ABSTRACT
While the political status of Tibet during the Tang dynasty is unambiguous from the points of view of both the parties, the next phase of Sino-Tibetan relations during the Song dynasty seems not so clear. Communist historians claim that Amdo and the greater part of Kham (Eastern Tibet) were made part of China during the Song dynasty.l To the Tibetan historians, both lama and lay, it was "a dark kingless" period (sil-bur gyur-ba) when the centralized power and authority of the btsan rulers disintegrated into warring feudal principalities, and the question of Sino-Tibetan relations during this period does not arise. One way to approach this period might be to focus our discussion on mainstream developments in China and Tibet respectively during the period(s), as well as on the main thrust of the Song Dynasty's foreign policy. The political and historical status of Tibet should emerge out of these larger developments.
