thumb|right|270px|Kham province in Tibet

Kham (; ) is one of the three traditional Tibetan regions, the others being Domey also known as Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The original residents of Kham are called Khampas (), and were governed locally by chieftains and monasteries. Kham covers a land area distributed in multiple province-level administrative divisions in present-day China, most of it in Tibet Autonomous Region and Sichuan, with smaller portions located within Qinghai and Yunnan.

Densely forested with grass plains, its convergence of six valleys and four rivers supported independent Kham polities of Tibetan warrior kingdoms together with Tibetan Buddhist monastic centers. The early trading route between Central Tibet and China traveled through Kham, and Kham is said to be the inspiration for Shangri-La in James Hilton's novel.

Geography

thumb|left|[[Daxue Mountains]]

thumb|right|270px|Rivers of Kham

Kham has a rugged terrain characterized by mountain ridges and gorges running from northwest to southeast, and collectively known as the Hengduan Mountains. Numerous rivers, including the Mekong, Yangtze, Yalong River, and the Salween River flow through Kham.

Under the modern administrative division of China, Kham includes a total of 50 contemporary counties, which have been incorporated into the Chinese provinces of Sichuan (16 counties), Yunnan (three counties), and Qinghai (6 counties) as well as the eastern portion of the Tibet Autonomous Region (25 counties).

Ethnic groups

thumb|right|Khampas, the inhabitants of Kham

The people of Kham, the Khampas, are reputed warriors renowned for their marksmanship and horsemanship. References state many Khampas in the Hor States include mention of their Mongolian heritage.

There are significant differences in traditions and beliefs—even physical appearance—between the peoples of Kham and Lhasa. Most of Kham's residents speak Khams Tibetan while at least one-third of the residents are speakers of Qiangic languages, a family of twelve distinct but interrelated languages that are not closely related to Khams Tibetan.

As a frontier region, Kham integrated and "Tibetanized" early Mongolian and Chinese populations. This can be seen through records of various anthropologists.

History

7th - 10th centuries

The Pugyal Dynasty (or Yarlung) of the Tibetan Empire sent troops east from Lhasa to the reaches of the Tibetan Plateau, where they interacted with local cultures and languages to establish eastern Tibet, or Do Kham ('Do', the convergence of rivers and valleys; 'Kham', frontier).

13th to 17th centuries

Kham was not controlled by a single king and remained a patchwork of kingdoms, tribes, and chiefdoms whose bases of authority were constantly shifting. A dual system of secular and Buddhist polities continued.

19th century

thumb|Kham men with western tourist

In 1837, a minor chieftain Gompo Namgyal, of Nyarong in eastern Kham, began expanding his control regionally and launched offensives against the Hor States, Litang, Degé, the Chakla and Batang, becoming the paramount power in the region.

Then in 1896, the Qing Governor of Sichuan attempted to gain control of Nyarong valley during a military attack. After his defeat, the Qing agreed to the withdrawal of Chinese forces and the "territory was returned to the direct rule of Lhasa". The British invasion alarmed the Qing rulers in China, and they sent Fengquan (鳳全) to Kham to initiate land reforms and reduce the numbers of monks. Zhao began executing monks

After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, Zhao was stripped of his post and executed by the revolutionary commander Yin Changheng.

A year before the collapse of the Qing, the Beijing-appointed amban Zhong Ying invaded Lhasa with the Chinese army in February 1910

The 13th Dalai Lama escaped to British India, and returned before China surrendered via a letter from the amban to the Dalai Lama in the summer of 1912. On 13 February 1913, the Dalai Lama declared Tibet an independent nation, and announced the end of the historic "priest-patron" relationship between Tibet and China. In his history of Tibet, Bell wrote that "the Tibetans were abandoned to Chinese aggression, an aggression for which the British Military Expedition to Lhasa and subsequent retreat [and consequent power vacuum within Tibet] were primarily responsible".

The Kham Pandatsang family led the 1934 Khamba rebellion against the Tibetan government in Lhasa. The Kuomintang reached out to the Khampas, whose relationship with the Dalai Lama's government in Lhasa were deteriorating badly. The Khampa revolutionary leader Pandatsang Rapga founded the Tibet Improvement Party to overthrow the Tibetan government and establish a Tibetan Republic as part of China. In addition to using the Khampa's against the Tibetan Government in Lhasa, the Chinese Kuomintang also used them against the Communists during the Chinese Civil War.

The Kuomintang formulated a plan where three Khampa divisions would be assisted by the Panchen Lama to oppose the Communists.

Kuomintang intelligence reported that some Tibetan tusi chiefs and the Khampa Su Yonghe controlled 80,000 troops in Sichuan, Qinghai, and Tibet. They hoped to use them against the Communist army.

The Chinese Kuomintang (Nationalists) also enlisted Khampas to join their military.

The Chinese Kuomintang also sought the Khampas help in defending Sichuan from Japan during World War 2, since the temporary capital was located there. A Khampa member of the Mongolian Tibetan Academy was Han Jiaxiang.

300 "Khampa bandits" were enlisted into the Kuomintang Consolatory Commission military in Sichuan, where they were part of the effort of the central government of China to penetrated and destabilize the local Han warlords such as Liu Wenhui. The Chinese government sought to exercise full control over frontier areas against the warlords. The Consoltary Commission forces were used to battle the Communist Red Army but were defeated when their religious leader was captured by Communist forces.

The Republic of China government also used Khampa traders to operate secret transports between different places.

Kesang Tsering was sent by the Chinese to Batang to take control of Xikang, where he formed a local government. He was spread there for the purpose of propagating the Three People's Principle to the Khampa.

People's Republic of China

In 1950, following the defeat of the Kuomintang rulers of China by communist forces in the Chinese Civil War, the People's Liberation Army invaded western Kham. Western Kham was then set up as a separate Qamdo Territory, then merged into Tibet Autonomous Region in 1965. Meanwhile, Xikang, comprising eastern Kham, was merged into Sichuan in 1955. The border between Sichuan and Tibet Autonomous Region has remained at the Yangtze River.

Notable people

  • Khandro Lhamo
  • Guru Tashi
  • Gombo Namgye
  • Tsewang Lhamo
  • Khenpo Yeshe Phuntsok

See also

  • Kingdom of Derge
  • List of traditional regions of Tibet

References

Sources

Further reading

  • Andreas Gruschke: The Cultural Monuments of Tibet's Outer Provinces: Kham, 3 vols. (2 published so far), White Lotus Press, Bangkok 2004.
  • Andrew Forbes and David Henley, China's Ancient Tea Horse Road. (Cognoscenti Books, 2011),
  • Augusta Molnar, The Kham Magar Women of Thabang (Kathmandu, Nepal: Centre for Economic Development and Administration, Tribhuvan University, 1981).
  • Birgit van de Wijer, Tibet's Forgotten Heroes: The Story of Tibet's Armed Resistance Against China, 1st ed. (Amberley Publishing Limited, 2010),
  • David Gellne, Resistance and The State: Nepalese Experiences (New York: Berghah Books, 2007),
  • David Molk, Lion of Siddhas: The Life and Teachings of Padampa Sangye (Shambhala, 2008),
  • Douglas Wissing, Pioneer in Tibet: The Life and Perils of Dr. Albert Shelton (St. Martin's Press, 2015),
  • Edward A. Parmee, D.T. Campbell and R.A. LeVine, Kham and Amdo of Tibet (Human Relations Area Files, 1972).
  • George Bogle and Thomas Manning, Narratives of The Mission of George Bogle To Tibet: and of The Journey of Thomas Manning To Lhasa (Cambridge University Press, 2010),
  • Kurtis R Schaeffer, Sources of Tibetan Tradition (New York: Columbia University Press, 2013),
  • Michael Buckley, Tibet (The Bradt Travel Guide, 2012),
  • Pamela Logan: <!-- quote=kham. --> Tibetan Rescue. The Extraordinary Quest to Save the Sacred Art Treasures of Tibet (Tuttle Publishing 2002),
  • Thomas Laird: The Story of Tibet: Conversation With the Dalai Lama, Grove Press, New York,
  • Tsepon Wangchuk Dedon Shakabpa, One Hundred Thousand Moons: An Advanced Political History of Tibet (Brill, 2009),
  • Tsering Shakya, The Dragon in the Land of Snows. A History of Modern Tibet Since 1947 (London: Columbia University Press, 1999),
  • Xiuyu Wang, China's Last Imperial Frontier: Late Qing Expansion in Sichuan's Tibetan Borderlands, (Lexington Books, 2011),
  • Yudru Tsomu, The Rise of Gönpo Namgyel in Kham: The Blind Warrior of Nyarong. (Lexington Books, 2014),
  • Khampa Network
  • "Seven Days in Permitless Tibet", magazine article about traveling overland across Kham