page_title: Tsarong
section_title: International diplomacy and ideologies of modernisation (1914–1932)
hierarchical_section_title: Tsarong / International diplomacy and ideologies of modernisation (1914–1932)
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Tibetexpedition, Gruppenbild mit Ministern Lhasa, Expedition mit den tibetischen Ministern [Von links nach rechts: (stehend) Wienert, Schäfer, Beger, k. A., Geer, Krause; (sitzend) Tsarong Dzasa, Rest k. A.] Abgebildete Personen: Beger, Bruno Dr.: SS-Hauptsturmführer, Abteilungsleiter Sven-Hedin-Institut, Deutschland (GND 128720654) Schäfer, Ernst Dr.: SS-Sturmbannführer, Leiter des Sven-Hedin-Institutes, Deutschland (GND 123991420) Krause, Ernst: Mitarbeiter im Sven-Hedin-Institut, Deutschland Information added by Wikimedia users.中文: 從左到右:(站）卡爾·威內特，恩斯特·舍費爾， 布魯諾·貝格爾，?，埃德蒙·格爾，恩斯特·克勞思;（坐）擦絨·達桑占堆，?
context_page_description: Tsarong Dazang Dramdul commonly known simply as Tsarong or by his title Tsarong Dzasa, was a Commander General of Tibet, a Tibetan diplomat, economist, civil engineer and close aide of the 13th Dalai Lama. He was an important figure in the early twentieth century conflict with the Chinese and was active in protecting Tibet militarily as the Commander in Chief of Tibet. Eager to accelerate economic progression and pursue the modernisation of Tibet, Tsarong believed that the old order in Tibet had to be broken by hierarchical reforms to prepare the way for a more modern society which would be compatible with the outside world. In his efforts to build up Tibet's defense systems and relations with European powers as well as to facilitate trade and strengthen the Tibetan currency, he made a series of diplomatic visits to British India.
context_section_description: In September 1915 Tsarong visited Sikkim on diplomatic purposes and visited India again on a pilgrimage in 1924.  Following the declaration of Tibetan Independence and victory, Tsarong became a leading figure in Tibet in the 1910s and the decades that followed, and was entrusted with a significant amount of responsibility for the running of Tibet.  His status was something unique in Tibet, growing to possess military, political and economic power. In conjunction he was not only the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, but became Senior Cabinet Minister and later Head of the Tibetan Mint and Armoury after 1933.
  Tsarong gained practical and theoretical experiences by visiting neighboring countries and educating himself about their national policies and strategies.  He learned that for a state to be successful, there must be not only a great value placed on internal domestic unity and prosperity, but the country must exert a strong military presence and engage in active diplomacy with foreign nations to affect the balance of international power in favour of Tibet. This strong military force in Tsarong's ideology must also exert power over those within the country, driving out the threats from internal disunity and taking away local and class privileges in favor of a centralised military-based elite, a modern Tibetan state.  However, although Tsarong was very popular with many ordinary Tibetans throughout Tibet, Tsarong's revolutionary ideas of modernisation and a dramatic restructure of local aristocrats and estates made him strongly disliked by many of the aristocracy or authoritative monks in Tibet who viewed him as a serious threat to their historical privileges and order.
  In the 1920s the aristocrats in Tibet plotted for his downfall and utilised the opportunity to do so while he was on leave in India in 1924. On his return from India in 1925, Tsarong was deprived of his Commander-in-Chief title and was subsequently demoted out of the Kashag.  Despite this he remained a powerful figure and notably had strong support from the monks of one of Tibets important monasteries, Drepung who he had aided during a fracas in 1929. 
  Tsarong would continue to make visits back and forth to Sikkim throughout the rest of life, making a memorable trip to Gangtok in 1940 in which he met with the Maharaja of Sikkim, which has been captured in photographs.
caption: Tsarong (front left) pictured with other Tibetan officials and the German expedition to Tibet in 1938.
exif: {}