Thesis Type: Postgraduate
Institution Of The Thesis: Istanbul University, Institute Of Social Sciences, Genel Türk Tarihi, Turkey
Thesis Supervisor: Kürşat Yıldırım
Approval Date: 2024
Thesis Language: Turkish
Abstract:
The Tibetan Empire, referred to as "Tufan 吐蕃" in the official histories of the
Tang Dynasty, was an important political entity in the history of Inner Asia in the
VIIth-IXth centuries. Tibet, which took shape and became a state as a largely
nomadic and partially agriculturalist community in Central Tibet from the VIth century
onwards, achieved its political integrity in the first half of the VIIth century and
became an empire. During this period, Tibet began to appear more frequently in
historical records with the beginning of diplomatic relations with the Tang Dynasty.
In the second half of the VIIIth century, they were at the peak of their power and
reached their widest borders. They penetrated the Chinese provinces of Gansu,
Ningxia, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, the Tarim Basin and even Central Asia. They
had a complex but strong military organization with a warrior society until the
beginning of the IXth century when they collapsed. For this reason, it can be said
that they became as big a threat to the Tang Dynasty as the Turkic Khaganate and
the Uighur Khaganate.
Based on the "Tibet 吐蕃" monographs in the X.-XI. century sources Jiu Tang
Shu and Xin Tang Shu, the origin of the Tibetans, the process of statification and
empire, their relations with other communities, the factors in their rapid growth and
rise will be discussed. In addition, based on the data in the source, the geography,
lifestyle, administrative structures and cultural characteristics of the Tibetans will
also be examined. Chinese and Tibetan sources and research works on the subject
will be utilized and analyzed in detail under these headings. In this way, a framework
will be created within the scope of the main sources in order to determine how and
to what extent the Tibetans took place in the history of Inner Asia and how effective
the Tibetan Empire was in Turkish history.