Treaty of friendship and alliance between the Government of Mongolia and Tibet
January 07, 2023
A Treaty of friendship and alliance between the Government of Mongolia and Tibet was signed on 11 January 1913[1] (corresponding to 29 December 1912 of the Julian calendar), at Urga (now Ulaanbaatar).
The treaty written in Tibetan, with official seals.
There have been questions about the authority of a Tibetan negotiator, Dorjiev, to conclude such a treaty, being he was both a Russian citizen and ethnically Tibetan.[4]
During the Xinhai Revolution against the Qing dynasty, both Tibet and Outer Mongolia declared their formal independence from China under theocratic heads of states, and both had had no success in gaining official recognition from the Republic of China. In the treaty signed on 11 January 1913, Mongolia and Tibet declared mutual recognition and allegiance. Both sides declared mutual relationships based on the "Yellow religion" (Gelug sect of Buddhism), obliged to provide aid each other against "internal and external enemies", declared free trade etc.(see [5] for facsimile of Mongolian and Tibetan originals and for comments to text). The Mongolian representatives signing the treaty were foreign minister Da Lama Ravdan and commander-in-chief Manlaibaatar Damdinsüren. The Tibetan representatives who signed this document were Dalai Lama's representative Agvan Dorjiev, a Buryat, i.e. subject of Russia, and Tibetan officials in Mongolia: Ngawang Choizin, Yeshe Gyatso and Gendun Kalsang. There existed some doubts to the validity of this treaty: the 13th Dalai Lama denied that he had authorized Dorjiev to negotiate political issues. It was supposed more important that neither the cleric nor the Tibetan government appeared to have ever ratified the treaty.[6] Nevertheless, such ratification in that time monarchic Mongolia and Tibet was not necessary.[5]
The Russian government maintained that, as a Russian subject, Dorjiev could not possibly act in a diplomatic capacity on behalf of the Dalai Lama.[7] Nevertheless, before signing the treaty, Dorjiev met in Mongolia I. Ya. Korostovets, Russian plenipotentiary in Urga, and told him that Tibet wants to come in treaties with Mongolia and Russia. Korostovets, having mentioned that "Khlakha (Outer Mongolia) had just declared its independence, recognized by Russia", had no objections against conclusion of treaty between Mongolia and Tibet, but he was against a treaty of Tibet with Russia [8]
There are data that the treaty signed by Russia with Mongolia in 1912 (i.e. before signing the treaty with Tibet) meant international recognition of Mongolia as a state which was not required a sanction from a third side; as a result, the treaty between Tibet and Mongolia is considered as de jure recognition of Tibet as a state.[5]
In any case, the independence of both Tibet and Mongolia continued being unrecognized in international law although Russia and the United Kingdom continued to recognize at least the suzerainty of the Republic of China over these areas.[10] Russia and the UK were more comfortable with formally recognizing China's suzerainty and keeping an ambivalent position towards Mongolia and Tibet's independence. In addition, there was also a concern among Russia and UK that recognizing Tibetan or Mongolian independence would allow those areas to come under the other power's influence, respectively, a situation which all concerned believed to be worse than a situation in which those areas were nominally under the control of a weak China.
Aftermath
News of the treaty aroused considerable suspicion amongst the British negotiators at the Simla Convention, who feared that Russia might use the treaty to gain influence on Tibetan matters.[6] While China ultimately did not sign the Simla Convention,[11][12] a similar treaty, the tripartite Treaty of Kyakhta, was signed by Mongolia, the Republic of China and Russia on 25 May 1915.[13] The agreement affirmed Mongolia's complete autonomy in internal matters and Russian privileges in Mongolia, and at the same time formally recognized China's suzerainty over the country.[14]
^Udo B. Barkmann, Geschichte der Mongolei, Bonn 1999, p.119-122,380f
^Udo B. Barkmann, Geschichte der Mongolei, Bonn 1999, p. 380f
^Phurbu Thinley (2008-11-12). "Tibet - Mongolia Treaty of 1913, a proof of Tibet's independence: Interview with Prof. Elliot Sperling". Phayul.com. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
^Smith, Warren, "Tibetan Nation", p186:"The validity is often questioned, mainly on grounds of the authority of Dorjiev to negotiate on behalf of Tibet...the fact that Dorjief was a Russian citizen while ethnically Tibetan somewhat compromises his role; the treaty had some advantages to Russia in that it could be interpreted as extending Russia's protectorate over Mongolia to encompass Tibet."
^ abcKuzmin, S.L. The Treaty of 1913 between Mongolia and Tibet: new data. - Oriens (Moscow, Russian Academy of Sciences), no 4, 2011, pp. 122—128
^ abBell, Charles, Tibet Past and Present, 1924, pp 150f, 228f, 304f.
^[Korostovets, I.Ya. Девять месяцев в Монголии. Дневник русского уполномоченного в Монголии. Август 1912 — май 1913 гг. (Nine months in Mongolia. A diary of Russian plenipotentiary in Mongolia. August 1912 - May 1913.) Ulaanbaatar, Admon publisher, 2011, p. 198]
^Dalai Lama, My Land and My People, New York, 1962, "In 1913 the Tibetan Government entered into a treaty with the Government of Mongolia. This entreaty was entered into under the authority of the Dalai Lama. By this treaty Tibet and Mongolia declare that they recognized each other as independent countries"
^The Chinese government initialed but refused to ratify the Agreement. See Goldstein, Melvyn C., A History of Modern Tibet, p75 for details
^Mongolia - Modern Mongolia, 1911-84, Country Studies US
^Treaty text quoted from B. L. Putnam Weale, The Fight For The Republic In China
External links
English translation of the Treaty from Tibetan
Further reading
Mehra, Parshotam (1969). "The Mongol–Tibetan Treaty of January 11, 1913". Journal of Asian History. 3 (1): 1–22.
Miele, Matteo (2015). "A geopolitical reading of the 1913 Treaty between Tibet and Mongolia". Tibetan Review. XLVIII (1–02): 14–16.
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
With the Russians in Mongolia/Mongol-Tibetan Treaty
January 07, 2023
treaty, friendship, alliance, between, government, mongolia, tibet, signed, january, 1913, corresponding, december, 1912, julian, calendar, urga, ulaanbaatar, treaty, written, tibetan, with, official, seals, this, treaty, text, mongolian, published, mongolian,. A Treaty of friendship and alliance between the Government of Mongolia and Tibet was signed on 11 January 1913 1 corresponding to 29 December 1912 of the Julian calendar at Urga now Ulaanbaatar The treaty written in Tibetan with official seals This treaty s text in Mongolian was published by the Mongolian Academy of Sciences in 1982 2 and in 2007 an original copy in Tibetan language and script surfaced from Mongolian archives 3 Treaty of friendship and alliance between the Government of Mongolia and TibetChinese nameTraditional Chinese蒙藏條約Simplified Chinese蒙藏条约TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinMeng Zang TiaoyueTibetan nameTibetanབ ད ས ག ཆ ངས ཡ ག Mongolian nameMongolian CyrillicMongol Tovodijn geree Mongol Tovodiin geree ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ ᠲᠥᠪᠡᠳ ᠦᠨ ᠭᠡᠷ ᠡThere have been questions about the authority of a Tibetan negotiator Dorjiev to conclude such a treaty being he was both a Russian citizen and ethnically Tibetan 4 Contents 1 Treaty s signing and validity 2 Aftermath 3 See also 4 References 5 External links 6 Further readingTreaty s signing and validity EditDuring the Xinhai Revolution against the Qing dynasty both Tibet and Outer Mongolia declared their formal independence from China under theocratic heads of states and both had had no success in gaining official recognition from the Republic of China In the treaty signed on 11 January 1913 Mongolia and Tibet declared mutual recognition and allegiance Both sides declared mutual relationships based on the Yellow religion Gelug sect of Buddhism obliged to provide aid each other against internal and external enemies declared free trade etc see 5 for facsimile of Mongolian and Tibetan originals and for comments to text The Mongolian representatives signing the treaty were foreign minister Da Lama Ravdan and commander in chief Manlaibaatar Damdinsuren The Tibetan representatives who signed this document were Dalai Lama s representative Agvan Dorjiev a Buryat i e subject of Russia and Tibetan officials in Mongolia Ngawang Choizin Yeshe Gyatso and Gendun Kalsang There existed some doubts to the validity of this treaty the 13th Dalai Lama denied that he had authorized Dorjiev to negotiate political issues It was supposed more important that neither the cleric nor the Tibetan government appeared to have ever ratified the treaty 6 Nevertheless such ratification in that time monarchic Mongolia and Tibet was not necessary 5 The Russian government maintained that as a Russian subject Dorjiev could not possibly act in a diplomatic capacity on behalf of the Dalai Lama 7 Nevertheless before signing the treaty Dorjiev met in Mongolia I Ya Korostovets Russian plenipotentiary in Urga and told him that Tibet wants to come in treaties with Mongolia and Russia Korostovets having mentioned that Khlakha Outer Mongolia had just declared its independence recognized by Russia had no objections against conclusion of treaty between Mongolia and Tibet but he was against a treaty of Tibet with Russia 8 According to the 14th Dalai Lama this treaty was signed under the reign of the 13th Dalai Lama 9 There are data that the treaty signed by Russia with Mongolia in 1912 i e before signing the treaty with Tibet meant international recognition of Mongolia as a state which was not required a sanction from a third side as a result the treaty between Tibet and Mongolia is considered as de jure recognition of Tibet as a state 5 In any case the independence of both Tibet and Mongolia continued being unrecognized in international law although Russia and the United Kingdom continued to recognize at least the suzerainty of the Republic of China over these areas 10 Russia and the UK were more comfortable with formally recognizing China s suzerainty and keeping an ambivalent position towards Mongolia and Tibet s independence In addition there was also a concern among Russia and UK that recognizing Tibetan or Mongolian independence would allow those areas to come under the other power s influence respectively a situation which all concerned believed to be worse than a situation in which those areas were nominally under the control of a weak China Aftermath EditNews of the treaty aroused considerable suspicion amongst the British negotiators at the Simla Convention who feared that Russia might use the treaty to gain influence on Tibetan matters 6 While China ultimately did not sign the Simla Convention 11 12 a similar treaty the tripartite Treaty of Kyakhta was signed by Mongolia the Republic of China and Russia on 25 May 1915 13 The agreement affirmed Mongolia s complete autonomy in internal matters and Russian privileges in Mongolia and at the same time formally recognized China s suzerainty over the country 14 See also EditHistory of Mongolia History of TibetReferences Edit Udo B Barkmann Geschichte der Mongolei Bonn 1999 p 119 122 380f Udo B Barkmann Geschichte der Mongolei Bonn 1999 p 380f Phurbu Thinley 2008 11 12 Tibet Mongolia Treaty of 1913 a proof of Tibet s independence Interview with Prof Elliot Sperling Phayul com Retrieved 2008 11 13 Smith Warren Tibetan Nation p186 The validity is often questioned mainly on grounds of the authority of Dorjiev to negotiate on behalf of Tibet the fact that Dorjief was a Russian citizen while ethnically Tibetan somewhat compromises his role the treaty had some advantages to Russia in that it could be interpreted as extending Russia s protectorate over Mongolia to encompass Tibet a b c Kuzmin S L The Treaty of 1913 between Mongolia and Tibet new data Oriens Moscow Russian Academy of Sciences no 4 2011 pp 122 128 a b Bell Charles Tibet Past and Present 1924 pp 150f 228f 304f UK Foreign Office Archive FO 371 1608 Korostovets I Ya Devyat mesyacev v Mongolii Dnevnik russkogo upolnomochennogo v Mongolii Avgust 1912 maj 1913 gg Nine months in Mongolia A diary of Russian plenipotentiary in Mongolia August 1912 May 1913 Ulaanbaatar Admon publisher 2011 p 198 Dalai Lama My Land and My People New York 1962 In 1913 the Tibetan Government entered into a treaty with the Government of Mongolia This entreaty was entered into under the authority of the Dalai Lama By this treaty Tibet and Mongolia declare that they recognized each other as independent countries Charles Henry Alexandrowicz The Law of Nations in Global History https books google com books id dQJLDgAAQBAJ amp pg PA208 amp dq tibet mongolia state international law amp hl en amp sa X amp ved 0ahUKEwie7MLQ rnhAhVmq4MKHUflCV0Q6AEIUTAI v onepage amp q tibet 20mongolia 20state 20international 20law amp f false Treaty text of the Simla Convention of 1914 The Chinese government initialed but refused to ratify the Agreement See Goldstein Melvyn C A History of Modern Tibet p75 for details Mongolia Modern Mongolia 1911 84 Country Studies US Treaty text quoted from B L Putnam Weale The Fight For The Republic In ChinaExternal links EditEnglish translation of the Treaty from TibetanFurther reading EditMehra Parshotam 1969 The Mongol Tibetan Treaty of January 11 1913 Journal of Asian History 3 1 1 22 Miele Matteo 2015 A geopolitical reading of the 1913 Treaty between Tibet and Mongolia Tibetan Review XLVIII 1 02 14 16 Wikisource has original text related to this article With the Russians in Mongolia Mongol Tibetan Treaty Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Treaty of friendship and alliance between the Government of Mongolia and Tibet amp oldid 1129150148, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
