Tibet

Type of Government

From the thirteenth century until the Chinese occupation of 1959, Tibet was governed as a theocracy, or religious monarchy, in which a single individual served as head of state and spiritual leader for the population. The theocrat was assisted by an appointed desi (prime minister), who served as head of government. Beneath the executive department was a system of religious and military leaders who functioned as regional governors. Since 1959, Tibet has been designated an “ethnic autonomous region” within the control of the People’s Republic of China. More than 80,000 Tibetans are currently living in exile in India, Bhutan, Nepal, the United States and Europe.

Background

Archaeological evidence indicates that the Tibetan plateau, located between China and India, has been occupied for twelve to fifteen thousand years. Over the centuries, a succession of tribal states evolved through cultural interchange with China and India to form transient, local kingdoms.

Tibet’s imperial period began in 120 BC but produced no written records until the seventh century, when the Yarlung Dynasty, under King Songtsan Gampo (605–650), introduced Indian Sanskrit to Tibet. Gampo was the first monarch to unify the nation and to establish Lhasa as the administrative capital.

Under a succession of kings, the Yarlung Dynasty gained control over portions of the Silk Road—the famed trade route from China to the Mediterranean Sea—and, through military conflicts, established its independence from the Chinese Tang Dynasty, which threatened from the east. Throughout the seventh century, the Yarlung was a powerful empire, rivaling those in China and India. Within a century, however, the Tibetan empire had begun to devolve into smaller states ruled by warlords.

In the late eighth century, thousands of Buddhists from India and China fled to Tibet to escape the armies of the Mongol empire. Though Buddhism already existed in Tibet, the influx of immigrants facilitated the growth of Tibetan Buddhism, which by the ninth century had become the official state religion.

When the Mongol leader Kublai Khan (1215–1294) took control of China, Tibet dispatched envoys to swear allegiance to Mongol rule. Kublai Khan allowed Tibet to remain marginally independent and invited Tibetan Buddhists to take part in his court. In 1270, ’Phags-pa (1235–1280), the abbot of the Sakyapa Buddhist sect in Tibet, converted Kublai Khan to Buddhism. In recognition, Kublai Khan made ’Phags-pa the viceroy of a semi-autonomous Tibetan theocracy.

Government Structure

The Tibetan theocracy was organized around the state’s powerful lamaseries. A lama, or spiritual leader representing the state’s leading Buddhist sect, served as head of state and leader of the armed forces. Under the Dge-lugs-pa sect, which supplanted the Sakyapa sect in the seventeenth century, the leader of the state was the Dalai Lama—a spiritual leader believed to be the reincarnation of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, a Buddhist saint representing mercy and compassion. Each newly appointed Dalai Lama, found and trained by leaders of the sect, was believed to be the reincarnation of the former Dalai Lama.

The leading lama had the power to appoint a desi (prime minister) to serve as the nominal head of government assisted by an informal “cabinet” of military, business, and religious leaders. Regional districts were placed under the control of local lamaseries and wealthy clans of landowners with ties to the government.

Tibet supported a system of serfdom, in which most of the population lived and worked on land belonging to one of the nation’s lamaseries or to wealthy political, religious, or military leaders. Members of the serf class transmitted their caste to their offspring, constituting a system of hereditary servitude. Above the serf class was the “middle” or “citizen” class, consisting of individuals with sufficient wealth to purchase or lease property. Popular representation for both the serf and middle class was possible only by directly petitioning local leaders or by joining influential secular or religious societies.

The Tibetan judicial system was based on Buddhist law and enforced by the military. Both the military and some of the larger lamaseries maintained courts and prisons. Leading lamas, appointed by the central government, served as justices for civil and criminal proceedings.

Political Parties and Factions

The Dge-lugs-pa sect, founded by Tsong-kha-khapa (1357–1419) in the fourteenth century, is Tibet’s largest and most influential Buddhist sect. Ngawang Losang Gyato (1617–1682) was the first Dge-lugs-pa leader to serve as theocrat, supported by the Mongolian Empire. Under a succession of Dalai Lamas, the Dge-lugs-pa sect remained in power from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. Since the Chinese occupation, the Dge-lugs-pa sect has been the leading sect in the exiled government.

The Sakyapa sect of Tibetan Buddhism was founded in the eleventh century by Khon Konchog Gyalpo (1034–1102) and was the dominant school until the fifteenth century. Emperor Kublai Khan (1215–1294) granted the Sakya sect control of Tibet from 1264 to 1340. After the rise of the Dge-lugs-pa sect, the authority of the Sakya diminished, though the sect remained influential and plays a leading role in the exiled government.

The Nyingma and Kagyu sects, though never achieving government leadership, are two of Tibet’s most influential Buddhist schools. The Nyingma is Tibet’s oldest Buddhist school and has developed through a focus on scholarship, while the Kagyu sect focuses on asceticism and meditation. Both the Nyingma and Kagyu remained active during the Tibetan theocracy and continue to play a role in the exiled government.

Major Events

The Sakyapa theocracy collapsed in the sixteenth century and the nation lapsed into an extended period of disunity, dominated by warring factions. During the interim period, the Dge-lugs-pa sect, under the leadership of Tsong-kha-khapa, eclipsed the Sakyapa as the leading Buddhist school in Tibet. In 1641, the Mongolian army entered Tibet and reestablished the theocracy under the leadership of the Dge-lugs-pa sect.

By the eighteenth century, the Mongol Empire had disintegrated and two warring factions were vying for control of Tibet. In 1720, the Chinese Manchu Dynasty assisted the Tibetan military in ousting the Mongols and thereafter assumed a degree of political control, while allowing the theocracy to function as an independent state.

In 1912—as the Qing Dynasty fought the Manchu Dynasty for control of China—the Tibetan government utilized the opportunity to expel ethnic Chinese from the country. After defeating the Manchus, the Qing government continued to assert that Tibet was a territory of China, although they allowed the government to function with relative autonomy.

Tenzin Gyatso (1935–), the fourteenth Dalai Lama of the Dge-lugs-pa sect, became the reigning theocrat in 1950, though the Chinese government recommended alternative candidates. In October 1950, the Chinese army invaded Tibet and installed a permanent military presence. The following year, the Dalai Lama signed treaties establishing Tibet as an autonomous region of China.

The Chinese government attempted to introduce a system of reforms that would gradually reduce the power of the theocracy and introduce communist leadership through state assemblies. Conflict between native Tibetans and the Chinese military became more frequent after 1956, culminating in marches, protests, and public demonstrations. In 1959, amid rumors that the Chinese government was planning to remove or even assassinate the Dalai Lama, pro-independence supporters rebelled against the Chinese military. Thousands of Tibetans were killed in the uprising while thousands more fled to neighboring countries. The Dalai Lama and a small entourage escaped to India.

Twenty-First Century

Since 1960, Tenzin Gyatso has overseen the development of a new Tibetan government operating from exile in India. The government, called the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), takes the form of a parliamentary republic. The Dalai Lama serves as head of state and spiritual leader, assisted by a prime minister, who serves as head of government, and an executive cabinet. The legislature is popularly elected from among exiled Tibetans living in India, Nepal, Bhutan, the United States, and Europe. The CTA also maintains an independent judicial commission.

Under the control of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Tibet has been designated an “ethnic autonomous region.” In practice, the Chinese military and the Communist Party of China control Tibet through a series of regional assemblies. Though the exiled government and the Dalai Lama have drawn significant support from foreign nations and human rights groups, the PRC government has so far refused to grant requests for independence.

Goldstein, Melvyn D. “The Snow Lion and the Dragon: China, Tibet, and the Dalai Lama” Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.

Powers, John. “History as Propaganda: Tibetan Exiles versus the People’s Republic of China.” New York: Oxford University Press USA, 2004.

Shakya, Tsering. “The Dragon in the Land of Snows: A History of Tibet since 1947.” New York: Penguin Books, 2000.