View source for Tibetan Muslims

{{Short description|Ethnoreligious group}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Tibetan Muslims
| native_name      = {{transliteration|bo|Khache}}, {{transliteration|bo|Khazar}}
| image            = Muslim family of Amdo with Tibetan-style hats.jpg
| image_caption    = Tibetan Muslim family in [[Amdo]], early 20th century
| image_alt        = 
| population       = 120,000-180,000 <ref>{{cite web |title=Tibetan Muslims |url=https://thus.org/tibetan-muslims/ |publisher=Tibet House US |access-date=16 February 2025 |quote="about 2–3 per cent of the Tibetan population consists of Muslims"}}</ref>
| region1          = {{flag|China}} ([[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet AR]])
| pop1             = 5,000
| ref1             = <ref name="State Gov"/>
| region2          = {{flag|India}} ([[Kashmir division|Kashmir]], [[Ladakh]])
| pop2             = 1,500+
| ref2             = <ref name="Zargar"/>
| region3          = {{flag|Nepal}}
| pop3             = 400
| ref3             = <ref name="Hennig"/>
| region4          = 
| pop4             = 
| ref4             = 
| langs            = [[Lhasa Tibetan|Tibetan]] • [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] • [[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]] • [[Nepali language|Nepali]]
| rels             = [[File:Allah-green.svg|17px]]  [[Islam]]
| related          = [[Tibetan people|Tibetan Buddhists]] • [[Balti people|Baltis]] • [[Purigpa]]
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| ibox-order = bo, zh
<!-- Tibetan -->| tib = ཁ་ཆེ་
| wylie = kha-che
<!-- Chinese -->| c = 卡契
| p = Kǎqì
| l = Khache (''phonetic'')
| c2 = 藏回
| p2 = Zàng Huí
| l2 = Tibetan [[Hui people|Hui]]
| c3 = 古格人
| p3 = Gǔgé rén
| l3 = [[Guge]] people
}}
{{Islam and China|groups}}
'''Tibetan Muslims''', also known as the '''Khache''' ({{Bo|t=ཁ་ཆེ་}}, {{literally|[[Kashmiris]]}}), are [[Tibetan people|Tibetans]] who adhere to [[Islam]].<ref name="Zargar">{{cite news |last1=Zargar |first1=Safwat |title=The Tibetan Muslims of Kashmir |url=https://thediplomat.com/2019/07/the-tibetan-muslims-of-kashmir/ |access-date=1 December 2023 |work=The Diplomat |date=31 July 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The Tibetan Muslims who have made Kashmir their home |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-42165908 |work=BBC News |date=1 December 2017}}</ref> Many are descendants of [[Kashmiris]], [[Ladakhis]], and [[Nepalis]] who arrived in Tibet in the 14th to 17th centuries.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Cabezon|first=Jose Ignacio|date=February 1998|title=Islam on the Roof of the World|url=https://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/199801/islam.on.the.roof.of.the.world.htm|access-date=8 January 2022|website=[[Aramco World]]}}</ref> There are approximately 5,000 Tibetan Muslims living in [[China]],<ref name="State Gov">{{cite web |title=Tibet |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/china/tibet/#:~:text=Some%20scholars%20estimate%20there%20are,Tibetan%20Catholics%20in%20the%20TAR. |website=United States Department of State}}</ref> over 1,500 in [[India]],<ref name="Zargar"/> and 300 to 400 in [[Nepal]].<ref name="Hennig">{{cite news |last1=Hennig |first1=Clare |title=A minority within a minority |url=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nepali-times-buzz/tibetan-muslims-celebrate-ramadan,1505 |work=Nepali Times |date=11 July 2014}}</ref>

The [[Government of China|government of the People's Republic of China]] does not [[List of ethnic groups in China#Officially recognized ethnic groups in mainland China|recognize]] the Tibetan Muslims as a distinct ethnic group; they are grouped with Tibetan adherents of [[Buddhism]] and [[Bon|Bön]]. In contrast, the Chinese-speaking [[Hui people|Hui Muslims]] are distinguished from the [[Han Chinese]] majority.<ref>{{cite book |last1=郭家骥，边明社 |title=迪庆州民族文化保护传承与开发研究 |date=2012 |publisher=昆明 |location=云南人民出版社 |isbn=978-7-222-09611-0}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
In [[Tibet]], Tibetan Muslims are known as {{transliteration|bo|Khache}}, which literally translates as {{gloss|Kashmiri}} in [[Tibetic languages|Tibetan]], because many are descendants of pre-modern emigrants from [[Kashmir]].<ref name=":1"/> In [[Nepal]], they are split into two groups: the ''Khache'', who have Kashmiri ancestry and therefore hold Indian passports; and the ''Khazar'', who have Nepali ancestry and therefore hold Nepali passports.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sherpa |first1=Duksangh |title=There are Muslims in Tibet, too |url=https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/there-are-muslims-in-tibet-too |work=Nepali Times |date=23 May 2018}}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Mosques in Lhasa.jpg|thumb|[[Lhasa Great Mosque]]]]

=== Early history ===
The first contacts between Tibet and the Islamic world began around the mid-eighth century when it grew out of a combination of trade via the [[Silk Road]] and the military presence of Muslim forces in the [[Fergana Valley]].<ref name="l426">{{cite book | last=Snyder | first=J.C. | title=After Empire: The Emerging Geopolitics of Central Asia | publisher=DIANE Publishing Company | year=1997 | isbn=978-0-7881-4666-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pGlmjL39UncC&pg=PA140 | access-date=2024-05-13 | page=140}}</ref> Despite the vague knowledge the Islamic world had about Tibet, there were a few early Islamic works that mention Tibet. One such source is from a work authored by [[Abu Sa'id Gardezi]] titled ''[[Zayn al-Akhbar]]''. In it, the work mentions the environment, fantastical origin of the Tibetans (through the Himyarites), the divinity of the king, major resources (like musk) and a description of the trade routes to and from Tibet. Another source, ''[[Hudud al-'Alam]]'' (The Regions of the World) written by an unknown author in 982 or 983 in [[Afghanistan]], contains mainly geography, politics and brief descriptions of Tibetan regions, cities, towns and other localities. This source has the first direct mention of the presence of Muslims in Tibet by stating that [[Lhasa (prefecture-level city)|Lhasa]] had one mosque and a small Muslim population.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VmkMBcsXxdkC&pg=PA3|title=Sources of Tibetan Tradition|last1=Schaeffer|first1=Kurtis|last2=Kapstein|first2=Matthew|last3=Tuttle|first3=Gray|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0-231-13599-3|location=New York|pages=24–29}}</ref>

During the reign of [[Sadnalegs]] (799–815), there was a protracted war against Arab powers to the West. It appears that Tibetans captured a number of Arab troops and pressed them into service on the eastern frontier in 801. Tibetans were active as far west as [[Samarkand]] and [[Kabul]].<ref name="Nagra 2021 p. 98">{{cite book | last=Nagra | first=B.J.S. | title=The Truth of Tibet: A Nation the World Lost | publisher=Notion Press | year=2021 | isbn=978-1-64983-961-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DzISEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT98 | access-date=2024-03-11 | page=98}}</ref> Arab forces began to gain the upper hand, and the Tibetan governor of [[Kabul]] submitted to the [[Arabs]] and became a [[Muslim]] about 812 or 815.<ref>Beckwith, Christopher I. The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia. A History of the Struggle for Great Power among Tibetans, Turks, Arabs, and Chinese during the Early Middle Ages, 1987, Princeton: Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|0-691-02469-3}}, p. 14, 48, 50.</ref>

=== Fourteenth century to present ===
Extensive trade with [[Kashmir]], [[Ladakh]], and [[Baltistan]] also brought Muslims to Tibet especially after the adoption or growing presence of Islam in these regions starting from the fourteenth century. The ongoing growth of Muslims continued as an effect of the [[Tibet–Ladakh–Mughal war|Tibetan-Ladakhi treaty of 1684]] in which the Tibetan government allowed trade missions from Ladakh to enter Lhasa every three years.<ref name="Warikoo 2009 p. 4">{{cite book | last=Warikoo | first=K. | title=Himalayan Frontiers of India: Historical, Geo-Political and Strategic Perspectives | publisher=Taylor & Francis | series=Routledge Contemporary South Asia Series | year=2009 | isbn=978-1-134-03294-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w_Z8AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 | access-date=2024-03-11 | page=4}}</ref> Many [[Kashmiris|Kashmiri]] and [[Ladakhis|Ladakhi]] Muslims joined these missions with some settling in Tibet.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://studybuddhism.com/en/advanced-studies/history-culture/buddhism-islam-advanced/history-of-the-muslims-of-tibet|title=History of the Muslims of Tibet|last=Berzin|first=Alexander|website=studybuddhism.com|access-date=22 October 2019}}</ref>

During the reign of the Dalai Lama [[5th Dalai Lama|Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso]] (1617–1682), a permanent Muslim community settled down in Tibet. They were permitted to elect their own council of representatives, settle their group's legal disputes with Islamic law, and some land was donated to them for the construction of a mosque close to [[Lhasa (prefecture-level city)|Lhasa]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Tibet: A History|last=Schaik van|first=Sam|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2011|isbn=9780300194104|location=New Haven|pages=128}}</ref> The community soon adopted aspects of Tibetan culture like dress, diet, and the [[Lhasa Tibetan|Tibetan language]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Sheikh|first=Abdul Ghani|date=1991|title=Tibetan Muslims|journal=The Tibet Journal|volume=16|issue=4|pages=86–89|jstor=43300418}}</ref>

An influx of Kashmiri Muslims in Nepal (originally having trade contacts with their kin in Tibet) fled to Tibet starting from 1769 due to the invasion of the [[Kathmandu Valley]] by [[Prithvi Narayan Shah]]. As early as the seventeenth century, [[Ningxia]] and other northwestern [[Hui people|Hui]] (Chinese Muslims) began to settle in the eastern regions of Tibet (like in [[Amdo]]). They intermarried with the local Tibetans and continued to have extensive trade contacts with other Muslims inside China.<ref name=":0" />

Another recent wave of new Muslim settlers began after the [[Dogras|Dogra]] conquest of Tibet in 1841. Many Kashmiri, Balti and Ladakhi Muslim troops (who were taken as prisoners when fighting against the Dogra army) stayed behind to settle in Tibet. A few Hindu Dogras also settled in Tibet and subsequently converted to Islam.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />

Among the many Hui subgroups, the geographical distribution of the "Tibetan Hui/Tibetan Muslims" is limited to the Tibetan area, and there are two main distribution areas in China – the "Tibetan Hui" in the Karigang area of the present-day Hualong Hui Autonomous County in [[Qinghai Province]], whose original ethnic group was Tibetan, and due to their longstanding close economic dealings with the Hui around them, have been influenced by the Hui in their daily lives, which has led to their cultural integration of Hui religious beliefs and their conversion to Islam, and have been recognized as "Tibetan Muslims" and "Tibetan Muslims" by the surrounding ethnic groups. The Tibetan Hui in [[Lhasa (prefecture-level city)|Lhasa]] (unlike other Tibetan Muslims living elsewhere) consider themselves to be very different from the Chinese Muslims and sometimes marry with other Tibetans (including Buddhists).<ref>{{Cite book|title=Muslim Chinese: Ethnic Nationalism in the People's Republic|last=Gladney|first=Dru|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1996|isbn=0-674-59497-5|edition=2|location=Cambridge|pages=33, 34, 36}}</ref>

Outside of the Lhasa area, smaller Muslim communities and mosques exist in [[Shigatse]], [[Tsetang]], and [[Chengguan, Chamdo|Chengguan]].<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Ga|first=Zangjia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d4OUNe8ZdrwC|title=Tibetan Religions|publisher=China Intercontinental Press|year=2003|isbn=978-7-5085-0232-8|pages=159|language=en}}</ref> Their forefathers were Hui, and because they have lived in the Tibetan area for a long time, they have borrowed the way of life of the Tibetans, as in the case of the Hui groups in [[Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture]] in [[Yunnan Province]]. They are called "Tibetan Muslims" and "Tibetan Hui" because they have lived and grown up in Tibetan areas for more than a century and have been strongly influenced by Tibetan culture, and their daily life is similar to that of the Tibetans.<ref>{{cite book |last1=张实，李红春编 |title=云南省香格里拉县藏回族群研究 |date=2012 |publisher=北京 |location=知识产权出版社 |isbn=978-7-5130-1197-6 |pages=25–26}}</ref> According to a 2008 research, in recent years there has been a tendency among Tibetans in [[Shangri-La County]] to return to Islam, with the disappearance of spiritual beliefs such as [[Tibetan Buddhism]], [[Dongbaism]], witchcraft, and primitive beliefs, and a more devout belief in Islam.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=李红春 |title=关于云南"藏回"社会文化变迁的思考 |journal=中国藏学 |date=2008 |issue=2 |pages=41–48 |url=http://www.cqvip.com/QK/83473X/200802/27390472.html}}</ref>

== Question of citizenship ==
In 1959, Prime Minister [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] concluded that the Barkor Khache were Indian citizens.{{sfn|Atwill|2018|p=103-104}} The first letter written by the Barkor Khache community in Lhasa was to Tibetan Muslims in [[Kalimpong]] in 1959:{{sfn|Atwill|2018|p=103-104}}
{{Blockquote|text=It is vitally important for us to let you know that the Chinese Government, after the recent trouble in Lhasa, has threateningly asked us about our ancestry. In reply we declared ourselves with cogent evidence as Kashmiris and subjects of India. The Chinese Government is trying its best to subjugate us and make us Chinese Nationals.|author=|title=|source=}}

The Chinese government attempted to coerce the Barkor Khache into accepting Chinese citizenship and giving up their claims to Indian citizenship.{{sfn|Atwill|2018|p=109}} They were initially prevented by China from emigrating to India.{{sfn|Atwill|2018|p=112}} The Chinese authorities harassed them, beat them, subjected them to arbitrarily high taxes and told them to attend "indoctrination meetings".{{sfn|Atwill|2018|p=115}} On 2 September 1960, Chinese leaders announced that the Barkor Khache would be allowed to leave.{{sfn|Atwill|2018|p=116}} The Barkor Khache began leaving later that month to India, via the [[Kingdom of Sikkim]].{{sfn|Atwill|2018|p=118}} Whereas, the [[Hebalin Khache|Wapaling Khaches]] decided to stay in Hebalin.<ref name="f892">{{cite book | last=Powers | first=D.S. | last2=Tagliacozzo | first2=E. | title=Islamic Ecumene: Comparing Muslim Societies | publisher=Cornell University Press | year=2023 | isbn=978-1-5017-7240-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w5e4EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT86 | access-date=2024-05-13 | page=86}}</ref>

== Language ==
[[File:Bilingual (Bo-Kas) Quran.jpg|thumb|<small>A Cover of  Bilingual Tibetan-Koshur Quran</small>]]
The Tibetan Muslims, like Muslims elsewhere in China, are [[Sunni]] and, like other Tibetans, speak a local dialect of [[Tibetic languages|Tibetan]].<ref name="Klieger 2006 p. 204">{{cite book | last=Klieger | first=P.C. | title=Proceedings of the Tenth Seminar of the IATS, 2003. Volume 2: Tibetan Borderlands | publisher=Brill | series=Brill's Tibetan Studies Library | year=2006 | isbn=978-90-474-1145-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qIZSEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA204 | access-date=2024-03-11 | page=204}}</ref> The Balti people of [[Baltistan]], who belong to the [[Shiite]] sect, also use a dialect of Tibetan (locally known as Balti) that is a mixture of other languages,<ref>{{cite book |last1=（日）山口瑞凤等著； |title=国外藏学研究译文集 第6辑 |date=1989 |publisher=西藏人民出版社 |location=拉萨 |isbn=7-223-00313-8 |page=978}}</ref> but is written in the [[Arabic alphabet]], with many loanwords from [[Arabic]], [[Persian language|Persian]], and [[Urdu alphabet|Urdu]], and the Balti people also use both Persian and Urdu.<ref>{{cite book |last1=（巴基斯坦）穆罕默德·尤素夫·侯赛因阿巴迪|title=巴尔蒂斯坦（小西藏）的历史与文化 |date=2011 |publisher=中国藏学出版社 |location=北京 |isbn=978-7-80253-336-3 |page=258}}</ref><ref name="van Driem 2022 p. 850">{{cite book | last=van Driem | first=G. | title=Languages of the Himalayas: Volume 2 | publisher=Brill | series=Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 2 South Asia | year=2022 | isbn=978-90-04-51492-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6tGLEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA850 | access-date=2024-03-11 | page=850}}</ref>

== Culture ==
{{Empty section|date=April 2025}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Islam}}
* [[Islam in China]]
* [[Balti people]], Muslims of Tibetan ancestry that live in Baltistan, Pakistan
* [[Purigpa]], Muslims of Tibetan ancestry that live in Ladakh, India
* [[Religion in Tibet]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* Akasoy, Anna; Burnett, Charles; Yoeli-Tlalim, Ronit. (2016). Islam and Tibet: interactions along the musk routes. Routledge, 2016. {{ISBN|978-1-138-24704-8}}.
* Atwill, David G. "Boundaries of Belonging: Sino-Indian Relations and the 1960 Tibetan Muslim Incident." ''The Journal of Asian Studies'' 75, no. 03 (August 2016): 595–620, {{doi|10.1017/S0021911816000553}}.
*{{Citation|last=Atwill|first=David G.|year=2018|title=Islamic Shangri-La: Inter-Asian Relations and Lhasa's Muslim Communities, 1600 to 1960|edition=1|publisher=[[University of California Press]]}}
* Sheikh, Abdul Ghani. (1991). "Tibetan Muslims." ''The Tibet Journal''. Vol. XVI, No. 4. Winter, 1991, pp.&nbsp;86–89.
* Siddiqui, Ataullah. (1991). "Muslims of Tibet." ''The Tibet Journal''. Vol. XVI, No. 4. Winter, 1991, pp.&nbsp;71–85.
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Common}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050205182410/http://tibet.com/Muslim/index.html Tibetan Muslims]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060219114031/http://www.fonsvitae.com/tibetbook.html 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]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050317150126/http://www.fonsvitae.com/tibetvideo.html Islam in Tibet 'The Ornaments of Llasa' Video – Fons Vitae books]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050310053759/http://www.informatik.uni-freiburg.de/%7Edanlee/photo-albums/tb-photos/ Gallery of Tibet (Includes picture of a Minaret)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040808140638/http://liquidcycles.com/albums/tibet/muslim_quarter_in_lhasa.jpg Mosque in Lhasa]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061205222504/http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/islamtibet/indexit.htm Islam and Tibet: cultural interactions, 8th to 17th centuries]
* [http://www.eurasiareview.com/20122012-exploring-ethnicities-a-sociological-profile-of-tibetan-muslim-community-on-kashmir-valley-analysis/ Exploring Ethnicities: A Sociological Profile Of Tibetan Muslim Community In Kashmir Valley – Analysis]
* [http://www.tibet.ca/en/library/wtn/12956 A minority within a minority: Nepal's Tibetan Muslims mark Ramadan]

{{Clear}}
{{Tibet topics}}

[[Category:Tibetan people]]
[[Category:Muslim communities of China]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in China]]
[[Category:Religion in Tibet]]
[[Category:Indian diaspora by country]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Tibet]]
[[Category:Religious faiths, traditions, and movements]]