Tibetan Empire · 618-842

The Tibetan Empire on the roof of the world

From the high plateau around Lhasa, Tibetan kings built an empire that rivalled Tang China and fought it for the Silk Road. Students explore how geography, marriage alliances and Buddhism shaped Tibet between 618 and 842.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 800
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

From the high plateau around Lhasa, Tibetan kings built an empire that rivalled Tang China and fought it for the Silk Road. Students explore how geography, marriage alliances and Buddhism shaped Tibet between 618 and 842.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate the Tibetan Empire and describe how its geography shaped it.
  • Explain how Songtsen Gampo and Trisong Detsen built a Tibetan state and brought in Buddhism.
  • Describe the rivalry and the peace between Tibet and Tang China.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 800

The high plateau

Open the map in 800 and find the Tibetan Empire. Most of the plateau lies more than 4,000 m above sea level. Which empires and peoples are its neighbours?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 640

Lhasa and Buddhism

Zoom in on Lhasa. Turn on Spreads > Buddhism and drag the slider from 600 to 700. When does Buddhism reach Lhasa on the map, and under which king?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 800

Fighting for the Silk Road

Turn on Trade Routes and pan north. In 800, which empire holds the Silk Road oases around the Taklamakan Desert? Why would a mountain kingdom want them?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Songtsen Gampo married princesses from Nepal and from Tang China. Why was marriage a tool of foreign policy?
  2. Tibet adopted a script based on an Indian alphabet. Why does a new empire need its own writing?
  3. How could an army from the high plateau fight in the deserts and plains below?
  4. In 821-822 Tibet and the Tang swore a peace treaty and carved it in two languages on stone pillars. Why carve a treaty in stone?
  5. After 842 the empire broke apart, but Tibetan Buddhism later spread to Mongolia. Which lasts longer: empires or ideas?
4

Game round

9 min

Play Rule History as Wu Zetian, whose Tang empire fought the Tibetan Empire for the Silk Road. Let students take turns making her rulings. Then switch view: how would a Tibetan king have answered each decision?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.