In the early hours of April 18, 1959, Tibet's fate changed forever. On that cool morning the Dalai Lama, "God king of Tibet," slipped from his homeland into India, thus beginning his exile and the diaspora of the Tibetan people.
For centuries, Tibet had remained a mysterious mountain kingdom, a "Shangri-La" isolated by its extraordinary geography and its people's xenophobia. In this remote land of devout Buddhists, the era of the steam locomotive passed without notice. Until 1959, little was known of "the land of snows"; then overnight the world learned of the invasion of Tibet by the Communist Chinese, led by Mao Zedong. China's occupation was an event that would change the course of Tibetan history. Sadly, the world could only sit back and watch as Tibet was unwillingly dragged into the twentieth century.
Prior to the Chinese invasion, Tibet was one of the only countries in which Buddhism had become completely central, the only fully monasticized society in history. The grand scale of the monasteries, the exquisite artwork, the daily prayers, and the huge number of monks (fully one-quarter of the male population) all attest to the fact that Buddhism penetrated every aspect of Tibetan life. To understand how the Communist Chinese have changed Tibet, one need only read what Mao Zedong said to the young Dalai Lama during their first meeting in the 1950s. After promising the Dalai Lama that the Tibetans could have self-government, Mao cryptically mentioned that "religion was poison." How could this gentle Buddhist country possibly withstand an occupation that did not tolerate religion?
As with any occupation, the Chinese have had problems consolidating their control and making their policies work. Tibet is a rugged land that sits at a mean elevation of fifteen thousand feet. It is the largest plateau on earth, containing the Himalayan mountain range, vast mineral resources, extensive grassland, and a strategic border with India. In the years since the Chinese invasion, the people inside Tibet have suffered many hardships under their Chinese rulers. Starting in 1959, religion was banned, and the traditional cultural links with Nepal were severed. Only the Chinese language was taught in schools, and hundreds of thousands of Chinese settlers swept into Tibet, essentially colonizing the country.
During the beginning of 1959, out of anger and desperation, the Tibetans mounted a revolt against the Chinese invaders that unfortunately failed. It has been well documented that during the 1959 revolt at least 87,000 Tibetans were killed, and later another 200,000 were killed during the Cultural Revolution. By 1980, it was clear that the Chinese policy in Tibet was a failure. The region had become the poorest in China. The people were unhappy with the continued influx of settlers, most of whom were the only beneficiaries of Chinese investment in the region. A program of planting winter wheat (which is unsuitable for the altitude of Tibet) rather than barley caused year after year of crop failure and mass starvation.
The Dalai Lama and the history of Tibetan sovereignty
Essentially, Tibetan history began around 617 A.D., when Songsten Gampo, founder of the modern Tibetan state, was born. Under Songsten Gampo Tibet became unified, a Tibetan script--derivative of Kashmir Sanskrit--was devised, and Lhasa, which
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