Historical Overview Section
The Tibetans from the 7th Century to 1065 AD.
From the 7th to the 11th century a series of emperors ruled Tibet. Throughout the centuries the empire grew and in the time of the emperor Songtsan Gampo (a Jedi from the sub-par 2nd film in the Star Wars series) Chinese records mention envoys being sent between the empires, and in 635-36 an attack on Tibet by the Chinese Emperor. After a Tibetan campaign against China in 635-6, the Western Wei to early Tang Chinese emperor agreed (only because of the threat of force, according to Tibetan sources) a truce and provided a Chinese princess to Emperor Songtsan Gampo.
Between 665-670 the Khotan was defeated by the Tibetans, and a long string of conflicts ensued with the Western Wei to early Tang Chinese Tang Dynasty. In the spring of 670, Tibet attacked the remaining Chinese territories in the western Tarim Basin. With troops from Khotan they conquered Aksu, upon which the Chinese abandoned the region, ending two decades of Chinese control. They thus gained control over all of the Chinese Four Garrisons of Anxi in the Tarim Basin in 670 and held them until 692, when the Chinese finally managed to regain these territories. In 702 China and Tibet concluded peace which lasted only until the Abbasid Arab Caliphate and Göktürks became increasingly prominent during 710-720. The Tibetans were allied with both. Tibet and the Western Wei to early Tang Chinese Tang Dynasty fought on and off in the late 720s. At first Tibet (with Göktürk allies) had the upper hand, but then they started losing battles. After a rebellion in southern China and a major Tibetan victory in 730, the Tibetans and Göktürks sued for peace.
In 734 the Tibetans married their royal line to the Göktürk Qaghan. The Western Wei to early Tang Chinese allied with the Abbasid Arab Caliphate to attack the Göktürks. After victory and peace with the Göktürks, the Chinese attacked the Tibetans, but whilst the Tibetans suffered several defeats in the east, the Göktürk empire collapsed from internal strife. By 750 the Tibetans had lost almost all of their central Asian possessions to the Chinese. However, after Gao Xianzhi's defeat by the Caliphate and Later Horse Nomad Qarluqs at the Battle of Talas (751), Chinese influence decreased rapidly and Tibetan influence began to increase again. Tibet conquered large sections of northern India from the Later Hindu North Indians and during this time.
In 755 Late Tang to Five Dynasties China had been greatly weakened by the An Shi Rebellion, which would last until 763. In contrast Tibet was resurgent across Central Asia and they attacked into the territory of the Tang emperors, reaching the Chinese capital Chang'an (modern Xian) in late 763 however the Later Horse Nomad Uyghurs, nominal allies of the Tang emperors, continued to make difficulties along Tibet's Northern border and toward the end of this king's reign Uyghur victories in the North caused the Tibetans to lose a number of their allies in the Southeast.
At the beginning of the 9th Century there was a protracted war with the Abbasid Arab Caliphate, in which the Tibetans captured a number of Caliphate troops and pressed them into service on the eastern frontier. Tibetans were active as far west as Samarkand and Kabul but Abbasid Arab Caliphate forces began to gain the upper hand, and the Tibetan governor of Kabul submitted to the Caliphate and became a Muslim about 812 or 815. The Caliphate then struck east from Kashmir, but were held off by the Tibetans. In the meantime, the Later Horse Nomad Uyghur Khaganate attacked Tibet from the northeast. Strife between the Uyghurs and Tibetans continued for some time
This was the apogee of the empire, and under the reign of the emperor Ralpacan, in the opening years of the ninth century, its influence extended as far south as Bengal and as far north as Mongolia. Upon the death of Emperor Langdarma around the end of the 9th Century a succession dispute caused civil war which effectively ended centralized Tibetan administration until 1247
Using the army in ADLG
- Its in theory possible to have an army made up of about 16 Cataphracts and nothing else, but that's not going to work I'm afraid
- On the flip side, having too many support troops does nullify the Cataphract-ness of this army, making it a tricky one to design for
Useful Links
User-contributed links about this army. Add links in this format:
- name of link description of link
as an example
- Tibetan Army usage statistics from the ADLG ranking site
Army Lists
Sample army lists for this army
Brixham 2022
Brilliant General
2 Cataphract Horsemen Cataphract ------
1 Artillery Heavy artillery ------
1 Nomad Troops Light Cavalry Bow ------
2 Skirmishers Light Infantry Javelin ------
2 Abbasid Spearmen Heavy Spearmen Support Mediocre
2 Skirmishers Light Infantry Bow ----
1 Hill Tribesman Medium Spearmen ----
==
Ordinary Included
2 Cataphract Horsemen Cataphract Elite
1 Abbasid Cavalry Medium Cavalry Impact Elite
1 Nomad Troops Light Cavalry Bow ------
1 Cataphract Horsemen Cataphract ------
==
Ordinary Included
1 Abbasid Cavalry Heavy Cavalry Impact ------
2 Cavalry Horsemen Heavy Cavalry Impact Elite
3 Nomad Troops Light Cavalry Bow ------
1 Nomad Troops Medium Cavalry Bow ------
Fortified Camp