755 - 791 Under emperor Thisong Detsen The Tibetan Empire (Bod-Pa) incorporated vast territories to the North, East and South of Tibetan Plateau. Series of wars against Tang China.

836 - 842
Nestorian missions penetrated into Tibet from Persia and India and start Christianisation. Emperor Lang Darma began persecution of Buddhists. After his assassination Tibet disintegrated into separate principalities.

c. 1000 -1200
Number of Buddhist increased. Various Buddhist groups found monasteries. Confrontation between "Lama Buddhists"  and the followers of traditional Buddhism.

c. 1209 - 1211
Northern provinces ceded to the Mongol Empire of Genghiz Khan

1240
Prince Godan (grandson of Genghis Khan) invaded Tibet. After the conquest, Lama Sakya Pandida (Sakya-Pa/Flower Sect) ruled the country as a vice-regent. Sakya Pandida introduced Tibetan Buddhism to the Mongols.

1271 - 1368
Khublai Khan succeeded Godan (his brother) and proclaimed himself the emperor of Great Yuan (China and Mongolia). He made Buddhism the state religion of his empire. Tibet recognized his suzerainty. After the death of Khublai Khan (1294) Tibet remains under the suzerainty of the Yuan Dynasty.

c. 1350 - 1410
The monk Tsongkha-Pa founded the Gelug-Ba (Yellow Hat) order. 1552 Altyn Khan (leader of Khalha Mongols) defeated Oirots and united all Mongolian tribes. In 1578 Altyn Khan supported Gelug-Ba against other groups and conferred the title of Dalai Lama upon Sonam Gyatso. Tibetan Buddhism ("Lamaism") became the state religion of Mongolia.

1587
Emperor Ming Shenzong of China recognized Dalai Lama as the sole ruler of Tibet.

1635 - 1713
Tibet recognized Kalmyk protectorate. In 1640 with the help of the Khoshot tribe under Ghushi Khan, Gelug-Ba ended military confrontation with Gedzu-Ba (supported by Tsangba Khan). The Gelug-Ba became dominant in Tibet, The process of stabilisation completed and the process of "theocratic" rule established.

1720 - 1724
Eastern and north-eastern territories (now Chinese provinces of Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan) ceded to Manchu (Ch'ing) Empire. Tibet recognized Manchu protectorate. Dalai Lama remained the ruler, while the Manchu appointed governors (Ambans) to controlled the government.

1790
Nepalese invasion supported by British colonial officials in India.

1888 - 89; 1903 - 1904
Tibet invaded by the British alarmed by growing Russian influence.

1912
Tibet attained nominal independence following the overthrow of the Manchy Dynasty. Chinese troops and officials expelled.

1914
At a conference in Simla, representatives of Britain, China and Tibet reached tentative agreement regulating mutual relations and boundaries of "Inner" and "Outer" Tibet.

1920 - 1932
Permanent border clashes with Chinese troops. British influence remained strong.

1933 - 1949
Relations between Tibet and the Kuomintang (Nationalist) government of China became normalized. During World War II Tibet observed strict neutrality.

Nov. 1949
Chinese communist troops approached the frontiers of Tibet. Tibetan Assembly declared independence and broke off all contacts with Chinese nationalists.

Oct. 1950
Chinese communist troops invaded Tibet.

May 1951 - June 1954
Tibetan government capitulated. Tibetan foreign and military affairs put under control of communist China. Chinese authorities carried out a purge of anti-communists.

1956 - 1959
Guerrilla movement against China. Rebellion in Lhasa. Dalai Lama fled to India. UN Assembly deplored the suppression of human rights in Tibet.

1987 -
Regular demonstrations protesting Chinese rule.

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