The Ganden Phodrang & the 5th Dalai Lama

The Ganden Phodrang was first famed by the 5th Dalai Lama (r. 1642–1682), known for unifying the Tibetan heartland under the control of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, and after defeating the rival Kagyu and Jonang sects, along with the secular ruling Tsangpa prince. All efforts of Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso were successful because of aid from Güshi Khan, the Oirat leader who established the Khoshut Khanate. Güshi Khan independently bestowed supreme authority on Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso the 5th Dalai Lama for the whole of Tibet at a ceremony at Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, such that all power and authority lay in the hands of the Dalai Lama right up to his death and no other would forcibly interfere in the administration and its policies. The Tibetan Mongol alliance was keen such that at the age of 7, Galdan Boshugtu Khan was sent to Lhasa to be educated as a lama under the 5th Dalai Lama at Tashilhunpo Monastery. He spent 20 years studying Buddhist canons, philosophy, astronomy, astrology and basics of medicine and pharmacology. In this sense, he was one of the best educated kings of Mongolian history. In 1678, Galdan received from the Dalai Lama the title of Boshogtu Khan, making the Dzungars the leading tribe within the Oirats.

The Dzungar Khanate & the Qing Genocide

The Dzungar rulers used the title of Khong Tayiji or Crown Prince, and between 1680 and 1688, the Dzungars conquered the Tarim Basin, which is now Southern Xinjiang, and defeated the Eastern Khalkha Mongols. In 1696, Galdan was defeated by the Qing dynasty and lost Outer Mongolia. In 1705, the Qing conspired with a Dzungar faction to kidnap and murder the 6th Dalai Lama, his regent and government officials. In 1717 Tsewang Rabtan returned to claim Tibet by deposing the 7th Dalai Lama, and Lha-bzang Khan became the last ruler of the Khoshut Khanate. Lha-bzang Khan and his entire family were executed prior to the Battle of the Salween River, though this matter may be considered conjecture or propaganda. In response, an expedition sent by the Kangxi Emperor, together with Tibetan forces under Polhané Sönam Topgyé of Tsang and Kangchennas, the governor of Western Tibet, expelled the Dzungars from Tibet by 1720 which initiated Qing rule of Tibet.

The Great Game — Britain, Russia & Tibet

The Great Game is a term ascribed to rivalry between the 19th-century British and Russian Empires over influence in Central Asia, primarily in Afghanistan, Persia, and Tibet. By the early 20th century, a line of independent states, tribes, and monarchies from the shore of the Caspian Sea to the Eastern Himalayas were made into protectorates and territories of the two empires. The British moved in fear that the Qing Dynasty had reached a secret understanding with the Russians over Tibet, and that Russia was providing arms and fighting forces to Tibet. If it were the case that Russia had a direct route to British India it would break the chain of quasi-autonomous buffer-states which separated the British Raj from the Russian Empire. Their fears were fueled by Russian explorers and the courtier Agvan Dorjiyev who had met with the Dalai Lama and acted as ambassador for the Tsar. All the while the Dalai Lama declined British courtiers in full. Even the possibility of a Tibet authority under Russian protection was a situation the British would retaliate against most vehemently.

Under the Governor-General Curzon's belief that the Dalai Lama intended to place Tibet firmly within a sphere of Russian influence and end its neutrality, he unofficially issued an ultimatum In 1903. This was a request by the British Raj to the Ganden Phodrang for negotiations to be held at Khampa Dzong, a tiny Tibetan village north of Sikkim. The Chinese ambans were willing to accept this meeting with the British, however, the Dalai Lama refused, and also denied transport for the Palace's Chinese official You Tai, to attend. The Tibet Frontier Commission heading the British expedition to Tibet in 1903–04 thus trumped up charges for a ground invasion into Tibet across the occupied territory of Sikkim, the trump rumored to be herdsmans cattle ranging over the border.

The 1904 Expedition — Massacre & Treaty

The Dalai Lama summoned a military contingency in response to the troops marching on his capital but British military might was far superior. In 1904 the British soldiers caused the Massacre of Chumik Shenko, killing 700 Tibetans outright with less than a dozen British casualties. Another 200 Tibetans were murdered at Red Idol Gorge soon thereafter. For three months skirmishes continued by British forces as they marched on Lhasa applying scorched earth policy in decimating the people, land and infrastructure on the way. At Lhasa on 3 August 1904 the thirteenth Dalai Lama had fled to Urga, the capital of Outer Mongolia. Chinese officials to the city issued a writ for their Emperor to depose the Dalai Lama hence, since the Chinese Qing bore no actual powers of law in Tibet. Whence arriving, the British expedition forced a brutal treaty with the Regent and Assembly of Lhasa such that the British had exclusive trading rights in Yatung, Gyantse, and Gartok, all while Tibet was to pay indemnity of 7,500,000 rupees. This fine was later reduced by two-thirds, with the Chumbi Valley ceded to Britain.

The full extent of the British game regarding suzerainty of China and potential for Russian expansion was such that:

After the Qing — Ganden & the Path to PRC Occupation

After the fall of the Qing empire in 1912, the Ganden Phodrang government lasted until the 1950s, when Tibet was again occupied by China's PRC. During most of the time from the early Qing period until the end of Ganden Phodrang rule, a governing council known as the Kashag (established by the Qing in 1721) had operated Chinese authority within the Ganden Phodrang. Ganden (དགའ་ལྡན) is the Tibetan name for the Tushita heaven, which, according to Buddhist cosmology, is where the future Buddha Maitreya resides. Tuṣita (Sanskrit) or Tusita (Pāli) is one of the six deva-worlds of the Desire Realm (Kāmadhātu), located between the Yāma heaven and the Nirmāṇarati heaven.

Written by Jason Steven Jowett. Sourced from historical fact. This blog may not be reproduced in whole without the author's express permission. Copyright © 2024. greatbrittania.blogspot.com