| Qing empire expedition to Tibet (1720) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofDzungar–Qing War | |||||||
"General of settle the distant" enter Lhasa during the expedition. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Qing dynasty Polhanas (ally of Qing) Kangchennas (ally of Qing) | Dzungar Khanate | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Yinzheng, Kangxi's fourteenth son, commander-in-chief[1] Kangxi Emperor Yue Zhongqi[2] (descendant of Yue Fei) Polhané Sönam Topgyé Khangchenné | Tagtsepa | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Eight Banners Green Standard Army | Dzungars | ||||||
The1720 Chinese expedition to Tibet (Chinese:驅準保藏;lit. 'Expel the Dzungars to preserve Tibet'[3]) or theChinese conquest of Tibet in 1720[4] was a military expedition sent by theQing dynasty to expel the invading forces of theDzungar Khanate fromTibet and establishQing rule over the region, which lasted until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912.
TheKhoshut princeGüshi Khan overthrew the prince ofTsang and established theKhoshut Khanate on theTibetan Plateau in 1642. As the main benefactor of theGelug school ofTibetan Buddhism, he made the5th Dalai Lama the highest spiritual and political authority in Tibet,[5] who established the regime known asGanden Phodrang in the same year. TheDzungar Khanate underTsewang Rabtan invaded Tibet in 1717, deposedNgawang Yeshey Gyatso, the pretender to the position of Dalai Lama ofLha-bzang Khan, who was the last ruler of the Khoshut Khanate, and killed Lhazang Khan and his entire family. They also destroyed a small force at theBattle of the Salween River, which theKangxi Emperor of the Qing empire had sent to clear traditional trade routes in 1718.[6] Just before his demise, Lha-bzang Khan requested protection from the Qing.[7] In response, an expedition sent by the Kangxi Emperor, together with Tibetan forces underPolhanas of Tsang andKangchennas (also spelled Gangchenney), the governor of Western Tibet,[8][9] expelled the Dzungars from Tibet in 1720 as liberators of Tibet from the Dzungars. This Manchu-Han-Mongol joint expedition, escorting the recognized reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, attacked from two directions: one from Sichuan, which arrived in Lhasa first and captured the city, and one from the Kokonor (Qinghai) which largely consisted of the Khoshuts and reached the city with the new Dalai Lama on 24 September 1720.[7][10] The Qing installed a new, more popular Dalai Lama, Kelzang Gyatso, as the7th Dalai Lama and left behind a garrison of 3,000 men in Lhasa. In time, the Qing came to see themselves as overlords of Tibet[11] and Tibet was turned into aprotectorate by the Manchus.[12] The Qing removed the indigenous civil government that had existed in Lhasa since the rule of the5th Dalai Lama, and created a Tibetan cabinet or council of ministers known as theKashag in 1721. This council was to govern Tibet under the close supervision of the Chinese garrison commander stationed in Lhasa, who frequently interfered with Kashag decisions, especially when Chinese interests were involved.[13] Khangchenné would be the first ruling prince to lead the Kashag under Qing overlordship. This began the period ofQing administrative rule of Tibet, which lasted until the fall of the Qing empire in 1912.
At multiple places such as Lhasa, Batang, Dartsendo, Lhari, Chamdo, and Litang, Green Standard troops were garrisoned throughout the Dzungar war.[14]Green Standard Army troops and Manchu Bannermen were both part of the Qing force who fought in Tibet in the war against the Dzungars.[15] It was said that the Sichuan commander Yue Zhongqi (a descendant ofYue Fei) entered Lhasa first when the 2,000 Green Standard soldiers and 1,000 Manchu soldiers of the "Sichuan route" seized Lhasa.[16] According to Mark C. Elliott, after 1728 the Qing usedGreen Standard Army troops to man the garrison in Lhasa rather thanBannermen.[17] According to Evelyn S. Rawski both Green Standard Army and Bannermen made up the Qing garrison in Tibet.[18] According to Sabine Dabringhaus, Green Standard Chinese soldiers numbering more than 1,300 were stationed by the Qing in Tibet to support the 3,000 strong Tibetan army.[19]