With the annexation of Sung China, Khubilai Khan began the work of organizing the territories under his direct rule into provinces. This was completed in 1321 by Yuan Emperor Shidebala. He divided the Yuan Mongol empire into the following twelve provinces40: (see Map 5)
1. Zhongshu Xing with its capital in Zhongdu. Present-day Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi, the south-eastern part of present-day Inner Mongolia and the Henan areas to the north of the Yellow River came under this province.
2. Lingbei Xing Zhong Shu Sheng with Karakoram as its capital. Under this province came the rest of Mongolia and Southern Siberia.
3. Liaoyang Xing Zhong Shu Sheng with present-day Liaoyang District in Liaoning Province as its capital. Under this came north-east China and the northern part of Korea.
4. Shaanxi Xing Zhong Shu Sheng with Xian as its capital. Under this came the whole of Shaanxi Province, the south-western part of Inner Mongolia, south-eastern Gansu, north-western Sichuan, and a small part of Amdo.
5. Gansu Xing Zhong Shu Sheng with Zhang Ye District as its capital. Under this came the whole of the Tangut territory (present-day Ningxia-Hui Autonomous Prefecture), south-eastern Gansu, and part of north-eastern Amdo. (Zhang Ye is in Parig in the northern region of Amdo. The ancient Chinese name for it is Kan Chou. Tibetans call it Kar or Kayul).
6. Henan Jiangbei Xing Zhong Shu Sheng with Kaifeng District of Henan as its capital. Under this came the Henan areas to the south of the Yellow River, Jiangsu, Fujain and the north-eastern part of Jiangxi.
7. Zhejiang Xing Zhong Shu Sheng with Hangzhou as its capital. Under this came Jiangsu and Anhui areas to the south of the Yangtze River, Zhejiang, =46ujian, and a small area in the north-east of Jiangxi.
8. Jiangxi Xing Zhong Shu Sheng with Nanchang as its capital. Under this came Jiangxi and Guangdong.
9. Huguang Xing Zhong Shu Sheng with Wuhan of the present-day Hubei as its capital. Under this came a part of south-east Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, most of Guizhou, and parts of south-western Guangdong.
10. Sichuan Xing Zhong Shu Sheng with Chengdu at its capital. Under this came most of Sichuan and parts of south-western Shaanxi.
11. Yunnan Xing Zhong Shu Sheng with Kunming as its capital. Under this came Yunnan and parts of western Guizhou.
12. Zhendong Xing Zhong Shu Sheng with Kao Cheng of present-day Korea as its capital. The whole of Korea came under this.41
To summarize, from the establishment of the Mongol state by Chinggis Khan in 1206 to the death of the last Yuan emperor, Toghon Temur, in 1402, the Mongol emperors and princes expanded their empire in Asia (as they had done in Europe) for 196 years. The Mongol expansion in the eastern kingdoms was achieved in the following manner:
In 1210 Chinggis Khan invaded and annexed the northern parts of the Jin kingdom. The Mongols ruled this territory for 158 years (1210-1368). The remaining part of Jin, occupied by =D6gedei in 1268, remained under Mongol rule for 135 years (1268-1368).
Korea remained under direct Mongol administration for 150 years_from the time the Korean monarch, Chun, surrendered to Chinggis Khan in 1218, until the fall of the Yuan empire in 1368.
=46or thirteen years_from the time of K=F6t=F6n's invasion of Tibet in 1240 = to the assumption of rule over Tibet by the Sakyas in 1253_Tibetan rulers owed allegiance to the Mongol Prince K=F6t=F6n. From 1253 Tibet once again ruled itself, not as part of the Mongol empire, but under a unique form of protection pledged by the Mongol khan, Kubilai, and his successors to their spiritual teachers, Phagpa and his successors.
Vietnam remained under Mongol rule for 111 years (1257-1368)_since M=F6ngke Khan's general, Ouriang Codai, seized its capital.
Siam and the South-east Asian sultanates of Malacca, Sumatra and Java remained Mongol vassals for over ninety years.
Burma remained under direct Mongol rule for ninety seven years (1271-1368), from the time of the surrender of the Burmese king in 1271.
In 1271 Khubilai Khan annexed northern China, which the Mongol emperors ruled for ninety seven years (1271-1368). In the same year, Kubilai Khan assumed the dynastic title of Yuan. In 1279 Sung China also fell under Mongol conquest, and remained a part of the Mongol empire for eighty nine years (1279-1368).
=46inally, in 1402, the Yuan dynasty came to an end and the Mongol state disintegrated in the east. Some Mongol princes, however, continued to reign for many years in other kingdoms. For example:
1. Fifteen generations of Batu's dynasty continued to rule Moscow, Russian princedoms and neighbouring kingdoms until 1480.
2. The Ilkhanate empire built by Heluge_grandson of Chinggis Khan from his third son, Tolui_was annexed by Timurlane, son of Chinggis Khan's half-brother, Kantchar-Noyan. Timurlane also seized the joint territories of =D6gedei and Chaghatai. In 1369 he made Samarkand his capital, from where six generations of his dynasty ruled the Middle East till 1526.
3. Babar, the sixth generation descendant of Timur, invaded India in 1526 and established the Mughal Dynasty. His grandson, Akbar, occupied and reigned over most of north, west and central India. In 1632 Shah Jahan, the fifth generation descendant of Babar, built the tomb of Taj Mahal in Agra; in 1648 he added the Red Fort in Delhi. The Mughals ruled India for over 200 years till the middle of the eighteen century.
4. Altan Khan_who invited the Third Dalai Lama, Sonam Gyatso to his court in 1578_ruled over present-day Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and Northern Shanxi. He harassed Ming China with frequent military incursions. The Third Dalai Lama dissuaded him from continuing his acts of violence. This advice from the Dalai Lama may probably have saved China from falling, once again, under Mongol rule.
5. Gushri Khan led his Oriat Mongol troops from his base in Eastern Turkestan and crushed the Mongol troops of Choktu and Kokonor, the Beri tribe of Kham, and Desi Tsangpa of U-Tsang, in Tibet. Thereafter, in 1642, the Fifth Dalai Lama assumed rule over Tibet with the help of his Patron, Gushri Khan, who vowed to become the protector of the Dalai Lama's rule. Gushri Khan and his troops settled on the Dham steppe to the north of Lhasa.
Today, the political centre of Mongolian civilization is the independent state of Mongolia, with Ulan Bator as its capital. The largest Mongol population is in Inner Mongolia, under Chinese rule. Mongols continue to live in many areas of the former Western Mongol Empire, such as Buriatia, Kazakhstan, Kalmykia, Aginsky, and Tuva, and additionally there are many Mongols in East Turkestan and in the Tibetan province of Amdo.
PART II
Analysis of the position and status of Tibet in relation to the Mongol empir= e
An analysis of the nature of the Mongolian empire and of relations between Tibetans and the Mongols reveals the uniqueness of the relationship that developed between the Mongol Khans and Tibetan spiritual leaders. It also refutes any contention that the Tibeto-Mongolian relationship could in any way be interpreted as being a relationship between China and Tibet, much less that it constituted an annexation of Tibet by China.
In the first place, the Mongols were and are a race distinct from the Chinese; and their empire was a Mongol empire, not a Chinese empire. As the brief review of the history of the rise and expansion of the Mongol empire, first created by Chinggis Khan, shows, northern and southern China did become parts of this Mongol empire after their conquest in 1271 and 1279, respectively. But these conquests, and the submission of the Chinese to the Mongols, never turned the empire into a Chinese one, as China claims today. In fact the Chinese finally overthrew the Mongol emperor Toghon Timur Khan and drove him and his army out of China and back to Mongolia in 1368, reclaiming the independence of China and establishing a Chinese empire under the Ming dynasty. China can hardly claim credit for the conquests of the Mongols in Europe or Asia.
Relations established between Mongol rulers and Tibetans pre-dated those established between the Mongols and the Chinese by the conquest of the latter, and were entirely unrelated. This, the review of history contained in this paper also conclusively demonstrates. One might say that the first contacts of Tibetans with the Mongol empire took place in 1209 when Chinggis Khan launched a military expedition into the Tangut empire, bordering Tibet. But substantive contacts were only established in 1240, following Prince K"t"n's attack on Tibet. The submission of Tibetan rulers to the Mongol prince, which lasted for thirteen years, brought Tibet into the fold of the Mongol empire, without fully integrating the country into it. But this relationship was established and ended long before the Mongols conquered China or assumed, in that part of the empire, the dynastic name of Yuan.
Khubilai Khan invited Phagpa to his court before he became the Great Khan of the Mongols. At the time he established a firm relationship of Patron and Priest with Phagpa (in 1253), Khubilai Khan was one of the military commanders under M=F6ngke Khan, the fourth Great Khan of the Mongols. Thus, their relationship pre-dated Khubilai's ascendence to the Mongol throne (in 1260), and much pre-dated his conquest of China which started in 1271 and was only completed with the defeat of Sung China in 1279. So, when Khubilai Khan gave the rule of the three provinces of Tibet to Phagpa, China was known as Southern Sung and had its capital in present day Huang Zhu. Zhao Ji (Emperor Du-Dzong 1265-1274) was then the ruler of Sung China, and had no ties to the Mongol Empire or to Tibet.42
The relationship between the Mongols and Tibet was a very unique one and was very different from that of other nations that had come under Mongol rule or influence. The other nations were ruled directly by the Mongols through the permanent presence of Mongol princes, ministers or generals. The rule of Tibet, on the other hand, was given to the Sakyas by Khubilai Khan. The Sakyas ruled Tibet independently and there were no permanent Mongol officials stationed there.
NATURE OF RELATIONSHIP
The nature of the relationship between Tibet and the Mongols was that of Ch=F6-Y=F6n, or Priest-Patron. This unique Central Asian symbiosis entailed = the protection and making of offerings by the secular patron to his spiritual teacher and master, in return for religious teachings and the bestowal of spiritual protection and blessings by the lama to his patron. This was in no way a relationship between a ruler and his subject.
Kubilai Khan's 'gift' to Phagpa of the thirteen trikhors and then of all three provinces of Tibet (i.e. all of Tibet) in 1253, must be seen in the context of the Ch=F6-Y=F6n relationship as an offering by the patron to his priest. The same occured when Gushri Khan, the Fifth Dalai Lama's patron, offered his teacher temporal sovereignty over the whole of Tibet almost 400 years later in 1642 after he defeated the rulers of Choktu and Kokonor, the Beri tribe of Kham and the Desi Tsangpa of U-Tsang. Gushri Khan's action, although of a somewhat different nature, also was seen as an offering to his spiritual master.
The Mongol support for the Sakyas in uniting Tibet, appointing officials, devising the legal code, a postal service etc., was also part of the protection and assistance which the patron offered to the priest. It did not entail or imply Mongol rule of Tibet. This view is illustrated by the texts of Bhendey Sheykeyma and Mutikma43, the two letters issued by Khubilai Khan in 1254 and 1264 respectively. By virtue these two letters, Tibet's monasteries were offered special exemptions in terms of taxation, military service and corvee labour.
The initial exemption from taxes and corvee duties for the monks and their monasteries is described in terms of the patron's offering to Phagpa and the Buddhist faith. In the Bhendhey Sheykeyma, Kubilai Khan states:
Like the sun, the Buddha Shakaymuni's splendour vanquished the darkness of ignorance and its environs. Like a lion, king of the jungle, he vanquished all the demons and non-Buddhists.
His characteristics, virtuous deeds and teachings have won the perpetual belief of me and Chabu (queen). Because of this, I became the patron of Buddhism and its monks in the past. Even now, I have faith in the Lord Sakyapa and Master Phagpa.
Believing in the Buddha dharma, I took initiations in the Water Ox year.
I have received many other teachings as well. I have a special desire to become the patron of the Buddha dharma and its monks.
Therefore, as an offering to Master Phagpa, I issue this wholesome Yasa which orders the protection of Tibet's religion and monks."
The text of Mutikma states:
"Enjoying the divine protection of heavenly devas and the splendour of great merits, I, the ruler, call on the monks and lay people with this injunction. For complete prosperity in this life, it is fine to enforce the legal code of Lord Chinggis Khan. However, future lives must depend on spirituality. Therefore, after investigating various religions, I have found Buddha Shakyamuni's path to be the most wholesome. Master Phagpa is the one who has achieved realization and shown the true path to others. Therefore, I received initiations from him and gave him the title of Gushri. I call upon the master to serve the cause of the Buddha dharma, lead the monasteries and the tradition of teaching, learning and practice. Likewise, I call upon the monks not to waver from the teachings of the master since they are the roots of the Buddha dharma. Those proficient in the Buddha dharma should teach while the young ones with firm minds should learn. Those cognizant of the significance of the dharma, but unable to teach or
learn, should meditate. This practice of the Buddha dharma will help consummate my accumulation of merits as a patron, as indeed it will be a service to the Triple Gems.
The monks following this path shall not be bothered by military generals, ordinary soldiers, powerful persons, Darugachis, and runners of the gold-letter mail. Such monks shall not be conscripted into the army or asked to pay taxes and perform corvee labour.
I issue this yasa to urge that they be allowed to follow the teachings of the Buddha Shakyamuni, to worship the heaven and to pray for me. The gold-letter mail runner may not be allowed to descend on the monasteries and the homes of monks. Food and corvee labour may not be extracted from them. Water and water-mills may not be taken away from them. They may not be browbeaten against the convention."
After Khubilai Khan ascended the Great Mongol throne in 1260, Drogon Choegyal Phagpa persuaded the Khan to exempt the lay Tibetan populace from paying taxes and offering gifts. In both the Tibetan and Chinese contemporary document, it is stated that because of the grace of this lama, the Tibetan plateau, surrounded by snow-clad mountains, did not have to contribute tributes, taxes, military service and corvee labour to the imperial Mongolian coffers. The decision of Khubilai Khan was made in the very same spirit of the Ch=F6-Y=F6n relationship. Khubilai Khan recognized Phagpa as the head of the Buddhist church in the entire empire of which he now was emperor, not just of Tibet. He honoured Phagpa with the title of Imperial Preceptor. Once Khubilai conquered China, the Tibetan lama's authority extended to that part of the empire also.
The reverence shown to Phagpa by Khubilai Khan was matched by his successors. For example, the twelfth Yuan emperor, Yingzong, ordered that temples, dedicated to Drogon Choegyal Phagpa, be built in every province and prefecture. Similarly, his successor, Taiding, commissioned statues of Phagpa and had them installed in these temples. He also commissioned eleven thangka paintings, depicting Drogon Choegyal Phagpa, to be hung in each of the temples. He ordered that offerings be made in these temples to honour the service of the Tibetan lama.44
As was explained above, the Yuan empire was divided into twelve provinces and Tibet was not included in these provinces of the empire. This exclusion of Tibet from the Mongolian Yuan Empire is evident also from historical maps, even those published officially in China in 1914, and which have been reproduced in this paper.
At the same time, the special closeness of the emperor to the Tibetans, and especially to Phagpa was evidenced also by royal marriages. The Sakya hierarchs of the Khon families were offered four Mongol princesses in marriage. They were also offered four "Bailan Wang" titles and one "Ri-Zing Wang" title. The elevation of the relatives of Drogon Choegyal Phagpa to the status, respect and power equal to any powerful Mongol prince was unprecedented in the history of the Mongol empire and not a single Chinese was offered a Mongol royal princess in marriage or given the title of Bailan Wang.
Tibet, therefore, had a unique relationship with the Mongol emperors. On the one hand, it was, in political terms, much looser than any other territory over which Mongols had established influence. On the other hand, the bond between the Great Khan (later also referred to as the Yuan Emperor) and Tibet's spiritual and temporal leader was a very strong one. Because that bond was based on the respect and devotion of the emperor for the Tibetan Master, and not on the authority of the emperor over his subject, Tibet was never treated as an integral part of the Mongol Empire, and was consequently also not ruled by Mongol officials. Tibet was also never regarded as part of the Yuan empire (i.e. the eastern part of the Mongolian empire).
