Legitimacy, Political Power, and Tibetan Buddhism

Abstract

The chapter engages with the concepts of statehood and religion to understand the legitimacy dynamic in Tibet and beyond. In 1642, in a land surrounded by the highest mountains in the world, a unique form of statehood was established. This state derived its legitimacy from Tibetan Buddhism, in which the Dalai Lamas have played pivotal roles. It is termed as “cho-si-sungdrel”, an amalgamation of the religious and the political. The Ganden Phodrang government constructed its legitimacy around Tibetan Buddhist principles that influenced polities within a greater Tibetan Buddhist world. Examining Tibetan Buddhism as a source of legitimacy for political authority, the chapter refers to the polities on the Tibetan plateau, the Mongol polities of the Inner Asian steppe, and the polities on the southern slopes of the Himalayas. The chapter engages with institutional frameworks such as Dalai Lama and maps the demise of Tibetan statehood. The chapter contends that the “residues” of Tibetan Buddhist legitimacy still endure, which is evident in the presence of Buddhist norms in Bhutan’s government and in South Asian democracies like India, where Tibetan Buddhist figureheads enjoy considerable legitimacy.