Mongol Invasions of Tibet

The Mongols invaded Tibet on multiple occasions. Genghis Khan's supposed attempt to attack Tibet in 1206 is archaic because no evidence of Mongol-Tibetan interactions exists before the military campaign in 1240. The invasion of Tibet by the Mongol general Doorda Darkhan in 1240 was the first confirmed campaign, with 30,000 men and 500 losses. The campaign was far smaller than the Mongols' full-scale conquests of vast empires. The goal of this attack is unclear, and Tibetologists are still debating it. Then, in the late 1240s, Mongolian prince Godan invited Sakya lama Sakya Pandita, who pushed other powerful Tibetans to submit to Mongol rule. This is frequently seen as the start of Mongol rule in Tibet and the establishment of a patron-priest relationship between Mongols and Tibetans. These ties were maintained by Kublai Khan, who established the Mongol Yuan dynasty and gave Drogon Chogyal Phagpa, Sakya Pandita's nephew, dominion over all of Tibet. The Sakya-Mongol administrative system and Yuan administrative rule in the region endured until the Yuan dynasty began to fall apart in the mid-14th century. The Oirat Mongols invaded the province again in the early 17th century, establishing the Khoshut Khanate. Until the Qing conquest of Mongolia and Dzungaria, the Mongols had intervened in Tibetan politics.

Before 1240

The Mongol ruler Genghis Khan prepared to invade Tibet in 1206, according to one ancient Tibetan story, but was deterred when the Tibetans vowed to pay tribute to the Mongols. The account is considered outdated and factually incorrect by modern experts. Genghis Khan's invasion was aimed at the Tangut kingdom of Western Xia, not Tibet, and no tribute was given to the Mongols till 1240. Before Doorda Darkhan's invasion in 1240, there is no indication of engagement between the two states. However, a Tibetan chief near Wenxian submitted to the Mongols campaigning against the Jin dynasty in Sichuan in 1236, which was the first real Mongol contact with the ethnic Tibetan people.

1240-1241 Raid

In 1240, Ogedei's son and Guyuk's younger brother, Mongol Prince Godan, delegated the Tibetan invasion to Tangut general Doorda Darqan. The expedition was the first time the two countries engaged in a military confrontation. The attack involved 30,000 soldiers (perhaps fewer) and led to 500 deaths, as well as the burning of the Kadampa monasteries of Rwa-sgren and Rgyal-lha-Khang. The campaign was far smaller than the Mongols' full-scale conquests of vast empires. Tibetan scholars disagree over the invasion's goal, mainly due to the plethora of archaic and factually incorrect accounts. According to recent research, the oldest records solely attribute the burning of Rgyal-lha-Khang to Mongol scouts, while a considerable number of Rwa-sgreng monks were killed. Because Doorda was a Tangut Buddhist, the bKa-brgyud-pa monasteries of sTag-lung and Bri-gung were spared with their old ties to the Western Xia dynasty. According to the Bri-gung abbot or, according to Petech, the Rwa-sgreng abbot, the Mongols had invited the Sakya hierarch, Sakya Pandita. Sakya Pandita died after that meeting Godan, leaving his two nephews. Sakya Pandita persuaded other Central Tibetan monasteries to join the Mongols. They were held as captives by the Mongols as a sign of Tibet's capitulation.

One of the most prevalent explanations is that the raid was a reprisal against Tibet for refusing to pay tribute. Wylie points out that the Tibetans ceased paying tribute in 1227, while Doorda Darkhan's invasion occurred in 1240, implying that the Mongols, who aren't known for their compassion, would not reply after a decade. This assertion is based on an archaic source that claims Genghis planned to attack Tibet before Doorda Darkhan's invasion, whereas the real campaign was against the Tangut realm of Western Xia. Another idea, which Wylie supports, is that the military intervention was merely a reconnaissance mission to assess the political situation in Tibet. The Mongols planned to find a single monarch to bribe into submission but instead discovered a religiously and politically split Tibet with no central government. According to a third theory, the warriors were deployed as raiding and looting parties, and the campaign's purpose was to pillage the wealth gathered in Tibetan monasteries. This is debatable, given that the Mongols avoided attacking specific monasteries, which was a tough decision if their sole purpose was profit. Whatever the reason for the invasion, the Mongols withdrew in 1241, when all of the Mongol princes were summoned back to Mongolia to await the appointment of Ogedai Khan's successor. The Mongols returned to Tibet in 1244. After the Mongols threatened a full-scale invasion of the region, they invited Sakya Pandita to Godan's camp, where he decided to capitulate Tibet.

Doorda Darkhan's Tibetan campaign

1244 Attack under Mongke  Khan

Saskya Pandita died in 1251, possibly at the same time as his lord Godan Khan. In the same year, Mongke Khan was appointed Khagan. According to some historians, a Mongolian invasion occurred in 1251 as retaliation for a refusal to pay tribute or in 1251-2 to formally seize possession of the country. Mongke designated Qoridai commander of the Mongol and Han armies in Turpan in 1251 to reinforce his rule over Tibet. Two attacks are mentioned, one headed by Dorbetei and the other by Qoridai, and the Tibetans were terrified by the twin campaign. However, Tibetan records only describe an attack on a location known as Bod Kyi-mon-mkhar-mgpon-po-gdong.

On the other hand, Wyle is sceptical of all of these sources, claiming that the lack of concrete evidence for an invasion raises doubts about the scope of Mongol activity in Tibet. Invasion of Tibet by Qoridai in 1252-53, reaching Damxung. The Mongols conquered Central Tibet's monasteries. In line with Genghis Khan's Great Jasag, Mongke partitioned Tibet's territory among his kin as appanages. Many Mongol aristocracies, including Khagan himself, appear to have sought Tibetan lamas' blessings. Mongke Khan supported Karma Baqshi (1204–83) of the Karma-pa suborder and the Bri-gung Monastery, while Hulagu, the Middle Eastern Mongol khan, lavished gifts on both Bri-gung and the Phag-mo-gru-pa suborder's gDan-sa-thel monastery. Later, William Rubruck remembers seeing Chinese, Tibetan, and Indian Buddhist monks in the Mongol Empire's capital city, Karakorum. Although the Karmapa of the Karma Kagyu school graciously declined to stay with him, preferring his brother the Khagan, Prince Kubilai summoned the late Koten's ordo in Liangzhou's two nephews, Blo-gros rGyal-mtshan, known as Phags-Pa lama (1235–80) and Phyag-na rDo-rje (1239–67). In 1253, Khubilai Khan visited Phags-pa lama for the first time, apparently to transport the Sa-skya lama, who lived in Koden's territory and was a symbol of Tibetan capitulation his camp. Kublai remained a shamanist at first, but his chief Khatun, Chabui, turned to Buddhism and influenced Kublai's religious beliefs. To control warlike tribes in Tibet, Kublai's number two, Uriyangkhadai, had to station in Tibet in 1254-55 during Kublai's campaign into Yunnan. In the mid-1250s, while marching towards Iran, Hulegu designated Kokochu as his agent in Tibet. The Ilkhans have a presence in Tibet since then. Qongridar destroyed the Tufan or mDo-smad region in 1265, and successive campaigns between 1264 and 1275 pacified the Tibetan and Yi peoples of Xifan around modern-day Xichang.

Tibet was occupied by the Mongol Realm and placed under Mongolian administrative control, but the province was given some political autonomy. Tibet was later incorporated into Kublai Khan's Yuan dynasty, but the region remained administratively independent from Song dynasty China's captured provinces. The khan and the lama created "priest-patron" connections, according to Tibetan tradition. The khan was in charge of administrative and military matters, while the lama was in charge of spiritual matters. Before the Mongol invasion of South China, the Mongols seized Tibet. Kublai Khan integrated Tibet into the new Yuan dynasty when the Song dynasty was defeated. Still, Tibet was administered separately from the Chinese provinces by the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs. The Mongols gave the Sakya lama some political power, but they kept control of the region's administration and military. Kublai Khan barred Mongols from marrying Chinese due to his efforts to administer both provinces while protecting Mongol identity. Still, he left both the Chinese and Tibetan legal and administrative systems intact. Though Kublai Khan's court built most administrative structures that matched earlier Chinese dynasties, Tibet never accepted imperial examinations or Neo-Confucian principles. In Mongol-ruled Iran, Mongolia, China, and Central Asia, Tibetan Buddhist monks were well-liked and respected. Tibet recovered its independence from the Mongols near the end of the Yuan dynasty in the mid-14th century.

Around 1615, the Oirats turned to Tibetan Buddhism, and they soon became embroiled in the battle between the Gelug and Karma Kagyu schools. Gushi Khan, the Khoshuts in Koko Nor, beat Choghtu Khong Tayiji, the Khalkha prince who backed the Karma Kagyu school, at the request of the Gelug school in 1637. On the Tuul River, Tsogtu Khuntaiji had created a base. He joined the Karma sect and built monasteries and castles, and he was known as an intellectual. He surrendered to Ligdan Ruler, the Mongols' final grand khan. He joined Ligdan Khan's march to Tibet to aid the Karma cult, but Ligdan Khan died in 1634 before joining forces. Tsogtu, on the other hand, persisted in his effort. He conquered the Tumed near Kokonor (Qinghai Lake) in the same year and established his camp there. In 1635, at the request of Shamar Rabjampa, he dispatched an army led by his son Arslan to central Tibet. Arslan, on the other hand, attacked his friend, the Tsang army. Instead of burning Gelukpa monasteries, he met with the fifth Dalai Lama and paid reverence to them.

Choghtu eventually ordered Arslan's assassination. Toru Bayikhu, the Oirat confederation's Khoshut tribe chief, was invited to assist the Geluk sect. Toru Bayikhu led the Khoshuts and Dzungars to Tibet in 1636. Tsogtu Khuntaiji and Toru Bayikhu fought a decisive conflict the following year, with Toru Bayikhu winning and Tsoghtu being murdered. The Geluk sect has long depicted him as evil. On the other side, he was portrayed as a national hero in the Mongolian film "Tsogt taij" (1945). It mirrored the attitude of the communist regime toward Tibetan Buddhism. Gushi Khan won Amdo with his overwhelming victory over Tsogtu. In 1641–42, Gushi Khan entered Central Tibet and conquered the indigenous Tsangpa Dynasty, resulting in Tibet's unification. Following his victory, the Fifth Dalai Lama named him King of Dharma or Teaching. The formation of a Khoshut Khanate was verified as a result of these occurrences. The Dalai Lama was given power over Tibet from Dartsedo to Ladakh by Gushi Khan. The title "Dalai Lama" was bestowed upon the third lama of the Gelug tulku lineage by Altan Khan, not confused with the Khalkha's Altan Khans, and means "Ocean of Wisdom" in Mongolian.

The Ligdan Khan and prince Choghtu's campaign

Mongol invasions of Tibet

Interference in Tibet

Meanwhile, the Khoshuts settled in Amdo. Gushi Khan's descendants ruled Tibet as Dharma kings for many years. However, they were often overshadowed by the Dalai Lama and his regent. However, in 1717, the Dzungars invaded Tibet, headed by Tsewang Rabtan's brother Tsering Dondup. The invaders conquered and murdered Lha-bzang Khan, the last khan of the Khoshut Khanate and the fifth Dharma monarch of Tibet, a great-grandson of Gushi Khan. Lha-bzang Khan had earlier backed a pretender to the position of Dalai Lama, whom the Dzungars removed. The 5th Dalai Lama has urged Mongolian lamas to avoid teaching non-dGe-lugs-pa to the Mongols. The Dzungars quickly began looting Lhasa, squandering the Tibetans' initial goodwill.

Many Nyingmapa and Bonpos were killed, and Tibetans who went to see Dzungar officials were compelled to stick their tongues obtainable so the Dzungars could see if they sang constant mantras, which were claimed to turn the tongue black or brown. Thus, they chose the Nyingmapa and Bonpos, who repeated various magical mantras due to this. The Tibetan custom of sticking one's tongue out as a sign of respect when welcoming someone has persisted until recently. Because Lha-bzang Khan was aligned with the Qing dynasty, the Dzungar invasion threatened the Kangxi Emperor's imperial strategy. In 1718, the Emperor reacted, but his military expedition was thwarted by the Dzungars in the Battle of the Salween River, not far from Lhasa, due to a lack of resources. So the Emperor dispatched a second, larger expedition, which was met with immediate success. Tsewang Rabtan's group was ejected from Tibet by the Manchus in 1720, and the warriors were welcomed as liberators. In 1721, they took Kalzang Gyatso from Kumbum to Lhasa and installed him as the 7th Dalai Lama. Another descendant of Gushi Khan, Lobzang Danjin, defended Amdo against the Qing dynasty's attempts to expand its power into Tibet in 1723 but was defeated the following year. As a result, China seized control of Amdo.