Early history The first contacts between Tibet and the Islamic world began around the mid-eighth century when it grew out of a combination of trade via the
Silk Road and the military presence of Muslim forces in the
Fergana Valley. Despite the vague knowledge the Islamic world had about Tibet, there were a few early Islamic works that mention Tibet. One such source is from a work authored by
Abu Sa'id Gardezi titled
Zayn al-Akhbar. In it, the work mentions the environment, fantastical origin of the Tibetans (through the Himyarites), the divinity of the king, major resources (like musk) and a description of the trade routes to and from Tibet. Another source, ''
Hudud al-'Alam'' (The Regions of the World) written by an unknown author in 982 or 983 in
Afghanistan, contains mainly geography, politics and brief descriptions of Tibetan regions, cities, towns and other localities. This source has the first direct mention of the presence of Muslims in Tibet by stating that
Lhasa had one mosque and a small Muslim population. During the reign of
Sadnalegs (800–815), there was a protracted war against Arab powers to the West. It appears that Tibetans captured a number of Arab troops and pressed them into service on the eastern frontier in 801. Tibetans were active as far west as
Samarkand and
Kabul. Arab forces began to gain the upper hand, and the Tibetan governor of
Kabul submitted to the
Arabs and became a
Muslim about 812 or 815.
Fourteenth century to present Extensive trade with
Kashmir,
Ladakh, and
Baltistan also brought Muslims to Tibet especially after the adoption or growing presence of Islam in these regions starting from the fourteenth century. The ongoing growth of Muslims continued as an effect of the
Tibetan-Ladakhi treaty of 1684 in which the Tibetan government allowed trade missions from Ladakh to enter Lhasa every three years. Many
Kashmiri and
Ladakhi Muslims joined these missions with some settling in Tibet. During the reign of the Dalai Lama
Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (1617–1682), a permanent Muslim community settled down in Tibet. They were permitted to elect their own council of representatives, settle their group's legal disputes with Islamic law, and some land was donated to them for the construction of a mosque close to
Lhasa. The community soon adopted aspects of Tibetan culture like dress, diet, and the
Tibetan language. An influx of Kashmiri Muslims in Nepal (originally having trade contacts with their kin in Tibet) fled to Tibet starting from 1769 due to the invasion of the
Kathmandu Valley by
Prithvi Narayan Shah. As early as the seventeenth century,
Ningxia and other northwestern
Hui (Chinese Muslims) began to settle in the eastern regions of Tibet (like in
Amdo). They intermarried with the local Tibetans and continued to have extensive trade contacts with other Muslims inside China. Outside of the Lhasa area, smaller Muslim communities and mosques exist in
Shigatse,
Tsetang, and
Chengguan. Their forefathers were Hui, and because they have lived in the Tibetan area for a long time, they have borrowed the way of life of the Tibetans, as in the case of the Hui groups in
Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in
Yunnan Province. They are called "Tibetan Muslims" and "Tibetan Hui" because they have lived and grown up in Tibetan areas for more than a century and have been strongly influenced by Tibetan culture, and their daily life is similar to that of the Tibetans. According to a 2008 research, in recent years there has been a tendency among Tibetans in
Shangri-La County to return to Islam, with the disappearance of spiritual beliefs such as
Tibetan Buddhism,
Dongbaism, witchcraft, and primitive beliefs, and a more devout belief in Islam. == Question of citizenship ==