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How and Why the Dalai Lama Left Tibet

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The invitation seemed innocuous: A Chinese general asked if the 14th Dalai Lama would like to see a performance by a Chinese dance troupe. But when he was told to come to the Chinese military headquarters without soldiers or armed bodyguards, according to his official biography, the Tibetans sensed a trap.

After years of guerrilla war between Tibetan rebels and the Chinese soldiers in a land that China considered to be its territory, the friendly overture seemed suspicious enough that, on the day of the performance, thousands of protesters surrounded the Dalai Lama’s palace in Lhasa to keep him from being abducted, arrested or killed. Over the following few days, the protests expanded into declarations of Tibetan independence and the mobilizing of rebel troops to fight the Chinese forces. The State Oracle, the Dalai Lama’s advisor, urged him to flee.

On this day, March 17, in 1959, Tibet’s spiritual and political leader, then 23, disguised himself as a soldier and slipped through the crowds outside the palace he’d never see again. He embarked on a dangerous journey to asylum, crossing the Himalayas on foot with a retinue of soldiers and cabinet members. They traveled only at night, to avoid detection by Chinese sentries. Rumors later circulated among Tibetans that the Dalai Lama “had been screened from Red planes by mist and low clouds conjured up by the prayers of Buddhist holy men,” according to TIME’s 1959 cover story about the escape. But until he appeared in India, two weeks after taking flight, people around the world feared that he had been killed, according to the BBC.

Back in Tibet, thousands died fighting the Chinese forces. Per the BBC, “All fighting-age men who had survived the revolt were deported, and those fleeing the scene reported that Chinese troops burned corpses in [Lhasa] for 12 hours.”

It was the latest flare-up of the longstanding discord between Tibet and China, as TIME summarized:

Over the centuries, the mountain-locked nation of Tibet has often been overrun by invaders — Mongols, Manchus and Gurkhas, but most often Chinese. Whenever China was strong, it would send a garrison to occupy Lhasa. Whenever China was weak Tibetans would drive the garrison out.

That discord endures today. Tibetans can still be arrested if caught with the writings or a picture of the Buddhist leader and recipient of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize. And Chinese leaders were outraged last month when President Obama made his first public appearance with the Dalai Lama, whom he called a “good friend.” And as the New York Times reported last week, they were also incensed by the 79-year-old Dalai Lama’s recent speculation that he might not reincarnate this time around, foiling Chinese plans to hand-pick a 15th Dalai Lama who would follow the Communist party line. Per the Times, “[Chinese] officials repeatedly warned that he must reincarnate, and on their terms.”

China’s official version of the Dalai Lama’s 1959 escape sees him as forced to flee due to a failed attempt on his part “to maintain the serfdom in the region, under which the majority of Tibetans were slaves leading a life of unimaginable misery,” per TIME.

Tibetans tend to disagree with this retelling. According to TIME’s coverage of the Dalai Lama’s recent trip to the United States, “So profound is the despair among some Tibetans that more than 130 people have committed suicide since 2009 by setting themselves on fire, according to exile organizations. As they burn, self-immolators reserve their final breaths to praise the Dalai Lama and denounce Chinese rule.”

Read TIME’s 1959 cover story about the Dalai Lama: The Dalai Lama Escapes from the Chinese

See the Dalai Lama's Life in Pictures

The 14th Dalai Lama at his enthronement in Lhasa, Tibet, Feb. 22, 1940.
The 14th Dalai Lama at his enthronement in Lhasa, Tibet, Feb. 22, 1940.AP
His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, second in rank as spiritual leader, in Tibet, in 1954.
The Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, second in rank as spiritual leader, pictured in Tibet in 1954.Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Dalai Lama seen with members of a Chinese government delegation on their official visit to Tibet in 1956.
The Dalai Lama is seen with members of a Chinese government delegation on their official visit to Tibet in 1956.Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images
Averaging 12 miles a day through the Himalayas, the Dalai Lama is shown journeying through the Karpo Pass, one of the highest on the flight route of the 23-year-old ruler from Lhasa. His flight began March 17, 1959. Here the escape party is seen on March 28, three days before reaching sanctuary in the free zone of India.
Averaging 12 miles a day through the Himalayas, the Dalai Lama is shown journeying through the Karpo Pass, one of the highest on the flight route of the 23-year-old ruler from Lhasa. His flight began on March 17, 1959. Here the escape party is seen on March 28, three days before reaching sanctuary in the free zone of India. AP
The Dalai Lama in India circa 1965.
The Dalai Lama pictured in India circa 1965.Michael Ochs Archives—Getty Images
The Dalai Lama and his loyal follower, Richard Gere, in New York in Sept. 1990.
The Dalai Lama and his loyal follower, actor Richard Gere, in New York in September 1990.Richard Corkery—NY Daily News/Getty Images
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, appears at the University of California Los Angeles to give a public teaching in Los Angeles, May 2001.
The Dalai Lama makes an appearance at the University of California, Los Angeles in May 2001.David McNew—Getty Images
President George W. Bush winks while he sits with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet during a ceremony presenting the Congressional Gold Medal to the Dalai Lama in the Rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, Oct. 2007.
President George W. Bush winks while he sits with the Dalai Lama during a ceremony to present him with the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington, D.C., in October 2007.Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images
The Dalai Lama speaks during a ceremony presenting him with the Congressional Gold Medal in the Rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, Oct. 2007.
The Dalai Lama speaks during a ceremony to present him with the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington, D.C., in October 2007.Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales receives His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Clarence House in London, June 2012.
Prince Charles receives the Dalai Lama at Clarence House in London in June 2012.Gareth Cattermole—Getty Images
His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaks onstage at the One World Concert at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, Oct. 2012.
The Dalai Lama speaks onstage at the One World Concert at Syracuse University in New York in October 2012.Neilson Barnard—Getty Images
His Holiness the Dalai Lama during a press conference at The Lowry Hotel in Manchester, United Kingdom, June 2012.
The Dalai Lama during a news conference at The Lowry Hotel in Manchester, United Kingdom, in June 2012.Christopher Furlong—Getty Images
His Holiness the Dalai Lama visits Madame Tussauds and poses with a wax figure of himself in Sydney, June 2013.
The Dalai Lama visits Madame Tussauds and poses with a wax figure of himself in Sydney in June 2013.Getty Images
Tibetan Buddhist monks holding ceremonial scarfs stand in a line to welcome their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, as he arrives at the Jhonang Takten Phuntsok Choeling monastery in Shimla, India, March 2014.
Tibetan Buddhist monks holding ceremonial scarfs stand in a line to welcome the Dalai Lama as he arrives at the Jhonang Takten Phuntsok Choeling monastery in Shimla, India, in March 2014. Tenzin Choejor—AP
The Dalai Lama stands at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, Feb. 2015.
The Dalai Lama stands at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., in February 2015. Stephen Crowley—The New York Times/Redux

Correction, March 5, 2019

The original caption for the photo that appears with this article misstated the issue date for the TIME cover it shows. That is the April 20, 1959, issue of the magazine, not the April 2, 1959, issue.

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