Chapitre D'ouvrage Année : 2026

The borders’ defense strategy of the Tibetan Ganden Phodrang government from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries: a study of the role of border guards (sa srung) and local militia (yul dmag)

Résumé

The regional militias (yul dmag), which had been a key element of military organization in pre-Ganden Phodrang periods, were not abandoned following the creation of a body of regular troops in the 18th century: in times of war the Ganden Phodrang government defense system relied on the joint support of both the regular troops and the regional militias, as well as frontier guards (sa srung). In Chapter 6, Alice Travers shows the crucial role played by these temporary civil forces in the defense system of the Ganden Phodrang’s borders during peace and war, and also their interaction with and the extent of their integration into the organization of regular troops and hierarchical command during times of war in the early 20th century. Based on Tibetan oral accounts and published autobiographies, as well as British and Tibetan archives, this chapter focuses on the defense systems particularly of the border areas of eastern and northern Tibet and the ways in which regional militias participated in various armed conflicts. The chapter shows that after Tibet gained de facto independence, the geographical shift of military threat and wars effectively fought on the Ganden Phodrang’s eastern border with China resulted in the need for new administrative structures (at the level of Provincial governors) capable of representing the Tibetan central state in the border territories and supervising the border defense and the raising of militias. It makes apparent that in Tibet, like elsewhere in the world, war had a direct impact on the larger Ganden Phodrang state-building process beyond purely military considerations.

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Dates et versions

hal-05498209 , version 1 (06-02-2026)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-05498209 , version 1

Citer

Alice Travers. The borders’ defense strategy of the Tibetan Ganden Phodrang government from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries: a study of the role of border guards (sa srung) and local militia (yul dmag). Ryosuke Kobayashi; Alice Travers. The Many Wars of the Ganden Phodrang (1642-1950): A New Historical Approach in Tibetan War Studies, oomsbury, Lexington Books, In press. ⟨hal-05498209⟩
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