Tibetan Uprising Erupts in Lhasa: Struggle for Autonomy Intensifies

Rebels in Lhasa launched an armed uprising against Chinese control on March 10, 1959, after rumors spread that the Chinese military planned to abduct the 14th Dalai Lama. Tens of thousands of Tibetans surrounded the Norbulingka Palace to prevent his departure. The People's Liberation Army responded with artillery fire that killed thousands of civilians. The Dalai Lama escaped disguised as a soldier and made a harrowing two-week journey over the Himalayas to India, where he established a government-in-exile in Dharamshala. The Chinese crushed the rebellion within weeks, killing an estimated 87,000 Tibetans according to the International Commission of Jurists. China abolished the traditional Tibetan government, dismantled monasteries, and redistributed land. The uprising split Tibetan consciousness permanently: exiles commemorate March 10 as Uprising Day, while the Chinese government designated March 28 as Serfs Emancipation Day, celebrating the liberation of Tibetans from theocratic feudalism.