Empire618 CE – 842 CE · 224 years
Tibetan Empire
A 200-year Himalayan power that controlled the southern Silk Road and once sacked the Tang Chinese capital.
What it was
The Tibetan Empire (~618–842 CE) emerged from the unification of the Tibetan plateau under Songtsen Gampo. At its height it controlled the Tarim Basin oases and parts of modern Yunnan, Bengal, and Nepal, and in 763 briefly captured the Chinese capital of Chang'an.
Why it mattered
It was during the imperial period that Buddhism took root in Tibet, beginning a religious tradition that survives today.
From Wikipedia
The Tibetan Empire was centered on the Tibetan Plateau and formed as a result of expansions under the Yarlung dynasty's 33rd king, Songtsen Gampo, in the 7th century. It expanded further under Trisong Detsen and reached its greatest extent under Tritsuk Detsen, stretching east to Chang'an, west beyond modern Afghanistan, south into modern India and the Bay of Bengal. It is referred to as Tufan or Tubo (吐蕃) in Chinese sources.
Wikipedia: Tibetan Empire·CC BY-SA 4.0
Borders & accuracy
Solid borders are reconstructed from canonical historical-basemap data or hand-crafted from scholarly atlases.
- SOURCEaourednik / historical-basemaps
- DETAILhistorical-basemaps
- SNAPSHOT800 CE
- MATCHEDTibet
- POLITY TYPEstate
Wars of this empire9
Conflicts whose belligerents name this polity, best-documented first.
- Tang-Tibetan Wars650–846 CESignificant
- Significant
- Tang-Tibetan Conflicts650–790 CERegional · 200K dead
- Tang dynasty military campaigns618–907 CERegional
- Battle of Kanauj648 CERegional
- Battle of Dafeichuan670 CERegional
- Battle of Gilgit747 CERegional
- Battle of Shibao749 CERegional
- Battle of Changan763 CERegional
Open in the atlas →Seeks the timeline to 618 CE and fits the map to these borders.
Cite as: Tibetan Empire (618 CE – 842 CE). War Atlas. https://waratlas.org/e/tibetan-empire · Sources & methodology