Tibet under Qing rule

Tibet under Qing rule
Protectorate and territory of the Qing dynasty
1720–1912
Tibet within the Qing dynasty in 1820.
Capital	Lhasa
Demonym	Tibetan
• Type	Buddhist Theocracy headed by Dalai Lama or regents under Qing protectorate[1][2]
History
• Chinese expedition to Tibet	1720
• Tibetan border established at Dri River	1725–1726
• Lhasa uprising of 1750	1750
• Sino-Nepalese War	1788–1792
• British invasion of Tibet	1903–1904
• Qing sent army for establishing direct rule	1910–1911
• Surrender of Qing residents	1912
Preceded by Succeeded by Dzungar Khanate Tibet Tibet Area

Part of a series on the
History of Tibet
Neolithic Tibet Zhangzhung Yarlung dynasty Tibetan Empire Era of Fragmentation Yuan rule Phagmodrupa dynasty Rinpungpa dynasty Tsangpa dynasty Khoshut Khanate Ganden Phodrang Ming–Tibet relations Qing rule 13th and 14th Dalai Lama PRC rule
See also
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Tibet under Qing rule^[3][4] refers to the Qing dynasty's rule over Tibet from 1720 to 1912. The Qing rulers incorporated Tibet into the empire along with other Inner Asia territories,^[5] although the actual extent of the Qing dynasty's control over Tibet during this period has been the subject of political debate.^[6][7][8] The Qing called Tibet a fanbu, fanbang or fanshu, which has usually been translated as "vassal", "vassal state",^[9] or "borderlands", along with areas like Xinjiang and Mongolia.^[10] Like the earlier Yuan dynasty, the Manchus of the Qing dynasty exerted military and administrative control over Tibet, while granting it a degree of political autonomy.^[11]

By 1642, Güshi Khan of the Khoshut Khanate had reunified Tibet under the spiritual and temporal authority of the 5th Dalai Lama of the Gelug school, who established a civil administration known as Ganden Phodrang. In 1653, the Dalai Lama travelled on a state visit to the Qing court, and was received in Beijing and "recognized as the spiritual authority of the Qing Empire".^[12] The Dzungar Khanate invaded Tibet in 1717 and was subsequently expelled by the Qing in 1720. The Qing emperors then appointed imperial residents known as ambans to Tibet, most of them ethnic Manchus, that reported to the Lifan Yuan, a Qing government body that oversaw the empire's frontier.^[13][14] During the Qing era, Lhasa was politically semi-autonomous under the Dalai Lamas or regents. Qing authorities engaged in occasional military interventions in Tibet, intervened in Tibetan frontier defense, collected tribute, stationed troops, and influenced reincarnation selection through the Golden Urn. About half of the Tibetan lands were exempted from Lhasa's administrative rule and annexed into neighboring Chinese provinces, although most were only nominally subordinated to Beijing.^[15]

By the late 19th century, Chinese hegemony over Tibet only existed in theory.^[16] In 1890, the Qing and Britain signed the Anglo-Chinese Convention Relating to Sikkim and Tibet, which Tibet disregarded.^[17] The British concluded in 1903 that Chinese suzerainty over Tibet was a "constitutional fiction",^[18] and proceeded to invade Tibet in 1903–1904. However, in the 1907 Anglo-Russian Convention, Britain and Russia recognized the Qing as suzerain of Tibet and pledged to abstain from Tibetan affairs, thus fixing the status of "Chinese suzerainty" in an international document,^[19][20] although Qing China did not accept the term "suzerainty" and instead used the term "sovereignty" to describe its status in Tibet since 1905.^[21] The Qing began taking steps to reassert control,^[22] then sent an army to Tibet for establishing direct rule and occupied Lhasa in 1910.^[23] However, the Qing dynasty was overthrown during the Xinhai revolution of 1911–1912, and after the Xinhai Lhasa turmoil the amban delivered a letter of surrender to the 13th Dalai Lama in the summer of 1912.^[17] The 13th Dalai Lama returned to Lhasa in 1913 and ruled an independent Tibet until his death in 1933.^[24]