13th Karmapa Düdül Dorje

1706 The Mongol Lhasang Khan dismissed the Dalai Lama as being illegitimate. He was deported to China; on the way there he died under mysterious circumstances after having been taken prisoner.

1717 The Dzungars (a Mongolian tribe) invaded tibet. They wanted to take possession of the new-born Kelsang Gyatso, the 7th Dalai Lama (1708 – 1757), who was brought to the Kumbum-monastery near the former border to China. They conquered Lhasa, killed Lhasang Khan and established a reign of terror.
1719/20 Chinese troops chased the Dzungars out of Tibet and transformed Tibet to their protectorate.  

 

The influence of the Ming / Manchu dynasty started in Tibet in the end of the 17th century, when the Manchus aligned themselves with the Koshot-Mongols. They considered the Koshot-Mongols as custodians for their interests in terms of Tibet. We should not forget: The 6th Dalai Lama should be deported to China. In 1720 the Chinese instituted the 7th Dalai Lama as a ruler again after he was brought to Lhasa. 

Since the time of Karma Pakshi/Sakya Pandita there existed a so-called "priest-patron-relationship" between big Tibetan lamas and the Mongolian court (Yüan-dynasty). This continued - with interruptions - also during the Ming dynasty (King Yung Lo relocated the capitol from Najing to Beijing).

Later different emperors of the Ming-dynasties took on the custom. Buddhism was the main religion at the court in Beijing. Aside from it, the Confuzian teachings and Daoism equal ideologies existed. At that time, people in China  liked to speak of the "unity of three religions". Highly ranked lamas (Sakyas, Kagyüs and later Gelugpas) felt compelled again and again to pay the emperor a courtesy visit; among them several Karmapas up to the 12th Karmapa who in 1732 - together with the 8th Sharmapa - died in Beijing. The respective Manchu-emperors considered Tibet as a protectorate, interfered varyingly strong into their inner affairs, and until the beginning of the 20th century financed many monasteries there, including the livelihood of thousands, probably ten-thousands of monks.

The very important 8th Situpa Chökyi Nyungne (1700 - 1774), founder and abbott of the famous Palpung monastery in Eastern Tibet, was the last high-ranked Karma Kagyü Lama who visited Beijing around 1761. A couple of years later, Situ Rinpoche was invited again - already at old age - to travel to China. In 1774 he died on the way there. Afterwards the Chinese court turned more to the Gelugpas.

Without the Chinese backing, from a political perspective, the Karma Kagyü Lineage faced difficulties in Central Tibet throughout the late 18th and 19th century. Admittedly, the missing intervention brought many advantages for the spiritual quality of the Kagyü Lineage. (Thanks to the activity of the Rimey-movement under the influence of the great Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye (1813 - 1899) and others the "old lineages" received a broad appreciation during the 19th century (which ran into danger to split up into many "valleys").

1723 and later The new Manchu emperor withdrew the Chinese garrisons from Lhasa, which led to a civil war. His troops returned shortly afterwards; either the rivals assassinated each other or many rebels, former Desis and their families etc. were executed or died through cruel tortures.
1728 The 7th Dalai Lama was a great scholar, a prolific writer and a poet. His collected works run seven volumes and contain numerous commentaries, liturgical works as well as many religious poems. He was exiled for seven years. The Chinese took over the power.
1728 – 1911 The Manchus reestablished a garrison in Lhasa; two resident Manchu officials, known as Ambans, were in charge of the garrison, as direct representatives of the Manchu emperor. This lasted until the fall of the Manchu dynasty in 1911.
1728 – 1747 Miwang Polhanas was the actual ruler of Tibet, supported by the Manchu emperor. 
1747 – 1750 Polhanas’ youngest son Gyumey Namgyal followed his father. He tried to get rid of the Chinese Ambans, that’s why he was killed. His striving for Tibetan independence ended in many more cruelties and a permanent residence of ambans.
1751 In January a Manchu officer came to Lhasa, together with troops, and restored the Chinese influence. The 7th Dalai Lama assumed temporal power. He appointed a Tibetan government and installed a council of ministers (Kashag).
1757 – 1777 After 7th Dalai Lama’s death, Demo Tulku Jampal Delek led the government affairs as the regent.
1777 – 1781 The 2nd regent took over office because the 20-year-old Dalai Lama said he was not yet fully trained.

Jamphel Gyatso, the 8th Dalai Lama (1758 – 1804) was enthroned in 1762, at age five at the Potala Palace in Lhasa. Regents managed Tibet's administration during his minority. He ruled Tibet independently from 1784 to 1790, but later relied on regents for governance. He established Norbulingka Park and Summer Palace on the outskirts of Lhasa, which became a summer residence for future Dalai Lamas. During his tenure, Tibet faced invasions by Gurkhas (Nepal). Qing dynasty troops intervened, driving back the invaders and stabilizing the region.
1788-1789 The first Nepal-Tibet war was triggered primarily by trade disputes, including issues over a long-standing problem of low-quality coins manufactured by Nepal for Tibet and political tensions involving Tibetan interference in Nepali affairs. It began with Nepalese Gurkha troops invading Tibet through mountain passes like Kuti and Kerung. They captured key forts such as Chhochyang and Kuti by mid-1788 and fought battles against Tibetan forces. The first war ended with the Treaty of Kerung in June 1789, where Tibet agreed to pay an annual tribute of Rs. 50,000 in silver to Nepal and returned some territories captured during the conflict. The Nepalese Army plundered Tibet, which was a Qing protectorate. The Tibetans sought military help from the Chinese Emperor as well as local Nepalese rulers to resist the invasion. 
1791-1792 The second Nepal-Tibet war took place as a continuation after Tibet stopped paying tribute and tensions flared again. The Qing dynasty, which had a protectorate role over Tibet, intervened militarily with a large force of Manchu, Mongol, and Tibetan troops under General Fuk'anggan. The Qing army repelled the Nepalese troops, pushed them back across the Himalayas, and pursued them into Nepalese territory. The war ended with the Treaty of Betrawati in 1792. Nepal agreed to become a tributary to the Qing emperor and pay tribute every five years, recognizing Qing suzerainty.


 

1792/93 Introduction of the “Golden Urn/Vase” by pressure of the Qing emperor: In the future, official rebirths of high (= politically important) lamas were not anymore to be chosen strictly according to Tibetan traditions. High-ranking lamas were to make a preselection of at least three boys, whose names were written down and put into an urn (a present from the Chinese emperor). Drawing lots decided who would be the official lama child. This procedure was performed e.g. with the nomination of the 10th, 11th and 12th Dalai Lamas as well as with the 8th and the 9th Panchen Lamas.
No term of the 9th Dalai Lama (1805 – 1815). The rumor exists that the 9th to 12th Dalai Lamas all died out of 'unnatural' causes.
No term of the 10th Dalai Lama (1816 – 1837)

 

1828 After the abdication of the Derge-king Tsewang Dorje Rigdzin the civil service was exchanged. The newly appointed civil servants suppressed the nomads through extreme taxes and cruelties. The resulting riots ended in a complete confiscation of all the families’ possessions in Ronggyab.

1838 No term of the 11th Dalai Lama (1838 – 1856)

1863 – 1865 During the 19th century, the opposition between Central Tibet (where the Gelugpas were politically predominant) and the Eastern Tibet province Kham became stronger. The Karma Kagyü Lineage had a difficult standing in Central Tibet during the 18th and 19th century - especially after both the 12th Karmapa and the 8th Sharmarpa had died in China. In Kham there were monasteries of the Kagyüs, Nyingmas and at some places also from the Sakyas. The Gelugpa Lineage was hardly represented there.

The great 8th Situpa Chökyi Nyungne (1700 - 1774) had founded the Palpung monastery in the 1720s. Along with Tsurphu, it became the most important center of the Karma Kagyü transmission, well known amongst others of the Karma Gadri school of painting and both its significant printing works and library. In Palpung, more exactly at a hermitage above the monastery, the famous Rimay-master Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye (1813 - 1899) settled down there.

During that time Gönpo Namgyal from the remote region Nyarong set himself up as a rebel-leader and brought some regions of Eastern-Tibet under his control. Also, the small kingdom of Derge belonged to it, where the famous monastery Palpung was located. The queen of Derge and two of her sons were kidnapped by the guerillas. Also, the young 10th Situpa was kidnapped. When the rebel-leader finally brought the trading-route between Tibet and China under his control, the central government followed an appeal for help from Derge in 1863, intervened and defeated Gönpo Namgyal in 1865. Thus, Lhasa was mainly under control of Eastern Tibet again. The renowned Jamgön Kongtrul was engaged, and he actually supported the intervention from Central Tibet. In turn, he succeeded that the status of the monasteries were not touched in this region and none of them was converted into Gelugpa-places. Not only spiritually but also diplomatically they contributed in a high degree so that the variety within the Tibetan Buddhism was maintained. 1874 Jamgön Kongtrul had to leave Palpung due to several factors related to political and religious tensions in the region. He used the time for traveling, collecting and passing on empowerments. He returned in 1866.

No term of the 12th Dalai Lama (1856– 1875).

1878 – 1933  Thubten Gyatso, the 13th Dalai Lama (1876 – 1933) was enthroned in 1879, in 1895 was introduced into his worldly functions. His reign marked significant political and social changes in Tibet. He introduced postal services, telegraph lines, currency notes and coins. He sent students abroad for education and established small industries and hydroelectric plants. He fled Tibet twice due to foreign invasions—first to Mongolia during British advances in 1904 and later to India during Chinese incursions in 1910. After the fall of the Manchu dynasty in 1911, he expelled remaining Chinese forces from Tibet. On February 13, 1913, he issued a proclamation reaffirming Tibet's independence. Thubten Gyatso's leadership brought stability and prosperity to Tibet during his reign. His efforts to modernize the country while preserving its cultural identity left a lasting impact. He passed away on December 17, 1933. The regent resigned. During Dalai Lama's office a lot of intrigues happened behind his back. 

 

1896 - 1910 Clashes between local chieftains, sometimes supported by Chinese troops, occurred regularly in Eastern Tibet.  The frequent turmoils in Kham had also its cause because the Khampas wanted to become more independent of the Tibetan central government. The tendency to arrange with the Chinese, was stronger in Lhasa where Chinese troops were deployed. At the same time the increasing weakness and instability of the Chinese emperor's state became noticeable.

1903 The new Amban (representative of the Chinese emperor) made remarks that too many monks are in the monasteries, they better should work in agriculture. Monks killed the Amban and his escort. Chinese soldiers took revenge and killed more than 1500 monks and laymen.

1904 Invasion of British troops into Tibet (Francis Younghusband – his soldiers killed ~ 500 Tibetan soldiers at Gyantse). The 13th Dalai Lama escaped to Mongolia in 1904/05 when the British troops came. Having returned to Lhasa by the end of 1909, he left Tibet again only two months later to Darjeeling/Kalimpong in 1910.


 

1906 Monks who were welcoming the Chinese general Ma Ti-t’ai were executed on the spot outside their monastery. Raiding and looting of monasteries were common during these campaigns, as military control was violently enforced and monasteries were seen as centers of power and potential opposition.

 

1910 Chinese troops attacked Lhasa (and the Potala); many were killed. The Dalai Lama was able to escape to India (until his return to Tibet in 1912/to Lhasa in 1913). Tibetan police were replaced by Chinese.

1911 The people of Tibet rose up against the Imperial troops in Lhasa; a guerilla war was started against the Chinese everywhere in Tibet; many died. Tibet regained independence.  The main reason that the Chinese troops of the headstrong general Chao Erfeng lost, was not the resistance of the Tibetans but the overthrow in Beijing. The empire had fallen, the republic proclaimed. Chao Erfeng was ordered back to China and sentenced to death because of treason. Cut off of ordnance and on their own, the haggard Chinese soldiers had to leave via India. The Dalai Lama returned to Tibet and proclaimed Tibet's independence.

1913/14 Tibetan-British-Chinese convention in Simla (Northern India: Great Britain functioned as a mediator between Tibet and the new Republic of China. The negotiations results were:

Central Tibet and the Western part Kham form the „Outer Tibet“ as a de facto independent state under Chinese sovereignty (Tibet would act independently for itself but coordinates foreign relations and politics with Beijing).

The Eastern part of Kham and the province Amdo form „Inner Tibet“ and would remain under the jurisdiction of the Chinese government.

Tibet and British India fixed a border between the two countries, the so-called „McMahon-line“. China, however, did not ratify the agreement (The „Outer Tibet“ acted completely independently internally until 1950 but did not cultivate any contacts regarding foreign affairs – except to Great Britain and Mongolia. After the last Ambans had been banished in 1912 the Tibetan government did not directly communicate with China -rarely only through a British intermediary until the 1930s. In 1962 the Chinese took control south of the border to India in 1962 and up to today they annoy their southern neighbors with territorial claims.

1914-1918 World War I 


 

1917/18 Sino-Tibetan War - China, having never accepted Tibet's independence, sent troops into eastern Tibet in 1918. This conflict is considered as a stalemate, and ended due to British diplomacy.  After Tibets declaration of independence, the status of the Eastern Tibetan provinces Amdo and Kham remained unclear. Both parts of the population wanted to be ruled from afar - neither the Gelugpa-aristocracy in the far distant Lhasa nor from the Chinese. In 1917 Chinese troops attacked Kham. The Tibetans had armed for a couple of years already and repulsed the enemy behind the river Yangtse. By persuading through British mediators, the Tibetan commander-in-chief stopped the military action so that the eastern part of Kham officially remained under Chinese rule. Obviously, the central government in Lhasa didn't want a strong military Eastern Tibet - it might have become independent.

1920 Foundation of the League of Nations

1923 The Panchen Lama and many followers fled to China (the new taxation on large estates have severely increased; they saw the tax-rise as a punishment for cooperation with the Chinese)

1930-1932 Sino-Tibetan War - A Tibetan army attacked Sichuan Province in China, which was then ruled by a warlord named Liu W en-Hui. China was at the time divided among dozens of "Warlords" who often fought among themselves as well as against the central Chinese government. Liu Wen-Hui battled the Tibetans for several years, sometimes with the aid of other warlords, such as the Qinghai province's warlord Ma Bu-Fang. A peace agreement was finally signed in 1932, setting Tibet's eastern border at the Yangtse River.  Actually, the Tibetans were forced back. The treaty from 1932 said that not the Yantse river but the Jinsha river would be the border. This borderline in general corresponded to the border between the "Inner" and "Outer" Tibet, as it was stipulated during the Simla-conference in 1914. 

The Picture shows the border between Lhasa-controlled ("Outer Tibet") and Chinese-controlled ("Inner Tibet") regions in Kham, 1912–1945. The dark blue line represents the boundary proposed in the 1914 Simla Convention and the red line the overall boundary of Tibet. The remaining lines represent actual control: the dotted blue line up to 1910; the light blue line during 1912–1917; and the dark brown line during 1918–1932.