[3] Once Kuomintang forces were defeated or expelled to Taiwan, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) turned its attention to Chinese territories in the hinterlands, particularly Tibet.

After months of failed negotiations, the PLA invaded the de facto Tibetan state in Chamdo, and the region fell to Chinese occupation in just a few weeks.

The initially peaceful protest was brutally ended by the PLA, and the Dalai Lama fled to India, established the Central Tibetan Administration, and rescinded its acceptance of the Seventeen Point Agreement.

Many feared exile implied marginalization, potentially endangering nationalism and, subsequently, future prospects of reestablishing a Tibetan government in Tibet.

The field of Tibetology was established and refers to the study of all things related to Tibet through an interdisciplinary approach utilizing facets of history, religion, language, culture, and politics.

The Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies was founded in 1967 in Sarnath, India, through a joint initiative by then-Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the Dalai Lama.

The university attracts students from many regions of the Himalayas, considered as family coming from Kinnaur, Lahaul, Spiti, Ladakh, Monpas from Arunachal.