Dr. Sonia Shukla (OP Jindal Global University), Amb. Vijay K. Nambiar (Institute of Chinese Studies Delhi)

The Tawang region in Arunachal Pradesh has traditionally been known to draw its linkages from Tibet. Its ethnicity and religious practices are derived directly from Tibet. And until 1951, even the administration of the area was done through the ecclesiastical dispensation headed by the Dalai Lama who ruled Tibet. This is well known and documented. What has remained somewhat covered in a shroud in the history studies of the region are the linkages that Tawang has shared with Bhutan and how it forms a part of the larger Himalayan culture. For those who argue that the region known as Tawang Tract is disputed and that Tibet draws its claim to the region unambiguously, this study of Tawang’s historical linkages to Bhutan attempts to illustrate the cultural connections all along the Himalayas. Tibet had a huge impact on the shared cultures of the region but the issue of territorial rights in the modern sense does not draw directly from those linkages.