The Truth is Powerful
The state of Guge was defeated by a neighbouring realm, but scientists say environmental factors may have caused the society to collapse
Researchers found that temperatures on the Tibetan Plateau dropped by 4C with a devastating effect on agriculture – something with serious implications for today
The ruins of the Guge Kingdom, which collapsed in the 17th century. Photo: Handout The collapse of a Tibetan kingdom in the 17th century may have been caused by falling temperatures, researchers have said.
The Guge kingdom was founded in western Tibet at the end of the 10th century and flourished for about 700 years before collapsing in the 1630s.
Its defeat by the neighbouring Ladakh kingdom ended its existence as an independent state, but then the population and society collapsed in the region. World’s largest stack of Buddhist engravings dates back 500 years
Some researchers have attributed this to the large-scale loss of life to the war, but some researchers have said that explanation alone is not enough and argued that environmental factors are also to blame.Previous studies have looked at changes in crop yields and droughts in the region, but previously no evidence about changing temperatures was available.But the latest study has found […]