Customer Reviews

Islam in Tibet: Including Islam in the Tibetan Cultural Sphere; Buddhist and Islamic Viewpoints of Ultimate Reality; and The Illustrated Narrative: Tibetan Caravans

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The title of this book is deceptive. It comes off as a heavy academic treatment of the historical presence of Islam in Tibet, which is presented in a couple of short opening essays. They are good essays, sufficiently anecdotal and eye-opening, dismissing the popular notion of Tibetan culture as homogenous. They concentrate on the early acceptance and even promotion of Islam in Tibet, a testimony to the religious tolerance espoused by Tibetan Buddhism.

All this is, however, just window dressing. The segment that gets last billing in the title, "The Illustrated Narrative, Tibetan Caravans," is in essence the entire book. It's a lively first hand account of the last caravans to travel over the Himalayas, from Leh, the capital of the primarily Buddhist area of Ladakh in NW India, to Lhasa. It's a great historical adventure tale, expanded from the memoirs of the last old man to lead the excursion across the Himalayas (actually the grandfather of a friend of mine, which is how the book found its way to me). One purpose of this caravan was to take tribute to the Dalai Lama, which was somewhat problematic since the route was operated primarily by Moslems. The caravan, three months on the road to Lhasa, was the only contact with the outside world that many of the small villages on the route had. Then, three months in Lhasa before the return trip home. On the way they encounter bandits, war lords, hospitable villages, disease, hardship, and joy. It is revealing because it shows not only the positive aspects of Tibetan society that are exalted through the culture in exile, but its warts as well. If you want an entertaining, realistic historical account of life in the Himalayas, this is a good read.