Editing Dalai Lama (section)

=== 13th Dalai Lama ===
{{Main|13th Dalai Lama}}
[[File:Throne awaiting Dalai Lama's return. Summer residence Nechung. 1993.JPG|upright|thumb|Throne awaiting Dalai Lama's return. Summer residence of 14th Dalai Lama, [[Nechung]], Tibet.]]

In 1877, request to exempt Lobu Zangtab Kaijia Mucuo ({{lang-zh|罗布藏塔布开甲木措}}) from using lot-drawing process [[Golden Urn]] to become the [[13th Dalai Lama]] was approved by the Central Government.<ref name="Guangxu 1877">{{citation |script-title=zh:光绪三年（一八七七年），由八世班禅丹白旺秀和摄政王公德林呼图克图、三大寺和扎什伦布寺的全体僧俗官员，联名要求驻藏大臣转奏朝廷，以只选定了一名灵童，且经各方公认，请免予金瓶制签。当年三月，光绪帝谕旨:"贡噶仁钦之子罗布藏塔布开甲木措，即作为达赖喇嘛之呼毕勒罕，毋庸制签，钦此。" |trans-title=In the third year of Guangxu (1877), the eighth Panchen Lama Danbai Wangxiu and the regent Delin Hutuktu, all monks and lay officials from the Three Great Temples and Tashilhunpo Monastery jointly asked the Minister in Tibet to transfer to the court. Since only one soul boy has been selected, and it has been recognized by all parties, please be exempt from signing the golden bottle. In March of that year, Emperor Guangxu issued a decree: "Lob Zangtab, son of Gongga Rinqin, opened Jiamucuo, that is, as the call of the Dalai Lama, Bielehan, there is no need to make a lottery."}}</ref> The [[13th Dalai Lama]] assumed ruling power from the monasteries, which previously had great influence on the Regent, in 1895. Due to his two periods of exile in 1904–1909 to escape the British invasion of 1904, and from 1910–1912 to escape a Chinese invasion, he became well aware of the complexities of international politics and was the first Dalai Lama to become aware of the importance of foreign relations. After his return from exile in India and [[Sikkim]] during January 1913, he assumed control of foreign relations and dealt directly with the [[Maharaja]], with the British Political officer in Sikkim and with the king of [[Nepal]] – rather than letting the Kashag or parliament do it.{{sfn|Sheel|1989|pp=24, 29}}

The Great Thirteenth Thubten Gyatso then published the Tibetan Declaration of Independence for the entirety of Tibet in 1913.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.darjeeling-unlimited.com/declaration.html|title=Darjeeling Unlimited :: Tibetan Declaration of Independence|access-date=24 March 2022|archive-date=26 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026171012/http://www.darjeeling-unlimited.com/declaration.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Tibet's independence was never recognized by the Chinese (who claimed all land ever administered by the Manchus) but was recognized by the Kingdom of Nepal, who would use Tibet as one of its first references regarding its independent status when submitting an application to join the UN in 1949.<ref>{{citation|url=https://sites.google.com/site/legalmaterialsontibet/home/nepal-un-app|title=Nepal UN App - Legal Materials on Tibet|access-date=24 March 2022|archive-date=9 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509122054/https://sites.google.com/site/legalmaterialsontibet/home/nepal-un-app|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=August 2024}} According to a Tibetan website, Nepal listed Tibet as a country just as independent and sovereign, with no mention of Chinese 'suzerainty'. Its relations with Tibet were apparently second in significance only to its relations with Britain, and even more significant than its relations with the USA or even India.<ref>{{citation|url=https://bodrigpunda.org/the-forgotten-history-of-tibets-role-in-nepals-1949-un-application/|title=The Forgotten History of Tibet's Role in Nepal's 1949 UN Application &#124; Bodrigpunda Association|date=4 September 2013 |access-date=24 March 2022|archive-date=10 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410220253/https://bodrigpunda.org/the-forgotten-history-of-tibets-role-in-nepals-1949-un-application/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Third-party inline|date=August 2024|reason=An editorial from a Tibetan newspaper is not RS.}} Nepal established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in 1955 and recognized Tibet as a part of China.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nepal's Cautious Approach to the Tibetan Question |url=https://thediplomat.com/2021/07/nepals-cautious-approach-to-the-tibetan-question/ |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=thediplomat.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

Furthermore, Tibet and Mongolia both signed the [[Treaty of friendship and alliance between the Government of Mongolia and Tibet]]. Neither countries' independence statuses were ever recognized by the KMT government in China, who would continue to completely claim both as Chinese territory. He expelled the [[amban]]s and all Chinese civilians in the country and instituted many measures to modernize Tibet. These included provisions to curb excessive demands on peasants for provisions by the monasteries and tax evasion by the nobles, setting up an independent police force, the abolition of the death penalty, extension of secular education, and the provision of electricity throughout the city of Lhasa in the 1920s.{{sfn|Norbu|Turnbull|1968|pp=317–318}} He died in 1933.