Kingdom of Chakla

Kingdom of Chakla
ལྕགས་ལ་
1407–1950
Chala marked at the southeastern corner of Tibet (red boundary)[a]
Chala marked at the southeastern corner of Tibet (red boundary)[a]
CapitalDartsedo (present day Kangding)
29°59′56″N 101°57′25″E / 29.999°N 101.957°E / 29.999; 101.957
Common languagesrGyalrong languages (including Muya, Zhaba, Choyo)
History 
• Established
1407
• Disestablished
1950
 Succeeded by
China
Today part ofChina

Kingdom of Chakla (Tibetan: ལྕགས་ལ་, Wylie: lcags la, THL: chakla; Chinese: 明正土司; pinyin: Míngzhēng tǔsī) or Chala[1] was a kingdom in the Tibetan region of Kham.

Chakla along with Bathang, Lithang, and Derge were called the "Four Great Native Chiefdoms in Kham" (康區四大土司).[2] During the Qing dynasty it was considered a Tusi under the umbrella of the Qing Empire.[3][4]

The kingdom was located in the eponymous Chakla region, near the historical border between Tibet and China proper. By the late 1200s, it had been founded around the city of Dartsedo, now known as Kangding. Due to its position, the town formed a trading centre for merchants from Tibet and China proper, who traded goods such as tea, traditional medicines, horses, and paper; for this reason the Ganden Phodrang government established a taxation regime in the kingdom, headed by a commissioner. The local kings resented the taxation coming from Lhasa, resulting in a rebellion in 1666, backed up by Chakla allying with the emerging Qing dynasty. Ganden Phodrang forces invaded five years later, followed by the murder of the king of Chakla by the commissioner in 1699. However, a year later, the commissioner was killed himself by Qing forces, who reorganised their Tibetan provinces in 1725, removing Chakla from Ganden Phodrang rule.[5]

The Kingdom of Chakla was annexed by Qing dynasty in 1911; Zhao Erfeng forced the king to abdicate.[6] However, ruler of Chakla had high prestige in Xikang and the Republican Chinese government had to allow them to restore him. Finally, the kingdom was annexed by the People's Republic of China in 1950.[7]


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  1. ^ Lamb, Alastair (1989), Tibet, China & India, 1914-1950: a history of imperial diplomacy, Roxford Books, p. 7, ISBN 978-0-907129-03-5
  2. ^ "清王朝敕封的康区土司". Archived from the original on August 13, 2015.
  3. ^ Li, Jianglin (2022). When the Iron Bird Flies: China's Secret War in Tibet. Stanford University Press. p. 322. ISBN 9781503629790.
  4. ^ Wouters, Jelle (2022). Routledge Handbook of Highland Asia. Taylor & Francis. p. 68. ISBN 9781000598582.
  5. ^ Ronis, Jann (July 13, 2011). "An Overview of the Chakla Kingdom". The Tibetan and Himalayan Library. Archived from the original on 8 December 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  6. ^ "明正土司考略". Archived from the original on 2013-06-01. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
  7. ^ "康区四大土司之明正土司". Archived from the original on 2018-12-24. Retrieved 2018-12-24.