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Abstract

Producing silk images and offering silk textiles had been a major means of patronizing Tibetan Buddhism of imperial power from the east. Tibetan Buddhist icons produced in silk technique are popular in the court of Tangut, Yuan, Ming, and Qing empires. However, since eighteenth century, accompanied with the global trade and cultural encounters, more diverse sources of textiles came to Tibetan monasteries. In the list of gifts sent to monasteries from Mongolian nobilities include Russian carpets and Mughal fabrics; Monks’s robes made of European brocades were sent to Tibet from the Qing court. Even now, 18th to19th century ikat fabrics from Central Asia could be still found in the monasteries in Ladakh. In the portrait of the seventh Chiangkya Khutukhtu (1891-1957), a ཆབ་ཤུབས chab shubs, the square bag holding a small water-container, made of Indian golden brocade occupies the most prominent position. These foreign textiles not only enriched the visual and material culture of Himalayan arts but also raised questions about exoticism and efficacy. How did these newly introduced textiles integrate into the assemblage of Buddhist instruments and acquire religious significance? How did imperial powers and local monasteries negotiate the influence of foreign products? This paper traces the complex history of golden brocades, originally European silks but imitated in India and sent to Tibet, exploring how they became the most iconic ornaments in Buddhist rituals. It examines the political dynamics surrounding the use of textiles in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries during the transitional period from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century.