Exploring Tibet's History and Culture, Proceedings of the International Conference held in New Delhi 2009, by Pabitrakumar Roy

Synopsis:

Pages: 480 (12 Color Illustraions )

Editors note
The present volume brings together the papers presented at the conference held in Delhi in November, 2009 under the joint auspices of University of Delhi and Central University of Tibetan Studies, Samath, Varanasi.
This volume incorporates papers written by experts in Tibetology, and their focus has been on Tibet's history and culture. Tibet's history has often been profaned, and the country with its millennia old civilization has come to be projected as a land of magic and miracles, and later a Sinocized picture of Tibet is advertised in the wake of China's aggressive expansionism. Even the powers that swear by democracy and human rights have been diplomatically soft towards China's designs in Tibet. The geo- political strategic position of Tibet in the heartland of Asia has ever been a lure to its neighbours, Russia, Mongolia, China and British India. Tibet's history is chequered with rise and fall, increase and decrease of political influences and manoeuvres of its neighbours. Yet through tumultuous centuries it has retained its unique culture, custom and ethnic identity. In recent times propaganda has to come to such a pass that Tibet's identity is sought to be written off by demographic manipulation, encouraging immigration of non-Tibetan people from China to settle in Tibet, and thereby outnumbering the authentic Tibetans, and bringing them under the shadow of an alien culture.
Tibet had never been a country with closed windows. It had welcomed and adapted cultural items from its neighbours, be it medicine, religion, architecture, painting, and above all, religion. The Tibetan King Song- Tsen Gampo entered into matrimonial relations with China and Nepal. There was a time that Tibet was a considerable military power over areas far beyond its own territories, and even the borders of Himalayan India. ....