Tibet is a land bounded by the world s highest mountains, and it is the repository of an ancient culture. For centuries it was viewed by Europeans as a remote, mystical place populated by Buddhist masters with supernatural powers and profound wisdom. In contrast to this image, it was once a warlike country whose expansionist rulers conquered a vast empire that incorporated much of central Asia and parts of China. Even now the Tibetan Plateau remains a scene of contestation, both ideologically and militarily. Major popular uprisings in 1959, 1988, and 2008 have drawn the attention of the world s media, and its religious teachers often attract large crowds when they travel overseas. The situation in the country remains highly volatile today, as the 2008 uprising the largest and most widespread in the history of the region attests. The Historical Dictionary of Tibet is the most comprehensive dictionary published to date on Tibetan history. It covers the history of Tibet from 27,000 BCE to the present through a chronology, an introductory essay, an extensive bibliography, and over 1,000 cross-referenced dictionary entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, culture, anthropology, and sociology. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Tibet."

Historical Dictionary of Tibet, Second Edition is a comprehensive resource for Tibetan history, politics, religion, major figures, prehistory and paleontology, with a primary emphasis on the modern period. It also covers the surrounding areas influenced by Tibetan religion and culture, including India, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Central Asia, and Russia. It contains a chronology, a glossary, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 500 cross-referenced entries on important personalities as well as aspects of the country's politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Tibet.

This wide-ranging book brings new and fresh visions of important aspects of Tibetan culture. It considers fields as diverse as power in Lhatok in Eastern Tibet, the dynamics and politics of lattice window design in Rebgong (Amdo), humour in old Tibetan verse, and concepts of the self in modern testimonia. The authors approach their topics with verve and insight, employing novel and often ground-breaking ways of dealing with their respective fields.

This gedenkschrift is published in honor of the great scholar of Asia, Professor Giuseppe Tucci (1894-1984). Through the work of present-day scholars, the book represents their efforts to maintain the impetus of the profound legacy left by Tucci. He is renowned to this day as a founding scholar in an extraordinarily wide variety of cultural disciplines (philosophy, religion, etc.), as well as being an explorer of hitherto largely unknown lands, such as Tibet. Giuseppe Tucci gained a deep knowledge of Asia through a familiarity with the people, the places, and the literature, and his contribution to modern scholarship is nothing less than remarkable. The book reflects the broad variety of topics in which Tucci himself displayed deep interest and serves as an homage to his work. (Series: Monash Asia Series)