In October 1949, with the Communist regime in full control of Mainland China, Radio Peking announced that Tibet was a part of China and that the People’s Liberation Army would march into Tibet to liberate the Tibetans from foreign imperialists. The Tibetan Government responded strongly to this announcement stating that Tibet was never part of China and that the relationship between China and Tibet had been that of ‘priest and patron’. The Chinese invaded Tibet on 7 October 1950 sending 40,000 troops to attack Chamdo, the capital of Kham region. Faced with a military occupation of Eastern and Northern Tibet and lack of active support by the international community, His Holiness The Dalai Lama was forced to send a delegation to Peking (now Beijing), for negotiations.

By 1954 there were already 222,000 members of the People’s Liberation Army stationed in Tibet and starvation spread throughout the country due to pressure on the agricultural system. The resistance movement that had started from the time of the invasion became full-scale guerrilla warfare by 1956.

On 10 March 1959, following a threat to the life of H.H. The Dalai Lama, thousands of Lhasa residents rose up to protect their political and spiritual leader. A few days later H.H. The Dalai Lama escaped to India and was given political asylum in India by Pandit Nehru (the Indian Prime Minister). 80,000 Tibetans subsequently followed him over the Himalayan Mountains into India. Since 1960, he has  resided in Dharamsala, India, known as "Little Lhasa,"  the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-exile.

A unified Tibet first came into being under Song Tsen Gampo (born 617 CE). From the early 1600s until the 1959 uprising, the Dalai Lamas were heads of a centralised Tibetan administration, with political power to administer religious and administrative authority over large parts of Tibet from the traditional capital Lhasa.

Buddhism in Tibet - A Brief History

The 33rd King of Tibet, Song Tsen Gampo had Buddhist texts translated and married two Buddhist princesses. With this, one can say that Buddhism was first really introduced to Tibet as a practice. The 37th King of Tibet, Trisong Detsen invited Indian Pandit Shantarakshita and Kamalasila, who suggested to invite Padmasambhava (or Guru Rinpoche) to Tibet, who arrived in 817.

An ordained spiritual community was established in the first Buddhist monastery, Samye, which was built by Padmasambhava.

Samye Monastery became a principal centre of learning and Tibetan medicine and the site where many of the texts that would make up Tibet's vast Buddhist literature were first translated. This monastery provided the foundation for the oldest school within Tibetan Buddhism, the Nyingma tradition.

Tibetan Buddhism exerted a strong influence from the 11th century AD among the peoples of Central Asia, especially in Mongolia and Manchuria. It was adopted as an official state religion by the Mongol Yuan dynasty and the Manchu Qing dynasty of China.