THE MONGOLS AND TIBET (A HISTORICAL ASSESSMENT OF RELATIONS BETWEEN THE MONGOL EMPIRE AND TIBET)
Introduction
The Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC, or China) claims that Tibet is an integral part of China. For a long time, it based this claim on the wedding of Tibetan Emperor Songtsen Gampo, in the seventh century, to the Chinese Tang imperial princess Wen Cheng. Following China's invasion of Tibet, in 1949/50, China claimed that this wedding marked the union of Tibet with China, and that since then Tibet had remained an integral part of China. This line of argument proved untenable, because the Tibetan emperor also married the Nepalese royal princess, Brikuti Devi. Since Princess Brikuti Devi was the Emperor's senior queen, following China's argument Nepal would today have a much better claim to Tibet than China would; Wen Cheng was her junior and, according to the social and political norms of that period, a senior bride commanded greater respect than a junior one.
Relations between Tibet and China in the early period of Tibetan history were set out in the form of a peace treaty concluded between these two major powers of Asia in 821. The two empires vowed to honour this treaty in oath-taking ceremonies held in the Chinese capital, Chang-an (present day Xian), in 821 and in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, in 822. A year later stone pillars bearing the text of the treaty were erected in both capitals and on the border between Tibet and China. The pillar in Lhasa still stands to this day. The treaty makes the solemn pledge:
Tibet and China shall guard the present border and the territory over which they each hold sway. All to the east of the present boundary is the domain of Great China. All to the west is totally the domain of Great Tibet. .. .Tibetans shall be happy in the land of Tibet, Chinese shall be happy in the land of China.
Because China's argument that Tibet became a part of China in the seventh century was shown to have no base in history, the Chinese authorities have changed their argument. Today, Beijing claims that Tibet became a part of China as a result of Mongol conquests in the thirteenth century. Arguing that Tibet came under the domination of the Yuan empire some 700 years ago, China claims that it has inherited the right to rule Tibet from the Yuans. China also uses the bestowal of titles on Tibetan religious and lay leaders by the Yuan, Ming and Qing emperors to show that Tibet was subordinate to China not only during the Yuan dynasty, but also since then, during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The purpose of this paper is to analyse these Chinese arguments. This the authors do by looking at the history of the rise and fall of the Mongol empire, of which the Yuan formed a part, and the relationship which existed between the Mongol rulers and Tibet. The paper reviews the rise and expansion of the Mongol Empire under Chinggis Khan, his four sons and some of their descendants.
The paper also looks at the meaning of the bestowal of titles by Mongol, Chinese and Manchu emperors. It contains a list of some of the honorific titles given or exchanged by the Yuan, Ming, and Qing emperors, on the one hand, and the rulers and spiritual masters of neighbouring countries, on the other.
The paper is based primarily on the study of Chinese sources, both historical texts and contemporary commentary. In some places original Tibetan texts have been used also. It reviews the history as reflected in those sources and then analyses the nature of Tibet's relations with the Mongol rulers, including the Yuan.
Following an analysis of these Chinese and other writings, the paper concludes that Mongol-Tibetan relations before, during and after the Yuan dynastic period were unique in the Mongol empire. Tibet was, in fact, not incorporated into the empire in the way other parts of Asia or Europe were, and from 1253 rule over Tibet was actually fully restored to Tibetans.
Two important conclusions emerge from this study: Tibet was not incorporated in any way into China or considered a part of China under the Yuan empire; and there is no base whatsoever for China to claim that it inherited any authority over Tibet from the Mongols.
The brief review and analysis of titles and seals bestowed or exchanged by emperors of China in past centuries reveals that the bestowal of such honorific titles did not entail submission to the Emperor and cannot serve as evidence of Chinese overlordship over Tibet. Titles were bestowed upon - or exchanged with - rulers and spiritual leaders of many countries, including Korea, Vietnam, Burma and Japan as well as Tibet. The only conclusion that can be deduced from the practice is that it constituted a mark of respect and recognition.
The fact that the Tibetan state existed for centuries before the creation of the Mongol empire by Chengghis Khan is not in question.
For China to claim that Tibet ceased to exist as an independent state and was conquered, annexed or otherwise incorporated into China, it is for China to show the precise point in time and the event which led to the extinction of Tibet and its incorporation into China. Stated differently, China has the burden of proof in this case; because under international law there is a strong presumption of the continued existence of states, which can only be disproved by convincing evidence to the contrary.
China today chooses to claim that Tibet became a part of China during the Yuan dynasty, as a result of Tibet's incorporation into the Yuan empire. The importance of this paper is that it shows that even according to Chinese historical sources this claim cannot be sustained.
March 1996
Department of Information and International Relations
Central Tibetan Administration
Dharamsala
H.P.
India
PART I
Rise and expansion of the Mongol empire
The Mongol empire under Chinggis Khan's four sons
PART II
Analysis of the position and status of Tibet in relation to the Mongol empire
PART III
Inheritance of authority from the Mongols by China
Appendix A
Titles, Complimentary Titles, Letters and Seals Issued or Exchanged by Rulers and Spiritual Leaders of Mongolia, Tibet, China, Manchuria, Vietnam, Korea and Neighbouring Regions
Appendix B
Mongol Dynastic Table
MAPS
THE MONGOLS AND TIBET
(A HISTORICAL ASSESSMENT OF RELATIONS BETWEEN THE MONGOL
EMPIRE AND TIBET)
PART I
Rise and expansion of the Mongol empire
Chinggis Khan was born Tem=FCchin in 1162 to Mongol tribal chief Yes=FCgei Baatur. His tribe inhabited high lands on the banks of the Onon and Kerulen rivers in the north-western part of present-day outer Mongolia. When Tem=FCchin was thirteen years old, the Tatars murdered his father. Tem=FCchi= n vowed to wipe out the entire Tatar tribe to avenge the death of his father.
He then took his own tribe to the lush, green hills of Burkhan Khadun, where his people and herds multiplied.1
In 1197 Tem=FCchin forged an alliance with Ong Khan, the chief of the Kereyi= d tribe. Supported by this alliance, he subjugated the Tatars. In 1199 the joint forces of Tem=FCchin and Ong Khan attacked the Naiman tribe, who inhabited the steppe near the Altai range. Subsequently, in 1203, differences arose between Tem=FCchin and Ong Khan. In the ensuing battle, On= g Khan and his son were defeated. They fled to the territories of their arch rival, the Naimans. The Naimans slew them both.
In recognition of Tem=FCchin's increasing military prowess, the Mongol tribe= s of the area acclaimed him as their supreme leader. Tem=FCchin then subjugate= d the southern Naimans and marched into the northern Naiman territory. Naiman general Korisu Beshi escaped to the Tangut kingdom (Xi-Xia). The Tanguts, a Tibetan tribe, gave him asylum, inadvertently inviting a Mongol expedition into their kingdom in 1205. As a result of this expedition, the Naiman chieftain, Taibuqa Khan, his subordinates and all the remaining Mongol tribes came under Tem=FCchin's subjugation.2
In 1206 Tem=FCchin summoned the nobles of his kingdom to an assembly on the bank of the Onon and formalized the establishment of the Great Mongol Nation with Karakorum as its capital. Tem=FCchin then assumed the title and name of Chinggis Khan. He was now the Great Khan of all the Mongol tribes. He appointed Bo'urchu as the right commander; Mukhali as the left commander; Naya'a as the central commander; and Khoa Tri was entrusted with the responsibility of conveying the Khan's edicts.3 (See Map 1, which shows the extent of the Mongol state at this time).
The new Mongol state was bordered by the Jin empire of the early Manchus in the south-east, the Tangut empire in the south-west, the eastern regions of Russia in the north-west and Western Liao (Kara Kitai) to the west. Sung China was located to the south of Jin. To the west of Jin was the Tangut empire which, in turn, was bordered by Tibet to the south-west. (See Map 2).
In 1208 the Mongols marched into Western Liao in pursuit of Taibuqa's son, K=FCchl=FCg. During this march, Chinggis Khan conquered several tribes in Siberia.
In 1207 and 1209 the Mongols attacked the Tanguts once again and brought them to submission.4 Subsequently, chieftains of the Choney and Thebo tribes in Amdo, on the border of the Tangut empire, went to General Prince K=F6t=F6n Khan to declare their allegiance to the Mongol Khan. In return for their allegiance, the chieftains were given the title of tripons, heads of 10,000 households.5 At the time Tibet had politically fragmented and many of the local chiefs and princes had set up their own semi-autonomous kingdoms, such as those of Chone and Thebo. Consequently, acts of submission by individual chiefs did not imply the submission of the whole region of Tibet to the Mongols.
=46rom 1209 to 1210 Chinggis Khan launched an expedition into the Jin kingdo= m and annexed the northern part of Jin to his empire.
Deputing General Muqali to conduct the final stages of the war against Jin, Chinggis Khan turned his own attention to the western kingdoms.
In 1218 Pu-Xian Wan-Hu, a rebellious general of Eastern Liao, fled to Korea and seized Changtung city. The Mongols pursued him there and crushed his army. Now that the Mongol army was already in his kingdom, the Korean monarch, Chun, requested the Khan for the title of minister. The request was granted and henceforth the Koreans paid annual taxes to the Mongols.
In 1218 Chinggis Khan was informed of a Western Liao plan to attack him. He sent an expedition under General Jebe, who seized Western Liao and the adjoining territory to the south of the Tianshan range.
Chinggis Khan was now poised to send a punitive expedition to the Khwarazm Sultanate, where a caravan of traders from Mongolia had been robbed earlier that year. The Khan launched a four-pronged attack on the Sultanate. Chaghatai and =D6gedei, the Khan's second and third sons respectively, led one unit of the army. The eldest son, Jochi, led another unit and attacked Jand. Generals Alaq Noyan, Subeetei and Jebe moved southwards. The Khan, accompanied by his youngest son, Tolui, moved with the main force and reached Bukhara in 1220, after crossing the Syr Darya (river). They crushed the 20,000-man force of Khwarazm near Amu Darya and secured the surrender of the Khwarazm populace.
Generals Jebe and Subeetei pursued the Khwarazm sultan up to the Caspian Sea in the west of Samarkand, thus effectively invading and taking Samarkand.
In 1221 Chinggis Khan sent an expedition against the Qipchaqs, a Russian principality. A large number of defeated Qipchaq populace relocated in the neighbouring Russian princedoms. The Russians gave them refuge, declining the Mongol request for their repatriation. The following year Mongols crossed the Sea of Azov and engaged the joint forces of six Russian princedoms, totalling 82,000 men. This battle took place on both the northern and southern coasts of the Black Sea. Seventy European princes and ministers, along with nine-tenths of their troops, were slaughtered in the fighting.
While his two generals were fighting in the north and west, Chinggis Khan himself completed the invasion of Khwarazm by conquering Ghazna, Bamia, Persia and Turkey. One Khwarazm prince fled towards India and was pursued by the Mongols up to the southern region of the Indus River.
Chinggis Khan's empire now extended from Bo Hai Bay in south-eastern China to the Caspian Sea in the west.6 In 1225 Chinggis Khan divided his conquests among his four sons.7 (See Map 3).
a) The eldest son, Jochi, received the Qipchaq steppe and territory on the Aral and Caspian Seas. The name of the territory remained Qipchaq.
b) The second son, Chaghatai, received territory on the banks of the Onan River and those stretching to the south-western part of the Ili River. He also received the territory along the Pamir Ranges. His inheritance was named the Chaghatai Khanate.
c) The third son, =D6gedei, was given the territories stretching along the eastern and western sides of the Altai Range and those along the Emil River. To this was added the Naiman territory. His inheritance was named the =D6gedei Khanate.
d) As was the tradition, the youngest son, Tolui, received the Great Mongol homeland.
Thereafter, in 1226, Chinggis Khan counselled his third and fourth sons: "It will take a whole year to travel between the eastern and western extremities of my empire. You should defend it well. If you are united, you will enjoy happiness for a long time to come. =D6gedei should succeed me as the Great Khan."8
Although the Tangut empire had been made a vassal of the Mongols in 1209, the Tanguts rose in minor rebellions from time to time. Therefore, in 1226 Chinggis Khan led a punitive expedition against the Tanguts and put them under complete subjugation. Their ruler finally surrendered to the Mongols in 1227. This marked the end of the Tangut empire.9 A large number of the Tangut population fled to Domed, north-eastern Tibet. Even today, there is a place called Minyak (a Tibetan word for the Tanguts) in Domed where the descendants of the Tangut people live.
At the time of Chinggis Khan's death, on August 18, 1227, =D6gedei, his successor-designate, was away in his own Khanate. In the interregnum, Tolui governed as regent.10
