On a March night in 1959, a man dressed as an ordinary soldier slipped quietly out of Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, through a massive crowd of onlookers. That man was Tenzin Gyatso, the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, and he was being hunted by Chinese troops who could have captured him at any moment. After a gruelling three week journey, he crossed into India, an arrival that would reshape both his own life and the course of Tibetan history.
The Night of the Escape
On 17 March 1959, the Nechung Oracle was consulted, a ritual that holds deep significance in Tibetan tradition, and the guidance that came back was unambiguous: the Dalai Lama had to leave Tibet immediately. Just minutes before 10 pm that same night, he slipped away disguised as an ordinary soldier, blending into the vast crowd unnoticed. His family and close aides joined him soon after. Three weeks after leaving Lhasa, on 31 March 1959, the Dalai Lama and his group reached the Indian border, where Indian troops took charge of escorting them safely into the country.
Who Is the Dalai Lama
Born on 6 July 1935 in the small Tibetan village of Taktser, Tenzin Gyatso is regarded as both the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people. According to Tibetan tradition, he was recognised at just two years of age as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. He is believed to be the incarnation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, reborn again and again to serve the people. The title Dalai Lama translates to Ocean of Wisdom, while Tibetans often address him affectionately as Yeshin Norbu, meaning the Wish Fulfilling Jewel.
Rising Tensions With China
In 1950, as Tibet's existence came under threat from Chinese power, the Dalai Lama was called upon to assume full political authority as head of state and head of government. In 1954 he travelled to Beijing himself and held talks with Chinese leaders including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping. In 1956, he visited India to attend the 2500th anniversary of the Buddha and used the trip to hold several rounds of talks with the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Premier Zhou about Tibet's worsening situation. But instead of improving, matters deteriorated further, and in 1959 China's military occupation of Tibet forced the Dalai Lama into exile in India.
The Invitation That Triggered Panic in Lhasa
Accounts of the Dalai Lama's life record that on 10 March 1959, Chinese General Zhang Chenwu sent an invitation asking the Dalai Lama to attend a function. The invitation came with a condition that no Tibetan soldiers or armed bodyguards accompany him. When the invitation was repeated with fresh conditions, that no Tibetan soldier be present and that his bodyguards remain unarmed, it triggered widespread alarm among the people of Lhasa. Thousands gathered outside the Norbulingka Palace and physically prevented the Dalai Lama from attending the event. That episode set the stage for the events that eventually forced him out of Tibet.
Refuge in India and a New Beginning
After crossing into the border region, the Dalai Lama and his companions arrived in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, an area then known as NEFA. Indian troops and local administration stationed there provided him immediate protection. He was then brought from Arunachal Pradesh into Assam. A few weeks after reaching India, the Dalai Lama met Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, following which it was officially announced that India had granted him asylum. Notably, many Tibetans had already fled to India even before the Dalai Lama's arrival, but his arrival triggered a much larger wave of Tibetans moving into India, spreading well beyond the northeastern states into other parts of the country. Since 1960, the Dalai Lama has lived in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, often called Little Lhasa, which now serves as the headquarters of the Tibetan government in exile.
A Continuing Fight for Tibet From Exile
In the early years after his arrival in India, the Dalai Lama took the issue of Tibet to the United Nations, leading the General Assembly to pass three separate resolutions in 1959, 1961 and 1965. In 1963, he issued a draft constitution for Tibet that promised a democratic system of governance. In the decades since, he has established numerous educational, cultural and religious institutions that have played a significant role in preserving Tibetan identity and its rich heritage. He has also given numerous teachings and initiations, including the rare Kalachakra initiation, which he has conducted far more often than any of his predecessors.
