Tag Archive: Empire

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British and Qing Invasions of the Tibetan State: Diplomatic Accounts, 1886–1950s, Section 2 in DTHS

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British and Qing military invasions, forced treaties, and the making of Western Tibetology: The 13th Dalai Lama’s 1913 proclamation asserting Tibet’s independence, the marginalisation of Tibetan political agency in imperial diplomatic accounts, and the boundary-making projects that subordinated Sikkim and brought Tawang within the McMahon Line despite continuing Tibetan administration.

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Decolonizing “Tibetan” and “Himalayan” Studies: Empire, Ethnicity, and Rethinking Sovereignty, an Introduction

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Who are Tibetans? How have they been framed as objects for study across time? For earlier Western academics and the audiences who read their work, Tibetans were a people largely defined by religious beliefs and institutions. In the chapter that follows, I argue that this emphasis in early Tibetan Studies set a precedent for sidelining Tibetan sovereignty as a central concern in both scholarship and in real-world politics, a trend that continues to impact the field and Tibetan lives today.