Survey of the Tibetan Muslims
Before 1959, there were approximately 3,000 Tibetan Muslims living in Central Tibet. They were the descendents of Muslim merchants who came to Tibet from Kashmir, Ladakh, Nepal, and China, mostly between the 14th and 17th centuries, married Tibetan women, and settled there. They spoke Tibetan and followed most Tibetan customs. They had four mosques in Lhasa, two in Shigatse, and one on Tsetang, built in Tibetan style architecture. Further, they had two Islamic schools in Lhasa and one in Shigatse for studying the Quran and Urdu. In Indian exile as well, the Muslim and Buddhist Tibetan communities live in harmony, with religious tolerance.