The history of Tibetan Muslims goes back to the time of the Great Fifth Dalai Lama of 17th Cent. It all began when Kashmiri Muslims traveled to Tibet to trade with the Tibetans there. They arrived with goods from India but returned to Kashmir soon after trading was over. The presiding Dalai Lama then showed his greatness. Reaching beyond religious boundaries, he urged them to

stay in Tibet. And so they did, but only after certain rights were guaranteed to them. Two of their major demands were that they be allowed to build mosques and have their own burial grounds. However, much more was granted, and they even enjoyed the right to buy land and to follow Shariat Laws if they so wished.

As time went by, these migrants intermarried with the Tibetans just as the Newar traders did. The wives who were Tibetan Buddhists by birth embraced Islam, and thus was born the Tibetan Muslim community. Slowly a large community of Tibetan Muslims grew around Lhasa. The main regions from where these Muslims trace their ancestry are Kashmir and Ladakh. In general Tibetan Muslims are known as Khache. The word is derived from Khache Yul which is Tibetan for Kashmir. They are also known as “Lhasa-Khazi”. Further privileges were granted and they were allowed to elect a five-man committee known as “Ponj”. The committee looked after the affairs of the community. One member among the five was selected as a leader known as Mia. Tibetan Muslims were also allowed to establish commercial enterprises and exempted from taxation. But the privileges lasted only until the Chinese took over Tibet in 1959.


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