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In ancient times the ancestors of the present Tibetans
lived along the both sides of the Yarlung Tsangpo River. In the 6th century the
chieftain of the Yarlung tribe conquered several nearby tribes to become king.
He was known as Zanpu (king), and established the Po dynasty. In the early 7th
century Songtsen Gampo(his grandson) unified the whole of Tibet and shifted the
capital to Lhasa. This is known to Chinese history as the Tupo kingdom. In 641,
Songtsen Gampo married Princess Wencheng, of the Tang Dynasty, and was given
the title of “the King of China’s west”. In 710, Xidezuzan (a king of Tibet)
married Princess Jincheng of Tang Dynasty. The contacts between Tibet and
central China had a strong influence on Tibetan society in the fields of
politics, economics, and culture.
During the Yuan Dynasty of the 13th-14th century the
central government appointed a department to manage affairs in Tibet and
brought Tibet under their direct management. The Ming Dynasty set up a local
government in Tibet, and the Qing Dynasty subsequently appointed a ministry to
deal with affairs in Tibet and Mongolia. The central government officially
approved the title of Dalai Lama in 1653 and the title of Panchen Lama in 1713.
In 1728 a resident minister in charge of the Tibetan affairs was appointed,
followed by the creation of the “Gexia”, or Tibetan local government, in 1751.
In 1934 the Government of the Republic of China set up a
resident agency to administer affairs in Tibet, and in 1959, Tibet Autonomous
Region was established.
Population: 2.7 million
Weather: The winter in Tibet can be very fierce. Winds
whipping across the plateau coupled with plunging temperatures make a visit in
winter months to Tibet the stuff of the hearty traveler. Temperatures are much
more varied in the summer months: it can be at freezing before sunrise and hit
100F by noon.
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