Tibetan Army
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The Tibetan Army was the armed forces of Tibet from 1913 to 1959. It was established by the 13th Dalai Lama shortly after he proclaimed the independence of Tibet in 1912, and was modernised with the assistance of British training and equipment. It was dissolved by the Chinese government following the failed 1959 Tibetan uprising.
Before the reforms of the 13th Dalai Lama, Tibetan warfare was still antiquated. This armoured horseman, photographed in 1903 or 1904, wields a spear, sword, and matchlock musket.
Photo of the Drapchi regiment of the Tibetan Army taken in the 1930s (before 1935) by Frederick Williamson
Tibetan soldiers in Shigatse (1938)
Tibetan soldiers and an army officer at a 1938 New Year's military parade near Lhasa's Potala Palace
Tibet (1912–1951)
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Tibet was a de facto independent state in East Asia that lasted from the collapse of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty in 1912 until its annexation by the People's Republic of China in 1951.
Gold Seal presented by the Tibetan people to the 13th Dalai Lama in 1909. Its use symbolized China no longer had nominal rule over Tibet
The 14th Dalai Lama as a young boy.
The approval certificate of the accession of the 14th Dalai Lama issued by the Government of the Republic of China on 1 January 1940
Emblem of Tibet shown at the 1947 Asian Relations Conference, Delhi