A comprehensive overview of the history of Buddhism in Afghanistan from shortly after the time of the Buddha up until the end of the Mongol period in the 14th century.

Buddhism flourished along the Silk Route in East Turkistan (present-day Xinjiang in the People’s Republic of China) from the 1st century BCE until the 14th century CE and is present even today among the Kalmyk Mongols in the north of the province.

Overview of the three waves of Buddhism reaching Mongolia from Central Asia and then Tibet, the subsequent exploitation of Buddhism by the Manchus, its suppression under the communist regime and the initial efforts at its revival.

Buddhism spread to West Turkistan (the present-day former Soviet Islamic republics of Central Asia) in the 1st century BCE and was present there, at various times, until the mid-18th century.

Dzogchen is found earliest in the Nyingma and Bon traditions and later incorporated into some of the Kagyu traditions. Learn about its historical development in Tibet from the 8th century to the present.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the Eighth Dalai Lama sent Gyelse Dorjechang from his own Namgyal Monastery to establish the main Kalachakra Monastery of Mongolia, Dechen Kalawa. Kalachakra practice was spread throughout Mongolia by the Fourth and Fifth Bogdo Gegens.

A survey of the political interaction of Buddhist and Bon factions in Tibet from the earliest time to the 11th-century revival of Buddhism.

An overview of the history of the Hui, who are unique among the 56 officially recognized nationalities of China in that religion (Islam) is their only unifying category of identity. They have no common unique national tongue, have had much intermarriage with Han Chinese, and...

The Mulasarvastivada bhikshu ordination was established in Tibet on three occasions. It was never possible, however, for the Mulasarvastivada bhikshuni ordination lineage to be transmitted to Tibet.

Before 1959, Tibetan Muslims living in Central Tibet were the descendents of Muslim merchants who spoke Tibetan and followed most Tibetan customs. In Indian exile as well, the Muslim and Buddhist Tibetan communities live in harmony, with religious tolerance.