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97-587: Amdo was a part of the Tibetan Empire until the 9th century and later a local Tibetan theocracy called Tsongkha until the 12th century. A priest and patron relationship began in 1253 after a Tibetan Buddhist priest, Phagspa , visited Mongol leader Kublai Khan and entered his service. From the 14th century to the 16th century, the Ming Dynasty controlled some border areas within today's Xining , Xunhua and Hualong . The Yongzheng Emperor of

194-625: A "minority nationality" within their own country, was set down in the constitution of the PRC. Tibetan Empire The Tibetan Empire ( Tibetan : བོད་ཆེན་པོ , Wylie : bod chen po , lit.   ' Great Tibet ' ; Chinese : 吐蕃 ; pinyin : Tǔbō / Tǔfān ) was an empire centered on the Tibetan Plateau , formed as a result of imperial expansion under the Yarlung dynasty heralded by its 33rd king, Songtsen Gampo , in

291-583: A Tibetan priest, Phagspa , visited Kublai Khan he became so popular that he was made Kublai's spiritual guide and later appointed by him to the rank of priest king of Tibet and constituted ruler of (1) Tibet Proper, comprising the thirteen states of Ü-Tsang; (2) Kham, and (3) Amdo. He spent his later years at Sakya Monastery in Ü-Tsang, which required that he travel through Amdo regularly. On one of these trips, he encountered armed resistance in Amdo and required escorts from Mongol Princes to travel through Amdo. While

388-466: A brief rebellion. Songtsen Gampo proved adept at diplomacy as well as combat. The emperor's minister, Myang Mangpoje ( Myang Mang-po-rje Zhang-shang ), defeated the Sumpa people ca. 627. Six years later (c. 632–33) Myang Mangpoje was accused of treason and executed. He was succeeded by minister Gar Tongtsen ( mgar-stong-btsan ). The Chinese records mention an envoy to Tibet in 634. On that occasion,

485-658: A mdo pa ) as a distinction from the Tibetans of Kham (Khampa, Tibetan : ཁམས་པ། , Wylie : khams pa ) and Ü-Tsang, however, they are all considered ethnically Tibetan. Today, ethnic Tibetans predominate in the western and southern parts of Amdo, which are now administered as various Tibetan, Tibetan-Qiang, or Mongol-Tibetan autonomous prefectures. The Han Chinese are majority in the northern part (Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture) and eastern part ( Xining city and Haidong city) of Qinghai province. While Xining city and Haidong city are geographically small compared to

582-535: A minority (ca. 8.5%) of the total population there and so the region did not attain TAP status. The vast Haixi (མཚོ་ནུབ།; mtsho nub ) Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, to the west of the Qinghai Lake, also has a minority Tibetan population (ca. 10%), and only those Tibetans in the eastern parts of this Prefecture are Amdo inhabitants. Mongols too have been long-term settlers in Amdo, arriving first during

679-699: A period alternating between the supremacy of the Dalai Lama (nominally) and Mongol overlords. In 1642, Tibet was reunified under the 5th Dalai Lama , by gaining spiritual and temporal authority through the efforts of the Mongol king, Güshi Khan . This allowed the Gelug school and its incarnated spiritual leaders, the Dalai Lamas, to gain enough support to last through the present day. Gushi Khan also returned portions of Eastern Tiber (Kham) to Tibet, but his base in

776-555: A period when the Hephthalites had extensive links with the Tibetans. A strong presence existed by the eighth century when Patriarch Timothy I (727–823) in 782 calls the Tibetans one of the more significant communities of the eastern church and wrote of the need to appoint another bishop in ca. 794. There is a stone pillar (now blocked off from the public), the Lhasa Shöl rdo-rings , Doring Chima or Lhasa Zhol Pillar , in

873-514: A senior minister. The youngest brother, Tride Songtsen, was definitely ruling by AD 804. Under Tride Songtsen ( Khri lde srong brtsan – generally known as Sadnalegs ), there was a protracted war with the Abbasid Caliphate . It appears that Tibetans captured a number of Caliphate troops and pressed them into service on the eastern frontier in 801. Tibetans were active as far west as Samarkand and Kabul . Abbasid forces began to gain

970-552: A shorter seasonal trek as their pasture may be nearby, and they may even migrate between homes each day. As in Amdo and Kham, independent local polities were the traditional governing systems. In Amdo, communities of nomads, farmers, horse traders and monasteries were organized into these polities, which continued from the era of the Tibetan Empire . Varying in size from small to large, some were inherited while others were not, and both women and men were individual leaders of these polities. Tsowas , consisting of groups of families, are

1067-487: A third penetrated his breast. He survived the ordeal with some discomfort in one arm. Haibei Prefecture Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture ( Chinese : 海北藏族自治州 ; Tibetan : མཚོ་བྱང་བོད་རིགས་རང་སྐྱོང་ཁུལ་ , Wylie : mtsho-byang bod-rigs rang-skyong-khul , Tib.pin. : cojang poirig ranggyong kü ) is an autonomous prefecture of northeastern Qinghai Province , China. The prefecture has an area of 39,354 square kilometres (15,195 sq mi) and its seat

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1164-452: A year later. This is traditionally credited with being the first time that Buddhism came to Tibet, but it is very unlikely Buddhism extended beyond foreigners at the court. Songtsen Gampo’s sister Sämakar ( Sad-mar-kar ) was sent to marry Lig-myi-rhya, the king of Zhangzhung in what is now Western Tibet. However, when the king refused to consummate the marriage, she then helped her brother to defeat Lig myi-rhya and incorporate Zhangzhung into

1261-505: Is Haiyan County . Its name literally means "north of Qinghai Lake ." This Tibetan culture area was incorporated into Qinghai province in the early 1950s, as it lies distant from the Tibet Autonomous Region . According to the 2000 census , Haibei had 258,922 inhabitants with a population density of 6.58 inhabitants/km . The following is a list of ethnic groups in the prefecture, as of the 2000 census. The prefecture

1358-740: Is important to Tibetan Buddhists as one of the three Dharma Kings who brought Buddhism to Tibet. He was a generous supporter of Buddhism and invited many craftsmen, scholars and translators from neighbouring countries. He also promoted the development of written Tibetan and translations, which were greatly aided by the development of a detailed Sanskrit-Tibetan lexicon called the Mahavyutpatti which included standard Tibetan equivalents for thousands of Sanskrit terms. Tibetans attacked Uyghur territory in 816 and were in turn attacked in 821. After successful Tibetan raids into Chinese territory, Buddhists in both countries sought mediation. Ralpacan

1455-471: Is somewhat unclear whether she married the seven-year-old Gyeltsugru or the deposed Lha Balpo. Gyeltsugru also married a lady from Jang (Nanzhao) and another born in Nanam. Gyältsugru was officially enthroned with the royal name Tride Tsuktsän in 712, the year that dowager empress Thrimalö died. The Umayyad Caliphate and Turgesh became increasingly prominent during 710–720. The Tibetans were allied with

1552-526: Is the Bayan Har Mountains . The area is wind-swept and tree-less, with much grass. Animals of the region consist of the wild yak and the kiang . Domesticated animals of the region consist of the domestic yak and dzo , goats, sheep, and the Mongolian horse . Amdo has been described in epic stories and history as a land where splendid horses are raised and run wild. In historical times,

1649-400: Is the same throughout Tibetan-speaking regions and is based on Classical Tibetan . The formal name of Amdo is Domey ( Tibetan : མདོ་སྨད་ ) in literatures. Historically, Amdo and Kham together were also called Do Kham on maps and manuscripts. The Ch'iang people were early users of iron and stories abound of them in their iron breast-plates with iron swords. From the seventh through

1746-605: The Tang Annals do, however, seem to clearly place these events in the reign of Songtsen Gampo for they say that in 634, Zhangzhung and various Qiang tribes "altogether submitted to him." Following this, he united with the country of Zhangzhung to defeat the Tuyuhun, then conquered two more Qiang tribes before threatening the Chinese region of Songzhou with a very large army (according to Tibetan sources 100,000; according to

1843-473: The Tongdian , the Tibetans were less proficient in archery and fought in the following manner: The men and horses all wear chain mail armor. Its workmanship is extremely fine. It envelops them completely, leaving openings only for the two eyes. Thus, strong bows and sharp swords cannot injure them. When they do battle, they must dismount and array themselves in ranks. When one dies, another takes his place. To

1940-631: The Bay of Bengal . The Yarlung dynasty was founded in 127 BC in the Yarlung Valley along the Yarlung River, south of Lhasa . The Yarlung capital was moved in the 7th century from the palace Yumbulingka to Lhasa by the 33rd king Songsten Gampo, and into the Red Fort during the imperial period which continued to the 9th century. The beginning of the imperial period is marked in the reign of

2037-675: The Kanlho (ཀན་ལྷོ།; Gannan) TAP of the southwest Gansu province, and sections of the Rngaba (རྔ་བ།; Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous prefecture of north-west Sichuan province. Additionally, a great many Amdo Tibetans live within the Haidong (མཚོ་ཤར།; Wylie : mtsho shar ) Prefecture of Qinghai which is located to the east of the Qinghai Lake (མཚོ་སྔོན།, Wylie: mtsho sngon ) and around Xining (ཟི་ལིང།; zi ling ) city, but they constitute only

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2134-684: The Kirti Gompas of Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture and Taktsang Lhamo in Dzoge County. From 1958 to 1962, the political climate in Amdo was considered unbearable. In 1958, the arrest and murder of the Tseten Monastery's Khenpo Jigme Rigpai Nyingpo while incarcerated in Xining 's Nantan prison marked the beginning of the period. Amdo Tibetans' traditional lifestyle and economy are centered on agriculture. Depending on

2231-662: The Ngaba area of the former Amdo into Sichuan. This boundary also roughly corresponds with the modern boundary of Qinghai with Sichuan. A new boundary, following the Ning-ching mountain range, was established between Sichuan and Tibet. East of these mountains, local chieftains ruled under the nominal authority of the Sichuan provincial government; Lhasa administered the area to the west. The 1720s thus saw Tibet's first major reduction in area in centuries. The Gansu region bordering Tibet

2328-488: The Qing Dynasty seized control of Amdo in the 1720s after wars with Khoshut leader Lobdzan Dandzin. From the mid-18th century, Amdo was administered by a series of local Tibetan rulers who were associated with the government located in Ü-Tsang through monastery systems, and Dalai Lama's Ganden Podrang has not directly governed Amdo since that time. Local Tibetan rulers were often in some kind of alliance with or under

2425-677: The Sumpa , then with the Tuyuhun . Around 1032, the Tangut people , possibly of Qiang descent, formed the Western Xia , which lasted into the 13th century. The Mongols had conquered eastern Amdo by 1240 and would manage it under the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs , separately from the other territories administered by the Yuan dynasty. A patron and priest relationship began in 1253 when

2522-504: The Vinaya , he was set to travel to Central Tibet, but for a drought. Instead he chose to travel in solitude to Amdo. Locals had heard of him and his solitude was not to be as he was sought after. In time he established a line of refugee monks in Amdo and with the wealth that he acquired he built temples and stupas also. The area was ruled by a Tibetan theocracy called Tsongkha from 997 to 1104. The historical Qiang came into contact with

2619-519: The Yellow River . He then invaded Mywa, which was at least in part Nanzhao (the Tibetan term mywa likely referring to the same people or peoples referred to by the Chinese as Man or Miao ) but died during the prosecution of that campaign. Gyeltsugru (Rgyal-gtsug-ru), later to become King Tride Tsuktsen ( Khri-lde-gtsug-brtsan ), generally known now by his nickname Me Agtsom ("Old Hairy"),

2716-640: The Zhangzhung empire under the Lig myi dynasty. The group prevailed against Zingpoje. At this point Namri Songtsen (also known as Namri Löntsän ) was the leader of a clan which one by one prevailed over all his neighbouring clans. He besieged the Kingdom of Sumpa in the early 7th century and eventually conquered it. He gained control of all the area around what is now Lhasa, before his assassination around 618. This new-born regional state would later become known as

2813-573: The "Tibetan Empire". The government of Namri Songtsen sent two embassies to the Chinese Sui dynasty in 608 and 609, marking the appearance of Tibet on the international scene. Songtsen Gampo ( Srong-brtsan Sgam-po ) (c. 604 – 650) was the first great emperor who expanded Tibet's power beyond Lhasa and the Yarlung Valley , and is traditionally credited with introducing Buddhism to Tibet. When his father Namri Songtsen died by poisoning (circa 618 ), Songtsen Gampo took control after putting down

2910-593: The "recently" introduced Tibetan Buddhism . The power that became the Tibetan state originated at the Taktsé Castle ( Wylie : Stag-rtse ) in the Chingba ( Phying-ba ) district of Chonggyä ( Phyongs-rgyas ). There, according to the Old Tibetan Chronicle , a group convinced Tagbu Nyazig ( Stag-bu snya-gzigs ) to rebel against Gudri Zingpoje ( Dgu-gri Zing-po-rje ), who was, in turn, a vassal of

3007-415: The 10 virtues of the land. Two of the virtues are in the grass, one for meadows near home, one for distant pastures. Two virtues in soil, one to build houses and one for good fields. Two virtues are in the water, one for drinking and one for irrigation. There are two in the stone, one for building and one for milling. The timber has two virtues, one for building and one for firewood. The original inhabitants of

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3104-484: The 1720s. The boundaries of Xining Prefecture, which contains most of Amdo, with Sichuan and Tibet-proper was established following this. The boundary of Xining Prefecture and Xizang , or Central Tibet, was the Dangla Mountains . This roughly corresponds with the modern boundary of Qinghai with the Tibet Autonomous Region . The boundary of Xining Prefecture with Sichuan was also set at this time, dividing

3201-478: The 1950s. Tibetan region of Lho-Jang and Gyarong in Kham, and Ngapa (Chinese Aba) and Golok in Amdo, were still independent of Chinese hegemony, despite the creation on paper of Qinghai Province in 1927. The 14th Dalai Lama was born in the Amdo region, in 1935, and when he was announced as a possible candidate, Ma Bufang tried to prevent the boy from travelling to Tibet. He demanded a ransom of 300,000 dollars, which

3298-702: The 33rd king of the Yarlung dynasty, Songtsen Gampo. The power of Tibet's military empire gradually increased over a diverse terrain. During the reign of Trisong Detsen, the empire became more powerful and increased in size. At this time, a 783 treaty between the Tibetan Empire and the Tang dynasty defined the borders, as commemorated by the Shol Potala Pillar in Lhasa. Borders were again confirmed during

3395-643: The 7th century. The empire further expanded under the 38th king, Trisong Detsen , and expanded to its greatest extent under the 41st king, Rapalchen , whose 821–823 treaty was concluded between the Tibetan Empire and the Tang dynasty . This treaty, carved into the Jokhang Pillar , delineated Tibet as being in possession of an area larger than the Tibetan Plateau, stretching east to Chang'an , west beyond modern Afghanistan , south into modern India and

3492-426: The Amdo region were the forest-dwellers ( nags-pa ), the mountain-dwellers ( ri-pa ), the plains-dwellers ( thang-pa ), the grass-men ( rtsa-mi ), and the woodsmen ( shing-mi ). The grass men were famous for their horses. Gewasel is a monk that helped resurrect Tibetan Buddhism. He was taught as a child and showed amazing enthusiasm for the religion. When he was ordained he went in search of teachings. After obtaining

3589-541: The Caliphate and Karluks at the Battle of Talas (751), Chinese influence decreased rapidly and Tibetan influence began to increase again. Tibet conquered large sections of northern India during this time. In 755, Tride Tsuktsen was killed by the ministers Lang and ‘Bal. Then Takdra Lukong ( Stag-sgra Klu-khong ) presented evidence to prince Song Detsen ( Srong-lde-brtsan ) that they were disloyal and causing dissension in

3686-659: The Chinese Communist Party to impose rapid collectivization on the pastoral communities of the grasslands. Rebellion also stirred the region at the beginning of the 1950s as “Liberation” first settled on the northeastern Tibetan plateau. The immediate ramifications of each disturbance both for the Amdo Tibetan elites and commoners, and for the Han cadres in their midst, elucidates early PRC nation-building and state-building struggles in minority nationality areas and

3783-423: The Chinese finally managed to regain these territories. Emperor Mangsong Mangtsen ( Trimang Löntsen' or Khri-mang-slon-rtsan ) married Thrimalö ( Khri-ma-lod ), a woman who would be of great importance in Tibetan history. The emperor died in the winter of 676–677, and Zhangzhung revolts occurred thereafter. In the same year the emperor's son Tridu Songtsen ( Khri 'dus-srong btsan or Khri-'dus-srong-rtsan )

3880-589: The Chinese inflict a serious defeat on the Tibetans. In 785, Wei Kao, a Chinese serving as an official in Shuh, repulsed Tibetan invasions of the area. In the meantime, the Kyrgyz negotiated an agreement of friendship with Tibet and other powers to allow free trade in the region. An attempt at a peace treaty between Tibet and China was made in 787, but hostilities were to last until the Sino-Tibetan treaty of 821

3977-530: The Chinese more than 200,000 men). He then sent an envoy with gifts of gold and silk to the Chinese emperor to ask for a Chinese princess in marriage and, when refused, attacked Songzhou . According to the Tang Annals , he finally retreated and apologised, after which the emperor granted his request. After the death of Songtsen Gampo in 650 AD, the Chinese Tang dynasty attacked and took control of

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4074-415: The Dalai Lama ruling Central Tibet. Eastern Tibet, including Amdo and Kham , were ruled by local and regional warlords and chiefs. The Hui Muslims administered the agricultural areas in the north and east of the region. Amdo saw numerous powerful leaders including both secular and non. The monasteries, such as Labrang , Rebkong , and Taktsang Lhamo supervised the choosing of the local leaders or headmen in

4171-660: The Drotsang Sargön; the monastery at Detsa Nangso was called the Detsa Gompa. Earlier in 1376, a Horse and Tea Trading Station was in Co né. After the People's Republic of China 's (PRC) was founded, communist administrators overlaid a series of larger Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures (TAP) on top of the existing county system, but only where Tibetans formed the majority of the population. This policy towards Tibetans, considered

4268-761: The Kokonor region of Amdo remained under Mongol control. In 1705, with the approval of the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty , Lha-bzang Khan of the Khoshud deposed the regent and killed the 6th Dalai Lama . The Dzungar Mongols invaded Tibet during the chaos, and held the entire region until their final defeat by an expedition of the Qing imperial army in 1720 . When the Manchu Qing dynasty rose to power in

4365-531: The Kyrgyz in 840, and many displaced people fled to Tibet. Langdarma himself was assassinated, apparently by a Buddhist hermit, in 842. A civil war that arose over Langdarma's successor led to the collapse of the Tibetan Empire. The period that followed, known traditionally as the Era of Fragmentation, was dominated by rebellions against the remnants of imperial Tibet and the rise of regional warlords. The soldiers of

4462-590: The Mongols before native Chinese overthrew the Yuan dynasty in 1368, although it avoided directly resisting the Yuan court until the latter's fall. By 1343, Mongol authority in Amdo had weakened considerably: Köden’s fiefdom had been leaderless for some time, and the Tibetans were harassing the Mongols near Liangzhou (byang ngos). In 1347, a general rebellion erupted in some two hundred places in eastern Tibet, and though troops were sent to suppress them, by 1355 eastern Tibet

4559-544: The Nationalists. By 1952, the major towns in the region were fully under the control of People's Republic of China , though many of the rural areas continued to enjoy de facto autonomy for several more years. Tibetan guerrilla forces in Amdo emerged in 1956 and continued until the 1970s fighting the People's Liberation Army. In 1958, Chinese communists assumed official control of Tibetan regions in Kham and Amdo. Many of

4656-516: The Tang emperors, reaching the Chinese capital Chang'an (modern Xi'an ) in late 763. Tibetan troops under the command of Nganlam Takdra Lukhong occupied Chang'an for fifteen days and installed a puppet emperor while Emperor Daizong was in Luoyang . Nanzhao (in Yunnan and neighbouring regions) remained under Tibetan control from 750 to 794, when they turned on their Tibetan overlords and helped

4753-568: The Tibetan Emperor requested (demanded according to Tibetan sources) marriage to a Chinese princess but was refused. In 635-36 the Emperor attacked and defeated the Tuyuhun ( Tibetan : ‘A zha ), who lived around Lake Koko Nur and controlled important trade routes into China. After a series of military campaigns between Tibet and the Tang dynasty in 635-8, （see also Tibetan attack on Songzhou ）the Chinese emperor agreed (only because of

4850-551: The Tibetan Empire wore armour such as lamellar and chainmail, and were proficient in the use of swords and lances. According to the Tibetan author Tashi Namgyal, writing in 1524, the history of lamellar armour in Tibet was divided into three distinct periods. The oldest armour dated from the time of the "Righteous Kings, Uncle, and Nephew" which would place it sometime during the Yarlung dynasty, early seventh to mid ninth century. According to Du You (735–812) in his encyclopaedic text,

4947-432: The Tibetan Empire. In 645, Songtsen Gampo overran the kingdom of Zhangzhung. Songtsen Gampo died in 650. He was succeeded by his infant grandson Trimang Lön ( Khri-mang-slon ). Real power was left in the hands of the minister Gar Tongtsen. There is some confusion as to whether Central Tibet conquered Zhangzhung during the reign of Songtsen Gampo or in the reign of Trisong Detsen , (r. 755 until 797 or 804). The records of

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5044-484: The Tibetan capital Lhasa . Soldiers of the Tang dynasty could not sustain their presence in the hostile environment of the Tibetan Plateau and soon returned to China proper." After having incorporated Tuyuhun into Tibetan territory, the powerful minister Gar Tongtsen died in 667. Between 665 and 670, Khotan was defeated by the Tibetans, and a long string of conflicts ensued with the Chinese Tang dynasty. In

5141-566: The Tibetan language. Under King Trisong Detsen, the empire again expanded as the founding of Tibetan Buddhism and the revealing of the Vajrayana by Guru Padmasambhava was occurring. The empire period then corresponded to the reigns of Tibet's three 'Religious Kings', which includes King Rapalchen's reign. After Rapalchen's murder, King Lang darma nearly destroyed Tibetan Buddhism through his widespread targeting of Nyingma monasteries and monastic practitioners. His undertakings correspond to

5238-559: The Tibetans, then commenced to tax the town heavily for 8 years. In 1925, a Tibetan rebellion broke out, with thousands of Tibetans driving out the Muslims. Ma Qi responded with 3,000 Chinese Muslim troops, who retook Labrang and machine gunned thousands of Tibetan monks as they tried to flee. Ma Qi besieged Labrang numerous times, the Tibetans and Mongols fought against his Muslim forces for control of Labrang, until Ma Qi gave it up in 1927. His forces were praised by foreigners who traveled through Qinghai for their fighting abilities. However, that

5335-404: The Türgesh Qaghan. The Chinese allied with the Caliphate to attack the Türgesh. After victory and peace with the Türgesh, the Chinese attacked the Tibetan army. The Tibetans suffered several defeats in the east, despite strength in the west. The Türgesh empire collapsed from internal strife. In 737, the Tibetans launched an attack against the king of Bru-za ( Gilgit ), who asked for Chinese help, but

5432-464: The Türgesh. Tibet and China fought on and off in the late 720s. At first Tibet (with Türgesh allies) had the upper hand, but then they started losing battles. After a rebellion in southern China and a major Tibetan victory in 730, the Tibetans and Türgesh sued for peace. The Tibetans aided the Turgesh in fighting against the Muslim Arabs during the Muslim conquest of Transoxiana . In 734, the Tibetans married their princess Dronmalön ( ‘Dron ma lon ) to

5529-469: The ancient village of Shöl in front of the Potala in Lhasa, dating to c. 764 CE during Trisong Detsen's reign. It also contains an account of the conquest of large swathes of northwestern China including the capture of Chang'an , the Chinese capital, for a short period in 763 CE, during the reign of Emperor Daizong . Trisong Detsen is said to have had four sons. The eldest, Mutri Tsenpo, apparently died young. When Trisong Detsen retired he handed power to

5626-409: The area roughly by 1958. Amdo is the home of many important Tibetan Buddhism spiritual leaders, lamas , monks, nuns, and scholars, including the 14th Dalai Lama , the 10th Panchen Lama Choekyi Gyaltsen , and the great Gelug school reformer Je Tsongkhapa . Amdo consists of all of northeastern Tibet, including the upper reaches of the Machu or Yellow River and Lake Qinghai. Its southern border

5723-472: The areas under their control. These tribes consisted of several thousand nomads. Meanwhile, Sokwo , Ngawa , and Liulin , had secular leaders appointed, with some becoming kings and even creating familial dynasties. This secular form of government went as far as Machu. The Muslim warlord Ma Qi waged war in the name of the Republic of China against the Labrang monastery and Goloks. After ethnic rioting between Muslims and Tibetans emerged in 1918, Ma Qi defeated

5820-400: The basic socio-cum-political organization. The Golok peoples, Gomé and Lutsang peoples arranged themselves in tsowas . A larger organisation is the sgar , translated as 'encampment', while larger still is the nangso , translated as 'commissioner'. There were also kingdoms, such as Kingdom of Co ne (Choné). In 1624, for example, the Drotsang Nangso sponsored a monastery which was called

5917-437: The concept of Tibet's Three Regions can be dated back to Tibetan Empire , Dunhuang manuscripts referring to the eastern parts of its territory as mdo-gams ( Tibetan : མདོ་གམས ) and mdo-smad ( Tibetan : མདོ་སྨད ), Yuan confirmed the division, and Do Kham as two well defined commanderies, along with Ü-Tsang , were collectively referred to as the three commanderies of Tibet since then. Tibet regained its independence from

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6014-419: The country, and were about to attack him also. Lang and ‘Bal subsequently did revolt; they were killed by the army and their property was confiscated. In 756, prince Song Detsän was crowned Emperor with the name Trisong Detsen ( Khri srong lde brtsan ) and took control of the government when he attained his majority at 13 years of age (12 by Western reckoning) after a one-year interregnum during which there

6111-538: The early 18th century it established Xining, a town to the north of Amdo, as the administrative base for the area. Amdo was placed within the Qinghai Region. During this period they were ruled by the Amban , who allowed near total autonomy by the monasteries and the other local leaders. The 18th century saw the Qing Empire continue to expand further and further into Tibet as it engulfed Eastern Tibet including Amdo and even assumed control over Central Tibet . The Yongzheng Emperor seized full control of Qinghai (Amdo) in

6208-407: The eldest surviving son, Muné Tsenpo ( Mu-ne btsan-po ). Most sources say that Muné's reign lasted only about a year and a half. After a short reign, Muné Tsenpo was supposedly poisoned on the orders of his mother. After his death, Mutik Tsenpo was next in line to the throne. However, he had been apparently banished to Lhodak Kharchu (lHo-brag or Lhodrag) near the Bhutanese border for murdering

6305-453: The empire period include: The varied terrain of the empire and the difficulty of transportation, coupled with the new ideas that came into the empire as a result of its expansion, helped to create stresses and power blocs that were often in competition with the ruler at the center of the empire. Thus, for example, adherents of the Bön religion and the supporters of the ancient noble families gradually came to find themselves in competition with

6402-462: The end, they are not willing to retreat. Their lances are longer and thinner than those in China. Their archery is weak but their armor is strong. The men always use swords; when they are not at war they still go about carrying swords. The Tibetans might have exported their armour to the neighbouring steppe nomads. When the Turgesh attacked the Arabs , their khagan Suluk was reported to have worn Tibetan armour, which saved him from two arrows before

6499-401: The historical independent polities of hereditary rulers and kingdoms remained, while Mongol and Chinese populations fluctuated among the indigenous peoples and Tibetans. During this time period, Buddhist monks from Central Tibet exiled to the Amdo region. There is a historical account of an official from the 9th century sent to collect taxes to Amdo. Instead, he acquires a fief. He then tells of

6596-417: The influence of the Gar. From 700 until his death the emperor remained on campaign in the northeast, absent from Central Tibet, while his mother Thrimalö administrated in his name. In 702, Zhou China under Empress Wu Zetien and the Tibetan Empire concluded peace. At the end of that year, the Tibetan imperial government turned to consolidating the administrative organisation khö chenpo ( mkhos chen-po ) of

6693-487: The influence of this crucial transitional period on relations between Han and Tibetan in Amdo decades later. As a prelude to the Beijing Olympics , protests broke out in 2008 in Amdo, among other places. Some were violent; however the majority were peaceful. Amdo was traditionally a place of great learning and scholarship and contains many great monasteries including Kumbum Monastery near Xining , Rongwo Monastery in Rebgong , Labrang Monastery south of Lanzhou , and

6790-566: The later reign of the 41st king Ralpachen through his 821–823 treaty between the Tibetan Empire and Tang dynasty, which was also commemorated by three inscribed stelae. In the opening years of the 9th century, the Tibetan Empire controlled territories extending from the Tarim Basin to the Himalayas and Bengal , and from the Pamirs into what are now the Chinese provinces of Sichuan , Gansu and Yunnan . The murder of King Rapalchen in 838 by his brother Langdarma, and Langdarma's subsequent enthronement followed by his assassination in 842 marks

6887-476: The ministers, unsuccessfully. In 821, a treaty established the borders between the Tibetan Empire and the Tang dynasty , while three stele were built – one at the border, one in Lhasa, and one in Chang'an . The Tibetan army settled within the eastern frontier. After 838 when Tibet's King Lang darma killed his brother, the Tibetan Empire broke into independent principalities, while Do Kham (Amdo and Kham) maintained culturally and religiously Tibetan. Within Amdo,

6984-543: The ninth century, the Tibetan Empire extended as far north as the Turfan , south into India and Nepal , east to Chang'an , and west to Samarkhand . During this period, control of Amdo moved from Songtsen Gampo and his successors to the royal family's ministers, the Gar ( Wylie : ' gar ). These ministers had their positions inherited from their parents, similar to the emperor. King Tüsong tried to wrest control of this area from

7081-511: The nomads of Amdo revolted. Some areas were reported virtually empty of men: They either had been killed or imprisoned or had fled. The largest monastery in Amdo was forced to close. Of its three thousand monks, two thousand were arrested. In July 1958 as the revolutionary fervor of the Great Leap Forward swept across the People's Republic of China, Zeku County in the Amdo region of cultural Tibet erupted in violence against efforts by

7178-755: The northeastern Sumru area, which had been the Sumpa country conquered 75 years earlier. Sumru was organised as a new "horn" of the empire. During the summer of 703, Tridu Songtsen resided at Öljak ( ‘Ol-byag ) in Ling ( Gling ), which was on the upper reaches of the Yangtze , before proceeding with an invasion of Jang ( ‘Jang ), which may have been either the Mosuo or the kingdom of Nanzhao . In 704, he stayed briefly at Yoti Chuzang ( Yo-ti Chu-bzangs ) in Madrom ( Rma-sgrom ) on

7275-538: The people of the region were typically non-Tibetan, such as the Mongols or the Hor people , although the latter were able to speak a Tibetan language. People from Amdo and Kham have traditionally identified themselves as Amdowas and Khampas rather than Tibetans, sometimes more connected to the Chinese than they were to Ü-Tsang (Central Tibet). The inhabitants of Amdo are referred to as Amdowa ( Tibetan : ཨ་མདོ་པ། , Wylie :

7372-517: The region and environment Amdo Tibetans live in, they are either nomads (Drog pa) or farmers (Sheng pa). The economy of Amdo of has been constant throughout history and has changed little in the modern time. A typical family has two homes or bases: one for when they move up into the mountains with their animals in the summer for better grazing, and another down in the valleys where they weather harsh winters and grow fodder for their livestock in small agricultural fields. The families of some villages may make

7469-497: The rest of Amdo was gradually assimilated into the Kuomintang Chinese provincial system, with the major portion of it becoming nominally part of Qinghai province and a smaller portion becoming part of Gansu province. Due to the lack of a Chinese administrative presence in the region, however, most of the communities of the rural areas of Amdo and Kham remained under their own local, Tibetan lay and monastic leaders into

7566-734: The rest of Qinghai province, this area has the largest population density, with the result that the Han Chinese outnumber other ethnicities in Qinghai province generally. The majority of Amdo Tibetans live in the larger part of Qinghai province, including the Mtshobyang (མཚོ་བྱང་།; Haibei in Chinese) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (TAP), Mtsholho (མཚོ་ལྷོ་།; Hainan) TAP, Rmalho (རྨ་ལྷོ་།; Huangnan) TAP, and Mgolog (མགོ་ལོག།; Guoluo) TAP, as well as in

7663-464: The simultaneous beginning of the dissolution of the empire period. Before the empire period, sacred Buddhist relics were discovered by the Yarlung dynasty's 28th king, Iha-tho-tho-ri (Thori Nyatsen), and then safeguarded. Later, Tibet marked the advent of its empire period under King Songsten Gampo, while Buddhism initially spread into Tibet after the king's conversion to Buddhism, and during his pursuits in translating Buddhist texts while also developing

7760-562: The spring of 670, Tibet attacked the remaining Chinese territories in the western Tarim Basin after winning the Battle of Dafeichuan against the Tang dynasty . With troops from Khotan they conquered Aksu , upon which the Chinese abandoned the region, ending two decades of Chinese control. They thus gained control over all of the Chinese Four Garrisons of Anxi in the Tarim Basin in 670 and held them until 692, when

7857-410: The subsequent dissolution of the unified empire period, after which semi-autonomous polities of chieftains, minor kings and queens, and those surviving Tibetan Buddhist polities evolved once again into autonomous independent polities, similar to those polities also documented in the Tibetan Empire's nearer frontier region of Do Kham ( Amdo and Kham ). Other unreferenced ideas about the dissolution of

7954-481: The threat of force, according to Tibetan sources ) to provide a Chinese princess to Songtsen Gampo. Circa 639, after Songtsen Gampo had a dispute with his younger brother Tsänsong ( Brtsan-srong ), the younger brother was burned to death by his own minister Khäsreg ( Mkha’s sregs ) (presumably at the behest of his older brother the emperor). The Chinese Princess Wencheng (Tibetan: Mung-chang Kung-co ) departed China in 640 to marry Songtsen Gampo's son. She arrived

8051-517: The time of Genghis Khan , but particularly in a series of settlement waves during the Ming period. Over the centuries, most of the Amdo Mongols have become highly Tibetanised and, superficially at least, it is now difficult to discern their original non-Tibetan ethnicity. There are many dialects of the Tibetan language spoken in Amdo due to the geographical isolation of many groups. Written Tibetan

8148-683: The titular authority of a larger, more powerful non-Tibetan regime such as the Mongols and the Qing. From 1917 the Hui Muslim warlords of the Ma Family , which supported the Republic of China (ROC), began occupying parts of Amdo, which was gradually incorporated into ROC provinces. Since 1949, Chinese Communist Party forces have been able to defeat both Tibetan and the Nationalist Government forces, solidifying their hold on

8245-706: The upper hand, and the Tibetan governor of Kabul submitted to the Caliphate and became a Muslim about 812 or 815. The Caliphate then struck east from Kashmir but were held off by the Tibetans . In the meantime, the Uyghur Khaganate attacked Tibet from the northeast. Strife between the Uyghurs and Tibetans continued for some time. Tritsu Detsen ( Khri gtsug lde brtsan ), best known as Ralpacan ,

8342-611: Was administered by an imperial viceroy . Portions of the country were placed under Chinese law while the Tibetans enjoyed almost complete independence, ruled by Tibetan chiefs that held grants or commissions from the Imperial Government. In 1906, the 13th Dalai Lama while touring the country, was enticed by a procession of a thousand lamas , to stay at the temple at Kumbum . He spent a year resting and learning among other things Sanskrit and poetry. In 1912, Qing Dynasty collapsed and relative independence followed with

8439-458: Was agreed on in 821/822 under Ralpacan, which established peace for more than two decades. A bilingual account of this treaty is inscribed on a stone pillar which stands outside the Jokhang temple in Lhasa. The reign of Langdarma ( Glang dar ma ), regal title Tri Uidumtsaen ( Khri 'U'i dum brtsan ), was plagued by external troubles. The Uyghur state to the north collapsed under pressure from

8536-422: Was apparently murdered by two pro- Bön ministers who then placed his anti-Buddhist brother, Langdarma , on the throne. Tibet continued to be a major Central Asian empire until the mid-9th century. It was under the reign of Ralpacan that the political power of Tibet was at its greatest extent, stretching as far as Mongolia and Bengal, and entering into treaties with China on a mutual basis. A Sino-Tibetan treaty

8633-428: Was appointed to replace him. In 692, the Tibetans lost the Tarim Basin to the Chinese. Gar Tridring Tsendrö defeated the Chinese in battle in 696 and sued for peace. Two years later in 698 emperor Tridu Songtsen reportedly invited the Gar clan (who numbered more than 2000 people) to a hunting party and had them massacred. Gar Tridring Tsendrö then committed suicide, and his troops joined the Chinese. This brought to an end

8730-456: Was born in 704. Upon the death of Tridu Songtsen, his mother Thrimalö ruled as regent for the infant Gyältsugru. The following year the elder son of Tridu Songtsen, Lha Balpo ( Lha Bal-pho ) apparently contested the succession of his one-year-old brother, but was "deposed from the throne" at Pong Lag-rang. Thrimalö had arranged for a royal marriage to a Chinese princess. The Princess Jincheng (Tibetan: Kyimshang Kongjo) arrived in 710, but it

8827-682: Was born. The power of Emperor Tridu Songtsen was offset, to an extent, by that of his mother, Thrimalö and the influence of the Gar clan. ( Wylie mgar ; also sgar and ′gar ). (There is evidence that the Gar were descended from members of the Lesser Yuezhi , a people who had originally spoken an Indo-European language and migrated, sometime after the 3rd century BC, from Gansu or the Tarim into Kokonur .) In 685, minister Gar Tsenye Dompu ( mgar btsan-snya-ldom-bu ) died and his brother, Gar Tridring Tsendrö ( mgar Khri-‘bring-btsan brod )

8924-539: Was inscribed in Lhasa in 823 (see below). At the same time, the Uyghurs , nominal allies of the Tang emperors, continued to make difficulties along Tibet's Northern border. Toward the end of this king's reign Uyghur victories in the North caused the Tibetans to lose a number of their allies in the Southeast. Recent historical research indicates the presence of Christianity in as early as the sixth and seventh centuries,

9021-593: Was no emperor. In 755, China had already begun to be weakened because of the An Shi Rebellion started by An Lushan in 751, which would last until 763. In contrast, Trisong Detsän's reign was characterised by the reassertion of Tibetan influence in Central Asia. Early in his reign regions to the West of Tibet paid homage to the Tibetan court. From that time onward the Tibetans pressed into the territory of

9118-710: Was no longer mentioned in the dynastic history of the Mongols. Although the following Ming Dynasty nominally maintained the Mongol divisions of Tibet with some sub-division, its power is weaker and influenced Amdo mostly at their borders. The Mongols again seized political control in Amdo areas from the middle of the 16th century. However, the Ming Dynasty continued to retain control in Hezhou and Xining wei. Upper (Kokonor) Mongols from northern Xinjiang and Khalkha came there in 16th and 17th centuries. Power struggles among various Mongol factions in Tibet and Amdo led to

9215-601: Was not the last Labrang saw of General Ma. The Muslim forces looted and ravaged the monastery again. In 1928, the Ma Clique formed an alliance with the Kuomintang . In the 1930s, the Muslim warlord Ma Bufang , the son of Ma Qi, seized the northeast corner of Amdo in the name of Chiang Kai-shek 's weak central government, effectively incorporating it into the Chinese province of Qinghai. From that point until 1949, much of

9312-556: Was paid and then he escorted the young boy to Tibet. In May 1949, Ma Bufang was appointed Military Governor of Northwest China, making him the highest-ranked administrator of the Amdo region. However, by August 1949, the advancing People's Liberation Army had annihilated Ma's army, though residual forces took several years to defeat. By 1949, advance units of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (the PLA) had taken much of Amdo from

9409-428: Was ultimately forced to pay homage to Tibet. In 747, the hold of Tibet was loosened by the campaign of general Gao Xianzhi , who tried to re-open the direct communications between Central Asia and Kashmir. By 750, the Tibetans had lost almost all of their central Asian possessions to the Chinese. In 753, even the kingdom of "Little Balur" (modern Gilgit) was captured by the Chinese. However, after Gao Xianzhi's defeat by

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