| The Tibetan language is generally considered | | | | that 5000 tibetans were killed by British |
| to be a Tibeto-Burman language of the | | | | army. |
| Sino-Tibetan language family, distantly | | | | |
| related to Chinese (Sinitic languages). | | | | When the mission reached Lhasa, the Dalai |
| | | | Lama had already fled to Urga in Mongolia, |
| In general, the history of Tibet begins with | | | | but a treaty was signed by lay and |
| the reign of Songtsän Gampo | | | | ecclesiastical officials of the Tibetan |
| (604–650 CE). Tibet continued as a | | | | government, and by representatives of the |
| Central Asian empire until the late 9th | | | | three monasteries of Sera, Drepung, and |
| century. | | | | Ganden. The treaty made provisions for the |
| | | | frontier between Sikkim and Tibet to be |
| Mongols & Manchus | | | | respected, for freer trade between British |
| | | | and Tibetan subjects, and for an indemnity to |
| In 1240, the Mongols marched into central | | | | be paid from the Tibetan Government to the |
| Tibet and attacked several monasteries. | | | | British Government for its expenses in |
| Köden, younger brother of Mongol ruler | | | | dispatching armed troops to Lhasa. It also |
| Güyük Khan, participated in a ceremony | | | | made provision for a British trade agent to |
| recognizing the Sa-skya lama as temporal | | | | reside at the trade mart at Gyantse. The |
| ruler of Tibet in 1247. The Mongol khans had | | | | provisions of this 1904 treaty were confirmed |
| ruled northern China since 1215. They were | | | | in a 1906 treaty signed between Britain and |
| the emperors of the Yuan Dynasty. Kublai Khan | | | | China, in which the British also agreed "not |
| was a patron of Tibetan Buddhism and | | | | to annex Tibetan territory or to interfere in |
| appointed the Sa-skya Lama his "Imperial | | | | the administration of Tibet.". The position |
| preceptor," or chief religious official. | | | | of British Trade Agent at Gyantse was |
| Tibetans viewed this relationship as an | | | | occupied from 1904 up until 1944. It was not |
| example of yon-mchod, or priest-patron | | | | until 1937, with the creation of the position |
| relationship. In practice, the Sa-skya lama | | | | of "Head of British Mission Lhasa", that a |
| was subordinate to the Mongol khan. The | | | | British officer had a permanent posting in |
| collapse of the Yuan dynasty in 1368 led to | | | | Lhasa itself. |
| the overthrow of the Sa-skya in Tibet. Tibet | | | | |
| was then ruled by a succession of three | | | | In the Anglo-Chinese Convention of 1906 which |
| secular dynasties. In the 16th century, Altan | | | | confirmed the Anglo-Tibetan Treaty of 1904, |
| Khan of Tumet Mongolian tribe supported the | | | | Britain agreed "not to annex Tibetan |
| Dalai Lama's religious lineage to be the | | | | territory or to interfere in the |
| dominant religion among Mongols and Tibetans. | | | | administration of Tibet" while China engaged |
| | | | "not to permit any other foreign State to |
| Beginning in the early 18th century, the Qing | | | | interfere with the territory or internal |
| government sent a resident commissioner | | | | administration of Tibet". In the |
| (amban) to Lhasa. Tibetan factions rebelled | | | | Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907, Britain |
| in 1750 and killed the ambasa. Then, a Qing | | | | also recognized the "suzerainty of China over |
| army entered and defeated the rebels and | | | | Thibet" and, in conformity with such admitted |
| installed an administration headed by the | | | | principle, engaged "not to enter into |
| Dalai Lama. The number of soldiers in Tibet | | | | negotiations with Thibet except through the |
| was kept at about 2000. The defensive duties | | | | intermediary of the Chinese Government." The |
| were partly helped out by a local force which | | | | Qing central government established direct |
| was reorganized by the resident commissioner, | | | | rule over Tibet for the first time in 1910. |
| and the Tibetan government continued to | | | | The thirteenth Dalai Lama fled to British |
| manage day-to-day affairs as before. | | | | India in February 1910. In the same month, |
| | | | the Chinese Qing government issued a |
| British influence | | | | proclamation deposing the Dalai Lama and |
| | | | instigating the search for a new incarnation. |
| In 1904 a British diplomatic mission, | | | | While in India the Dalai Lama became a close |
| accompanied by a large military escort, | | | | friend of the British Political Officer |
| forced its way through to Lhasa. The head of | | | | Charles Bell. The official position of the |
| the diplomatic mission was Colonel Francis | | | | British Government was that they would not |
| Younghusband. The principal motivation for | | | | intervene between China and Tibet, and it |
| the British mission was a fear, which proved | | | | would only recognize the de facto government |
| to be unfounded, that Russia was extending | | | | of China within Tibet at this time. In Bell's |
| its footprint into Tibet and possibly even | | | | history of Tibet, he would write of this time |
| giving military aid to the Tibetan | | | | that "the Tibetans were abandoned to Chinese |
| government. But in his way to Lhasa, | | | | aggression, an aggression for which the |
| Younghusband killed 1300 tibetans in Gyam-Tse | | | | British Military Expedition to Lhasa and |
| (as written in "The Great Game" of Peter | | | | subsequent retreat [and consequent power |
| Hopkirk), because the natives were in fear of | | | | vacuum within Tibet] were primarily |
| what kind of unequal treaty the English would | | | | responsible". |
| offer to the Tibetans. Some documents claim | | | | |