I also took time to interview one thoroughbred scholar of History by the name Dr Boga Thura Manatsha. Having studied for his PHD in Japan and being a specialist in the politics of the Near East, I found Dr Manatsha’s historical account of Tibet- China relationship corroborating with my other historical sources on the issue of Tibet and China.
Historically, as Dr Manatsha asserts, Tibet was not integral part of China as claimed by China. According to him, between seventh and eighth centuries, Tibet was an independent strong state, which conducted military expeditions into China, Nepal, India and Mongolia. Around the 13th century, the Mongol invaded China and established their rule (The Mongol Rule, or in Chinese, the Yuan Dynasty). Even though the Yuan were very strong, Manatsha states that the relations with the Tibetans were that of vassalage or dependency, not total control (or Tibet being integrated into China). Chinese Historian, Xing Lao and Manatsha agrees that when the Mongol fell, the Ming Dynasty took over and maintained the same relations with Tibet (sometimes even taking the Priest-Patron relationship). The Ming fell too, and the Manchus (who were foreigners) took over China in 1644. They ruled until 1911. The Manchus were known in China as the Qing Dynasty. It must be noted that the Qing Dynasty which was the last, to rule China maintained the same vassalage or dependency relationship with Tibet. For example one historical account shows that around 1788-1793, there was the Nepalese Gorka invasion of Tibet after a conflict over the quality of coins manufactured by Nepal to Tibet spiraled out of control. The Tibetans as usual were assisted by the Qing Dynasty to repel the Nepalese Gorka aggression. Even though all these dynasties have offered some much-needed protection to the Tibetans, they have never integrated Tibet to become part of China. In Manatsha’s historical account, the Qing ruled, somehow, with ineffectiveness, especially during the last part of the 19th century. It was also during this period (1840s) that Western powers invaded China.
