Unfamiliar Middle Ground: Tibetan Economy and Qing China’s Altered View of the Trans-Himalayan Borderland in the Late 18th Century

This paper explores Qing China (1644–1912)’s altered understanding of the role of borderland economy in the security of the empire’s trans-Himalayan border in the late eighteenth century. The Qing-Gurkha War (i.e., the Sino-Nepalese War, 1788–1793), a trans-regional event that brought the Qing army on an expedition beyond the Himalayas in revenge for the Gurkha invasion of Tibet, posed an intense challenge to the empire’s insubstantial body of knowledge on Tibet and the trans-Himalayan borderland. During the Qing investigation on the reason behind the invasion and preparation for the campaign, Tibet’s currency and external commercial relationship with the subcontinent emerged as prominent not only as the root of the Tibet-Gurkha conflict but also as threats to the campaign, the economic security of Tibet, and further the Qing empire’s border security. A large survey, focusing on Nepalese merchants, was then conducted throughout Tibet with the help of local Tibetan authorities to determine the unknown size, location and activities of foreign population, and whether there was political association with the Gurkhas. While cross-border trade and travel were banned during the war, Qing officials devised multiple ways to use cross-border merchants’ knowledge on geography and politics of the region to the Qing’s advantage. In the aftermath, Qing China reformed its Tibet policy to include stringent regulations on cross-border trade and travel and established a new mint in Tibet, which produced a Qing coin for exclusive use in Tibet to replace the previously dominant Nepalese coin. Altogether the new policy was intended to weaken Tibet’s trans-Himalayan connections and impose a stronger Qing sovereignty. By examining these processes of learning, adapting, and reforming, the paper hopes to shed light on not only China but how early modern empires formed a body of knowledge on borderland economy and penetrated state power into it through warfare.