The Tibetans are an ethnic group that have historically resided on the Tibetan Plateau. Because of their advantageous geographic position, Tibetans are ubiquitous in the history of the Silk Road. Tibet was seen as a vital source for horses within East Asia, and was thus the site of much trade during the peak years of the silk road trade.
There are many Tibetan manuscripts that have been found in the city of Dunhuang, including those that were found with the manuscripts of the Anonymous Chinese monk. In 617, the Yarlung Dynasty, named after the southwest river valley from Lhasa, formed a unified Tibetan empire for the first time in history.[1]
In the year 755, the Tang Dynasty of China lost control of the northwestern part of the empire.[1] In 768, the Tibetan language was to be accredited as an adaptation to the Sanskrit alphabet, adopting a writing system of their own for documentation of legal standings within the fairly new empire. It is believed that within the same year, 768, the Tibetans aided the Tang Dynasty in concealing and repressing a rebellion that was ensuing in China. However, when the Tang rulers failed to pay the Tibetans for this service as agreed upon, the Yarlung attacked and took control over the city of Dunhuang. [1] Therefore, we see a combination between Chinese and Tibetan texts coming from the city due to the ever-changing command in power.[1]
The 760s to 770s were peak years for the Tibetans, as they were expanding their control in Gansu after the capture of Dunhuang and were growing in strength. A dual headed administration was set in place under a Tibetan military governor. The territory was divided into districts and, from there, further divided into “units of one thousand, and these into twenty units of fifty households”.[1] Tibet would keep this control for about sixty years, allowing for a transfer of many of their customs into the Gansu provinces they resided in. This included the adoption of Tibetan names and a complete conversion to the Tibetan alphabet, hence why we see an influx of Tibetan style manuscripts being preserved after the year 768.[2]
Monks of Chinese, Tibetan, Uighur, and Khotanese descent all left behind documentation of their religious travels as guides to the future generations. Therefore, the spread of the Tibetan language would prove as crucial in the ability to understand and translate these manuscripts. Many Khotanese and Chinese texts were also translated into the Tibetan alphabet if their scribes were talented in both languages.[2] The Tibetan Empire collapsed in the 840s,[2] but much of its administrative body was left in office even after its fall. The Era of Fragmentation followed the collapse of the Tibetan Empire, seeing frequent conflict between warlords and tribes fighting for political control.[3] Tibet fell under the rule of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty beginning in 1240 CE; the Mongols provided administrative rule to the Tibetan Plateau, but allowed a regional bureau to oversee the religious and political affairs of the region. It was during this time period that Buddhism became the dominant religion on the Tibetan Plateau.[3] Tibet broke from Yuan rule during a series of revolts against the Mongols around 1354 CE.
It can be gathered that the spread of this language and the Tibetan Empire’s documentations are among the most important cultural commodities passed along the Silk Road. Some documents themselves even pertain to information on a small-scale, such as local goods that were passed along the routes. It is suggested that most trade had very little impact on the economy of the mostly self-sufficient residents of Dunhuang.[1] The Tibetans had an enormous impact on the now modern Gansu province territories they occupied during their peak era and wrote in their language about the administrative and religious bearings they held as a society.[2]
[1] Derived from: Valerie Hansen's The Silk Road: A New History with Documents 2016.
[2] Derived from: Schaik Van Sam, et al.'s 2011 article "Manuscripts and Travellers: The Sino-Tibetan Documents of a Tenth-Century Buddhist Pilgrim".
[3] Derived from: Matthew Kapstein's The Tibetans. page 88
Hansen, Valerie. The Silk Road: A New History with Documents (Oxford, 2016).
Van, Schaik, Sam, et al. Manuscripts and Travellers: The Sino-Tibetan Documents of a Tenth-Century Buddhist Pilgrim. De Gruyter (2011).
Kapstein, Matthew T.. 2006. The Tibetans. Newark: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Accessed February 8, 2025. ProQuest Ebook Central.