| abstract
| - The earliest well-documented influence of Buddhism in Tibet dates from the reign of king Songtsän Gampo, who died in 650. He married Buddhist princesses from Nepal (Bhrikutidevi) as well as Tang Dynasty China (Wencheng), among other wives; and founded the first Buddhist temples (including the Jokhang). By the second half of the 8th century he was already regarded as an embodiment of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. One aspect of Buddhism's appeal (as opposed to that of state Bön) was its international character, as a religion of the major trade routes to India and Central Asia. In the 8th century, King Trisong Detsen (755-797) established Buddhism as the official religion of the state. He invited Indian Buddhist teachers to his court—most notably, the legendary tantric yogin Padmasambhava and the monk Shantarakshita--and ordered the construction of Samye, the first Tibetan monastery. The end of the Tibetan empire (triggered by the assassination of its last emperor Lang Darma, an opponent of Buddhism) led to a loss of official support for Buddhist institutions. Within a few centuries, however, a "second diffusion" of Buddhism was occurring thanks to Indian Buddhist teachers such as Atisha. This wave of Buddhist activity was more populist in nature. Tibetan Buddhist monasteries became important centers of cultural and political influence, and entered into various alliances. The Sakya hierarchs won the support of the Mongol Empire, under whose authority they ruled over Tibet; while the Gelug order and its line of Dalai Lamas held a similar role with respect to the Oirat and Qing Dynasty courts. Following the collapse of the Qing, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama declared independence for Tibet (as had Mongolia). Tibet remained de facto independent until 1950, when the Fourteenth Dalai Lama signed the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet agreeing to Chinese sovereignty. In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled to India, which agreed to host a Tibetan Government in Exile and a Tibetan refugee population (presently around 100,000). India—and to a lesser extent, Nepal—has now become a major center for Tibetan Buddhist religious activity. Meanwhile, in China, Tibetan Buddhists continue to suffer numerous human rights problem, including religious freedom issues.
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