The Tibetan Military

I enjoyed the movie 300. It was visually beautiful and told a good story. I studied the classics in college so i wasn't expecting a documentary on the Spartan military, but really anyone anticipating reality from a movie based on a comic book (ok, a graphic novel) probably deserved to be disappointed. On the other hand, i also really enjoyed The War Nerd's caustic appraisal of the movie based on its disregard for historical fact among other flaws. That article also rekindled a fascination I've had for a long time with the warriors of Central Asia (he argues that Mongol scouts would've slaughtered the Spartans), that started when i visited the city of Samarkand as a 19 year-old kid.

I've been reading about Central Asia, and in particular the era when the Silk Road was most important as a trade route, roughly the 7th to 9th centuries A.D. Probably the most interesting surprise for me has been discovering the military might of the Tibetan empire during that time. As a student of Chinese martial arts, i have some association in my mind between Tibet and certain martial systems, but the modern image of Tibet is dominated by the Dalai Lami and Chinese occupation of Tibet. However, during that time control of the Silk Road was hotly contested by the Tibetan and Chinese armies, with Tibet essentially blocking the western portion of the trade route in the latter part of the 8th century.

I haven't read anything yet to indicate that the Tibetan warriors were known for any special martial skill, but the Tibetan infantry was apparently well armed, well armored, and known for fierceness. They wore chain mail and carried swords and daggers. They had cavalry, mostly archers who sometimes used poison-tipped arrows, but weren't renowned for equestrian skills like later warriors of the steppes. The Tibetan army was also a massive force, military service being compulsory for Tibetan males.

There's no definitive Tibetan military victory, although it seems that they benefited from the loss of the Chinese Tang Dynasty at the Battle of Talas. Susan Whitfield's book Life Along the Silk Road describes a fairly spectacular battle for the so-called Iron Blade fortress with the Chinese. Although the Chinese ultimately prevailed and took the fortress, the Tibetans inflicted large losses. Not exactly Thermopylae in terms of legendary last stands, but it definitely makes me consider Tibet in a different light.