Born in 1931, the 8th Khamtrul Rinpoche was still quite young when the Battle of Chamdo began in October 1950. He remained in Tibet through the resistance movement in Kham and Amdo in June 1956, but when this was crushed, with serious ramifications for the citizens – including the monks and nuns – he realised he had to leave. In 1958 he left for India with a group of 16 monks and tulkus. The 14th Dalai Lama would leave Tibet soon after following the failure of the 1959 Tibetan uprising.