Kingdom of Chakla


Kingdom of Chakla or Chala was a kingdom in the Tibetan region of Kham.
It was located in the eponymous Chakla region, near the historical border between Tibet and China. By the late 1200s, it had been founded around the city of Dartsedo, now known as Kangding. Due to its position, the town formed a trading centre for merchants from Tibet and China, who traded goods such as tea, traditional medicines, horses, and paper; for this reason the Ganden Phodrang government established a taxation regime in the kingdom, headed by a commissioner. The local kings resented the taxation coming from Lhasa, resulting in a rebellion in 1666, backed up by Chakla allying with the emerging Qing dynasty. Ganden Phodrang forces invaded five years later, followed by the murder of the king of Chakla by the commissioner in 1699. However, a year later, the commissioner was killed himself by Qing forces, who reorganised their Tibetan provinces in 1725, removing Chakla from Ganden Phodrang rule.
Kingdom of Chakla was annexed by Qing dynasty in 1911; Zhao Erfeng forced the king to abdicate. However, ruler of Chakla had high prestige in Xikang, Beiyang government had to allow them to restore. Finally, the kingdom was annexed in 1950.
Bathang, Lithang, Chakla and Derge were called "Four Great Native Chiefdom in Kham" by Chinese.