The Tibetan Muslims, also known as the Kachee (Kache), form a small minority in Tibet. Despite being Muslim, they are classified as Tibetans, unlike the Hui Muslims, who are also known as the Kyangsha or Gya Kachee (Chinese Muslims). The Tibetan word Kachee literally means Kashmiri and Kashmir was known as Kachee Yul (Yul = Country). Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: བོད་, Bod, pronounced pö in Lhasa dialect; Chinese: 西藏, pinyin: Xīzàng or 藏区 Zàngqū [the two names are used with different connotations; see Name section below]) is a region in Central Asia and the home of the Tibetan people. ... A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم) (sometimes also spelled Moslem) is an adherent of Islam. ... The Tibetan people are a people living in Tibet and some surrounding areas. ... The Huí (回) are a Chinese ethnic group. ... Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. ...

Owing to their small population, the Tibetan Muslims are scattered throughout Tibet, much of whom can be found in Lhasa and Shigatse. If those not living in the Tibet Autonomous Region are not excluded, ethnic groups such as the Balti and Burig, who are also of Tibetan origin and consider themselves to be ethnically Tibetan, are Muslims as well. These groups, however, are predominantly found in the Indian-controlled Ladakh and the Pakistani-controlled Baltistan. Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: བོད་, Bod, pronounced pö in Lhasa dialect; Chinese: 西藏, pinyin: Xīzàng or 藏区 Zàngqū [the two names are used with different connotations; see Name section below]) is a region in Central Asia and the home of the Tibetan people. ... Lhasa prefecture-level city in Tibet Autonomous Region Lhasa (Tibetan: ལྷ་ས་; Wylie: lha-sa; Simplified Chinese: 拉萨; Traditional Chinese: 拉薩; pinyin: Lāsà), sometimes spelled Llasa, is the traditional capital of Tibet and the capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Shigatse (Tibetan: གཞིས་ཀ་རྩེ་; Wylie transliteration: Gzhis-ka-rtse; Modified Wiley: gzhi-ka-rtse; pinyin (Tibetan): Xigazê; Chinese: 日喀则; pinyin: Rìkāzé, Zhigatse [Zhi-ga-tse], and Xigatse) is the second largest city in Tibet with a population of 80,000. ... The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) (Tibetan: བོད་རང་སྐྱོང་ལྗོངས་; Wylie: Bod-rang-skyong-ljongs; Simplified Chinese: 西藏自治区; Traditional Chinese: 西藏自治區; Hanyu Pinyin: ), is a province-level autonomous region of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). ... The Balti are the descendants of an amalagam of Tibetan, Indo-Aryan and Mon people, whose population of 400,000 is found in the Pakistani-controlled Baltistan (called Baltiyul by locals) and Kargil and Leh districts of Ladakh region of Jammu & Kashmir. ... The Burig, or Purik, are another group of Tibetan Muslims who live south of the Balti in Kashmir. ... Tikse monastery, Ladakh Ladakh is the largest district of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, covering more than half the area of the state (of which it is the eastern part). ... Baltistan is a region to the north of Kashmir, bordering the Chinese region of Xinjiang. ...

Ancestry

Generally speaking, the Tibetan Muslims are unique in the fact that they are largely of Kashmiri, Persian / Arab and Turkic descent through the patrilineal lineage and also often descendants of native Tibetans through the matrilineal lineage, although the reverse is not uncommon. Thus, many of them display a mixture of Aryan and Mongolian features. Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. ... For other uses of this term see: Persia (disambiguation) The Persian Empire is the name used to refer to a number of historic dynasties that have ruled the country of Persia (Iran). ... The Arabs (Arabic: عرب ʻarab) are a large and heterogeneous ethnic group found throughout the Middle East and North Africa, originating in the Arabian Peninsula of southwest Asia. ... Turkic peoples are Northern and Central Eurasian peoples who speak languages belonging to the Turkic family, and who, in varying degrees, share certain cultural and historical traits. ... Patrilineality is a system in which one belongs to ones fathers lineage; it generally involves the inheritance of property, names or titles through the male line as well. ... The Tibetan people are a people living in Tibet and some surrounding areas. ... Matrilineality is a system in which one belongs to ones mothers lineage; it may also involve the inheritance of property or titles through the female line. ... Aryan is an English word derived from the Indian Vedic Sanskrit and Iranian Avestan terms ari-, arya-, ārya-, and/or the extended form aryāna-. The Sanskrit and Old Persian languages both pronounced the word as arya-. Beyond its use as the ethnic self-designation of the Proto-Indo-Iranians...

Owing to Tibetan influence, they have adopted Tibetan names while retaining Persian or Urdu surnames. However, this is not as common as those among the Burig and Balti. Although the majority uses Tibetan for daily communication, Urdu or Arabic are used for religious services. Persian (known variously as: فارسی Fârsi, local name in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, پارسی Pârsi, older, local name still used by some speakers, Tajik, a Central Asian dialect, or Dari, another local name in Tajikistan and Afghanistan) is a language spoken in Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia... The phrase Zaban Urdu Mualla written in Urdu Urdu () is an Indo-European language of the Indo-Aryan family that developed under Persian, Turkish, and Arabic influence in Indian subcontinent during the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire (1200-1800). ... The Burig, or Purik, are another group of Tibetan Muslims who live south of the Balti in Kashmir. ... The Balti are the descendants of an amalagam of Tibetan, Indo-Aryan and Mon people, whose population of 400,000 is found in the Pakistani-controlled Baltistan (called Baltiyul by locals) and Kargil and Leh districts of Ladakh region of Jammu & Kashmir. ... Arabic can mean: From or related to Arabia From or related to the Arabs The Arabic language; see also Arabic grammar The Arabic alphabet, used for expressing the languages of Arabic, Persian, Malay ( Jawi), Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Urdu, among others. ...

After the Chinese invasion of Tibet, Muslims were granted Indian citizenship by the Indian Government, which considered the Tibetan Muslims Kashmiris, and thus Indian citizens, unlike the other Tibetan refugees, who carry Refugee Satus Certificates.

History

The appearance of the first Muslims in Tibet has been lost in the mists of time, although variants of the names of Tibet can be found in Arabic history books. Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: བོད་, Bod, pronounced pö in Lhasa dialect; Chinese: 西藏, pinyin: Xīzàng or 藏区 Zàngqū [the two names are used with different connotations; see Name section below]) is a region in Central Asia and the home of the Tibetan people. ...

During the reign of the Ummayad Caliph Umar bin Abdul Aziz, a delegation from Tibet and China requested him to send Islamic missionaries to their countries, and Salah bin Abdullah Hanafi was sent to Tibet. Between the eighth and ninth centuries, the Abbasid rulers of Baghdad maintained relations with Tibet. However, there was little proselytisation among the missionaries at first, although many of them decided to settle in Tibet and marry Tibetan women. The Umayyad Dynasty (Arabic الأمويون / بنو أمية umawiyy; in Turkish, Emevi) was the first dynasty of caliphs of the Prophet Muhammad who were not closely related to Muhammad himself, though they were of the same Meccan tribe, the Quraish. ... Caliph is the term or title for the Islamic leader of the Ummah, or community of Islam. ... Umar bin Abdul Aziz was one of the caliphs of Bani Omayya, ruling between 718 and 720. ... Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: བོད་, Bod, pronounced pö in Lhasa dialect; Chinese: 西藏, pinyin: XÄ«zàng or 藏区 ZàngqÅ« [the two names are used with different connotations; see Name section below]) is a region in Central Asia and the home of the Tibetan people. ... Abbasid provinces during the caliphate of Harun al-Rashid Abbasid (Arabic: العبّاسيّون AbbāsÄ«yÅ«n) was the dynastic name generally given to the caliphs of Baghdad, the second of the two great Sunni dynasties of the Islamic empire, that overthrew the Umayyad caliphs. ... Location of Baghdad within Iraq Buh-Buh-Buh-Baghdad (Arabic: ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Province. ... Religious conversion is the adoption of new religious beliefs that differ from the converts previous beliefs; in some cultures (e. ...

The 12th century witnessed a large scale migration of Muslim traders from Kashmir and the Persian Empire to Tibet, most notable was the community that they established in Lhasa. Like their Arab predecessors, these men settled down and married Tibetan women, who followed their husbands' religion. Proselytisation of Islam first took place in Baltistan and the Suru Valley from the 14th to the 16th centuries, which converted the vast majority of the Tibetan Burig and Balti communities. Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. ... The term Persian Empire refers to a series of historical empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau. ... Lhasa prefecture-level city in Tibet Autonomous Region Lhasa (Tibetan: ལྷ་ས་; Wylie: lha-sa; Simplified Chinese: 拉萨; Traditional Chinese: 拉薩; pinyin: Lāsà), sometimes spelled Llasa, is the traditional capital of Tibet and the capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Baltistan is a region to the north of Kashmir, bordering the Chinese region of Xinjiang. ... The Burig, or Purik, are another group of Tibetan Muslims who live south of the Balti in Kashmir. ... The Balti are the descendants of an amalagam of Tibetan, Indo-Aryan and Mon people, whose population of 400,000 is found in the Pakistani-controlled Baltistan (called Baltiyul by locals) and Kargil and Leh districts of Ladakh region of Jammu & Kashmir. ...

Especially under the reign of Lozang Gyatso, the Tibetan Muslims led a relatively carefree life, and were given special privellages, in the sense that they were exempted from observing certain Buddhist religious customs.

However, with the influx of Kashmiri immigrants to Ladakh and forced conversions of Buddhists to Islam, isolated conflicts between the Buddhists and Muslims were frequent, especially in Leh. There were even cases when members of the Soma Gompa and Jama Masjid came out to fight, thus resulting in tensions between Buddhist and Muslim members of the same family. Tikse monastery, Ladakh Ladakh is the largest district of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, covering more than half the area of the state (of which it is the eastern part). ... Islam (Arabic: ; ( (help· info)), submission (to the will of God)) is a monotheistic faith, considered one of the Abrahamic religions, and the worlds second-largest religion. ... View of Leh from Namgyal hill Leh Bazaar prior to 1871 Leh is the capital of the former Himalayan kingdom of Ladakh, which is now a district in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India. ...

Culture

As of today, most of the Tibetan Muslims are followers of the Sunni denomination, although the majority of the Balti and Burig are followers of the Shi'a denomination. Despite the factor of their religion, the Tibetan Muslims have comfortably assimilated into the Tibetan community, while following Islamic traditions. On the other hand, the Balti and Burig have partially adopted Iranian customs. Sunni Islam (Arabic سنّة) is the largest denomination of Islam. ... The Balti are the descendants of an amalagam of Tibetan, Indo-Aryan and Mon people, whose population of 400,000 is found in the Pakistani-controlled Baltistan (called Baltiyul by locals) and Kargil and Leh districts of Ladakh region of Jammu & Kashmir. ... The Burig, or Purik, are another group of Tibetan Muslims who live south of the Balti in Kashmir. ... Shia Islam or Shi`ism (from the Arabic word شيعة, Persian: شیعه) is the second largest denomination of the religion of Islam. ... The Balti are the descendants of an amalagam of Tibetan, Indo-Aryan and Mon people, whose population of 400,000 is found in the Pakistani-controlled Baltistan (called Baltiyul by locals) and Kargil and Leh districts of Ladakh region of Jammu & Kashmir. ... The Burig, or Purik, are another group of Tibetan Muslims who live south of the Balti in Kashmir. ...

Especially in music, the Tibetan Muslims have made contributions to Tibetan culture. The Nangma, also known as Naghma in Urdu, are high-pitched tilting songs that have been popular among all Tibetans. They have also adopted Tibetan customs, especially in the field of marriage, although they have strictly maintained their Islamic customs at the same time. The phrase Zaban Urdu Mualla written in Urdu Urdu () is an Indo-European language of the Indo-Aryan family that developed under Persian, Turkish, and Arabic influence in Indian subcontinent during the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire (1200-1800). ...

Tibetan Muslims have unique architectural styles, and this is most notable among the Ladakhi. Mosques, for instance, are built in a quaint blend of Persian and Tibetan styles. This is evidenced in its beautifully decorated walls, sloping walls designed to withstand earthquakes, and even Kada scarfs being hanged at the doorway of the mosques.

Another interesting feature of Tibetan Muslim architecture is that their mosques encompass the Imambara, a small artefact surmounted on the domes of metal sheets. Bara Imambara is a palace complex built by Asaf-ud-daulah, Nawab of Lucknow, in 1784. ...

Special Privileges

The Tibetan Muslims had their own mosques in Lhasa and Shigatse, and plots of land were given to bury their ancestors. They were also exempted from taking vegetarian meals, on Buddha's birthday, which is mandatory for all believers of Tibetan Buddhism, and this practice upon the followers of Bön was not excluded. A Ponj (from Urdu/Hindi Pancch meaning Five) was elected to take care of the affairs within the Tibetan Muslim community. Lhasa prefecture-level city in Tibet Autonomous Region Lhasa (Tibetan: ལྷ་ས་; Wylie: lha-sa; Simplified Chinese: 拉萨; Traditional Chinese: 拉薩; pinyin: Lāsà), sometimes spelled Llasa, is the traditional capital of Tibet and the capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Shigatse (Tibetan: གཞིས་ཀ་རྩེ་; Wylie transliteration: Gzhis-ka-rtse; Modified Wiley: gzhi-ka-rtse; pinyin (Tibetan): Xigazê; Chinese: 日喀则; pinyin: Rìkāzé, Zhigatse [Zhi-ga-tse], and Xigatse) is the second largest city in Tibet with a population of 80,000. ... Standing Buddha, ancient region of Gandhara, northern Pakistan, 1st century CE, Musée Guimet. ... Tibetan Buddhism — formerly also called Lamaism, after their religious gurus known as lamas — is the body of religious Buddhist doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and the Himalayan region. ... Bön has typically been described as the shamanistic religion in Tibet before the arrival of Buddhism in the 7th century. ...

In addition, Muslims were even exempted from removing their caps to Lamas during a period in a year, when the Iron pole Lamas held sway over the town. Muslims were also granted the Mina Dronbo, a status that invited all Tibetans, irrespective of religion, to commemorate the assumption of spiritual and temporal authority by Lozang Gyatso, the fifth Dalai Lama. However, these special privellages ended with the beginning of the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959. Like the Buddhists, they were forced into exile, and the Chinese government treated them worse than the Buddhists. Food was not allowed to be sold to the Tibetan Muslims, and their leaders were tried by the government. Life was hard for the Tibetan Muslims until the 1980's. Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (Wylie transliteration: Blo-bzang Rgya-mtsho), (also Lobsang Gyatso) the Great Fifth Dalai Lama, (1617 – 1682), The fifth Dalai Lama Lozang Gyatso was a political and religious leader in seventeenth century Tibet. ... The 14th and current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso (born 1935) The 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso (1876-1933) In Tibetan Buddhism, the successive Dalai Lamas (Tibetan: ཏ་ཱལའི་བླ་མ་ taa-lavi bla-ma; Chinese: 达赖喇嘛 Dálài Lāmǎ) form a tulku lineage of Gelugpa leaders which trace back to 1391. ... Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: བོད་, Bod, pronounced pö in Lhasa dialect; Chinese: 西藏, pinyin: Xīzàng or 藏区 Zàngqū [the two names are used with different connotations; see Name section below]) is a region in Central Asia and the home of the Tibetan people. ...

External links

• Tibetan Muslims
• Islam in Tibet: Preface by His Holiness The Dalai Lama; Including 'Islam in the Tibetan Cultural Sphere'; 'Buddhist and Islamic Viewpoints of Ultimate Reality'; and The Illustrated Narrative 'Tibetan Caravans'- Fons Vitae books
• Islam in Tibet 'The Ornaments of Llasa' Video - Fons Vitae books
• Gallery of Tibet (Includes picture of a Minaret)
• Mosque in Lhasa