Tibetan Culture Gallery

བོད་ཀྱི་གླེགས་བམ།

History of Tibet


 


 

The Roof of the World

Tibet is a vast and beautiful country.  It is bounded on three sides by some of the highest mountains in the world – the rugged Karakorams and Ladakh mountains in the west, the wild and remote Chang Tang range to the north, and the great rock barrier of the Himalayas that runs for 2,400 kilometers along Tibet’s southern border.  No wonder Tibet has been called the ‘Roof of the World’, for the average height of the land is around 4,500 meters.

Marriage and Death

Autumn was the season for nomad marriages, and this year Dolma’s sister, Nyima was to marry a nomad boy from a neighboring tribe.  They had herded yaks together, and in the beauty of the summer pastures their friendship had turned to love.  Most marriages in Tibet are...

A Meeting of Peoples

Lhamo and Dorjee knew a great deal about the nomads.  Their winter camp lay across the river on the other side of the valley from the village.  One of Lhamo’s first memories was watching the whole tribe making yak-dung walls to protect their tents from the winter...

A Visit from the Nomads

Lhamo always knew when autumn had arrived.  As the days began to shorten, she would climb to the roof of the house and look expectantly northwards, towards the mountains.  Sure enough, on the third day of her watch, she saw a cloud of dust moving slowly down from the...

A Peasant Village

As the first rays of the morning sun turned the mountains pink, faint wisps of smoke could be seen rising from the tiny village in the valley.  It was not a large settlement.  No more than nine or ten stone and brick houses clustered together on the hillside – each...

The Roof of the World

Tibet is a vast and beautiful country.  It is bounded on three sides by some of the highest mountains in the world – the rugged Karakorams and Ladakh mountains in the west, the wild and remote Chang Tang range to the north, and the great rock barrier of the Himalayas...

Foreign Intervention

The years following the death, or disappearance of the Sixth Dalai Lama are ones of some confusion in Tibet.  The Dalai Lama appointed by Lhazang Khan was not accepted by the Tibetans.  As we have seen, they appointed their own child in the usual manner. ...

Seeds of Decay  

The achievements of the Tibetans between the seventh and ninth centuries are quite remarkable.  How did they manage it?  It is possible that the population of Tibet was larger at that time than it is today.  Some writers describe these early Tibetan kings leading...

The Expanding Empire 

Tibetan armies ventured far beyond the borders of Tibet during the time of the Empire. In the rugged mountains of what is present-day Afghanistan, a long line of horsemen wound their way across the barren hillside.  Below them, snaking across the plain, lay the...

The Tibetan Empire

Songtsen Gampo The great Songtsen Gampo, King of all of Tibet, was determined to marry the daughter of the Emperor of China.  Such a great match would be fitting for a ruler of his power and prestige.  But T’ai-Tsung, the Chinese Emperor, was not sure he wished his...

The Yarlung Kings

The old stories tell us that Nyatri Tsenpo was carried on the Tibetans shoulders to be enthroned as their first king   In the past, traditional accounts of Tibetan history have tended to dismiss the years before King Songtsen Gampo, and the arrival of Buddhism in...

The Yarlung Kings

In the past, traditional accounts of Tibetan history have tended to dismiss the years before King Songtsen Gampo, and the arrival of Buddhism in Tibet, as a time of darkness and barbarity.  This is partly because most of the early…

The Tibetan Empire

The great Songtsen Gampo, King of all of Tibet, was determined to marry the daughter of the Emperor of China.  Such a great match would be fitting for a ruler of his power and prestige.  But T’ai-Tsung, the Chinese Emperor…

The Expanding Empire 

In the rugged mountains of what is present-day Afghanistan, a long line of horsemen wound their way across the barren hillside.  Below them, snaking across the plain, lay the glittering waters of the River Oxus…

Foreign Intervention

The years following the death, or disappearance of the Sixth Dalai Lama are ones of some confusion in Tibet.  The Dalai Lama appointed by Lhazang Khan was not accepted by the Tibetans.  As we have seen, they appointed…

Seeds of Decay  

The achievements of the Tibetans between the seventh and ninth centuries are quite remarkable.  How did they manage it?  It is possible that the population of Tibet was larger at that time than it is today…