When the Indian island collided with the Asian plate
The story, perhaps,started a million years ago: when the Indian island collided with the Asian plate. Life could have, without this collision, continued for eternity undisturbed on the Indian Island, yet it was neither the destiny of Tibet to remain a sea forever, nor was it of India to be perpetually an
island. The first historical contacts between Ancient India & Tibet occurred when - in 127 BC - Nyatri Tsenpo was enthroned as the first Tibetan King of the Yarlung Dynasty. He was said to have belonged to the Shakya Clan (Buddha’s clan), and to have landed in Central Tibet from India with the help of a
legendary ‘sky-rope’. Modern research has however revealed the presence of a highly developed pre-Buddhist civilization on the Roof of the World: the Bon Faith that flourished long before Buddhism was introduced in Tibet. The Kingdom of Shangshung in Western Tibet had regular contacts with India as well as
Central Asia. Its presumed script Mar-yig was derived from an old Brahmi script. The relations between India & Tibet took a new turn during the period known as the First Propagation of the Buddha Dharma in Tibet (7th - 8th century). Many great Indian masters such as Padmasambhava and Shantarakshita
visited Tibet; Buddhism became the state religion. In order to translate Buddhist scriptures, the present Tibetan Script and grammar were brought from India by Thonmi Sambhota, a minister of King Songtsen Gampo. The Second Propagation (10th - 11th century) is considered as the Renaissance in Tibet -
during which the temples and gompas (monasteries) of Tholing and Tsaparang in Western Tibet - as well as Alchi Art, literature, architecture and spirituality had flourished. The Himalayas lay at the source of this renaissance. During this period, Tibetan medicine based on Ayurveda started an indigenization process, consequently retaining its Indian roots.
The Indian source of inspiration withered after the Muslim invasion of North India (12th-13th century); Buddhism too had disappeared from the Indian subcontinent. Tibet thus sought Mongolia and then China for protection. The Tibetan Lamas became eventually the Gurus of the Mongol Khans, and later the
Ming and Manchu Emperors. India - however - remained Aryabhumi: The Sacred Land, The Holy Land for the Tibetans. The Chinese invasion of Tibet started in 1949/1950; consequently the 14th Dalai Lama took up exile in India. This - in fact - rejuvenated cultural relations because of the re-establishment of many
Tibetan monastic universities, as well various prestigious Tibetan Institutions in India. The Buddhist regions of the Himalayas - witnessed also - a cultural revival enabled by the presence of the 14th Dalai Lama. Cultural relations - however - between India and Tibet have witnessed moments of unforeseen moratoriums. Yet they have survived over the centuries. This book is a tribute and testament to that fact.
