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In recent years, politically inclined Tibetans living abroad have been busy trying to get elected as the premiere (bka'-blon khri-pa) or as representatives of the People’s Assembly (mi-mang spyi-‘thus) of the Tibetan government in exile.
In the most recent election, the premiere race has attracted considerable public attention. However, do Tibetans know the origin of the premiere system?
Since the 12th Century, during the second propagation of Tibetan Buddhism, Tibet was in a state of utter chaos. The different schools of Tibetan Buddhism were consolidating their local power bases. The various schools were constantly engaged with each other in conflict and war. In the beginning of the 17th Century, the leader of the Khoshot Mongols, Gushri Khan, and the 5th Dalai Lama came to a secret agreement. Gushri Khan was to help the Gelugs School defeat the other schools of Tibetan Buddhism. After accomplishing this, he would give religious authority to the Dalai Lama, while retaining military control and the authority to appoint and remove officials. The Dalai Lama set up an official position, called the sde-srid, to represent him in Lhasa, while he stayed in Dga'-ldan pho-brang in 'Bras-spung Monastery.
However, Tibetans were unwilling to remain under Mongolian control. Therefore, when Sang-rgyas rgya-mtsho was appointed as the sde-srid, major conflict erupted. The ultimate result of this conflict occurred in 1720, when the Kangxi Emperor in Beijing sent a large army to Tibet to bring an end to the conflict between the Tibetans and Mongolians. At that time, the emperor decided to end the Mongolian control of Tibet. He set up the four bka'-blon system, and appointed Khang-chen-nas bsod-nams rgyal-po as the bka'-blon khri-pa or premiere. The four bka'-blons collectively managed the affairs of Tibet. This is the origin of the well-known bka'-blon system. The first bka'-blon khri-pa did not get along with the other bka'-blons, including Lum-pa-nas bkra-shis rgyal-po. Therefore, these three bka'-blons united and had Khang-chen-nas-bsod-nams rgyal-po assassinated. This led to further internal disorder within Tibetan. The emperor in Beijing once again sent a large army to Tibet. With the assistance of the Khang-chen-nas-bsod-nams Rgyal-po’s subordinate Pho-lha-nas sbsod-nams stobs-rgyas, the conflict was brought to an end. The emperor’s imperial inspector minister had the three offending bka'-blons executed. To promote long-term stability in Tibet, the emperor did not appoint bka'-blons any more. Rather, in 1728, the emperor appointed Pho-lha-nas, who had proven himself during the period of conflict, as the Junwang (prince of the commandery). The emperor also set up the amban system. The amban was responsible to monitor the junwang. An amban was directly appointed by Beijing every three years. The amban system continued until the end of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. With the support of the emperor in Beijing, Pho-lha-nas ruled Tibet for twenty years. This was a rare period of stability in Tibetan history. His son, 'gyur-med rnam-rgyal, took over his thrown in 1747. However, he did not see eye to eye with the 7th Dalai Lama. The amban sided with and chose to protect the 7th Dalai Lama. As a result, 'gyur-med rnam-rgyal was strongly displeased with the amban. On October 25, 1750, as 'gyur-med rnam-rgyal was attempting to carry out a large scale invasion of the amban’s office, he was killed by the amban. The amban and the vice amban were also killed during the battle. After the conflict was put down, the Qianglong Emperor decided to get rid of the junwang system and political authority was placed directly in the hands of the Dalai Lama. In 1751, the bka'-shag government was established. There were still four bka'-blons, but a rule was set up requiring that the bka'-blon khri-pa be a monk, while the other three were laymen. This system continued until March of 1959, when the PRC began to carry out democratic reform in Tibet. After the PRC dissolved the bka'-shag government, the Dalai Lama reestablished the system in India. It is not clear whether the Dalai Lama realizes that this system was not established by Tibetans, but was set up by the emperor in Beijing in the hope of bringing peace and stability to Tibet. (to be continued). |