AHC/WI : Tibetan resurgence after the fall of Tibetan Empire

After the fall of the Tibetan Empire, things went quite downhill in Tibet which knew a long era of decline known as the Era of Fragmentation.
It tended to be better after the Yuan conquests, but between mid IXth century and mid-XIIIth century, the region was a mess of small dynasties which can reach some hegemonic control on Central Tibet, but not much long.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to manage to shorten the Era of Fragmentation by having a relatively unifed Tibetan entity emerging after the fall of the Tibetan Empire (as early as the early Xth century), and to describe what most important changes does it implies ITTL Asia.

It doesn't have to be ruled by a Tibetan-issued dynasty, but must be based on a Tibetan structure and court.

Good luck.
 
The Mongols adhered to Tibetan Buddhism, so perhaps a stable, pro-Tibet Mongol Dynasty in China willing to help a certain Tibetan prince unify Tibet?
 
The Mongols adhered to Tibetan Buddhism, so perhaps a stable, pro-Tibet Mongol Dynasty in China willing to help a certain Tibetan prince unify Tibet?

I thought the Mongols - particularly Kublai - were fairly ambivalent towards religion. You had Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Tengriists, and Confuscians all forming part of the same tumans together.

As an aside, a unique scenario could be that the Mongol Emperors do convert whole-heartedly to Buddhism. Perhaps when the Yuan Dynasty begins to crumble after Kublai's death, his sons flee to Lhasa, seeking protection from the Dalai Lama. There they remain with a claim to all of China, but in reality they only rule the Tibetan plateau.
 
The Mongols did become devout followers of Tibetan Buddhism. It's just that genuine, lasting conversion occurred largely after the conversion of Altan Khan of the Twelve Tümeds in the 1570s, and that was already two centuries after the Mongol empire had collapsed.
 
No suggestion how to make it happen, but a thought on effects: Might not be so development-friendly after all. In their imperial phase, they came into contact with Buddhism and lots more, but it wasn't until the so-called Age of Fragmentation that it grew roots and brought forth native philosophers strong enough to really impress the Mongols. Also, urbanisation occurred around that time, too, if I'm not much mistaken. Who says that if a unified Empire, whose power-projection was basically through raids and vassalage of those who feared these raids, would have felt the same need to modernise?
 
I thought the Mongols - particularly Kublai - were fairly ambivalent towards religion. You had Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Tengriists, and Confuscians all forming part of the same tumans together.

As an aside, a unique scenario could be that the Mongol Emperors do convert whole-heartedly to Buddhism. Perhaps when the Yuan Dynasty begins to crumble after Kublai's death, his sons flee to Lhasa, seeking protection from the Dalai Lama. There they remain with a claim to all of China, but in reality they only rule the Tibetan plateau.

Pretty sure he was referring to the later Khalkha Mongols.
 
It seems that there's a consensus about Mongol policies being an obvious PoD : does that means that any change between the Xth and the XVth century is too hard to pull off?
(I admit I was mostly interested in a change before Mongols, even possibly during Song China)
 
As an aside, a unique scenario could be that the Mongol Emperors do convert whole-heartedly to Buddhism. Perhaps when the Yuan Dynasty begins to crumble after Kublai's death, his sons flee to Lhasa, seeking protection from the Dalai Lama. There they remain with a claim to all of China, but in reality they only rule the Tibetan plateau.

The institution of the Dalai Lama and the Gelugpa didn't have nearly the amount of power they had in later centuries. The Yuan did have some important links with the Karmapa, though.
 
It seems that there's a consensus about Mongol policies being an obvious PoD : does that means that any change between the Xth and the XVth century is too hard to pull off?
(I admit I was mostly interested in a change before Mongols, even possibly during Song China)
I don`t see what would absolutely block Tibetan expansion during the Song era. I just don`t have any idea for a PoD, but it shouldn`t be too difficult. Early VIIIth century Tibetan expansion was during a time when the Tang were at their height of their power, so why not in the Xth or XIth century...
 
How about a Bhutan-wank, which ends up with being a de facto Bhutanese dynasty over Tibet?

Bhutan is small, and access from Tibet is difficult. It goes the other way around too--Bhutan conquering Tibet seems very challenging to ever pull off, because of the Himalaya passes.

Same goes with Sikkim, by the way. I'd more expect Tibet to continue to enforce control over them than to let those states enforce control over Tibet.
 
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