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Batang County (; s=巴塘县) is a county located in western Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, China. The main administrative centre is known as Batang Town (officially: Xiaqiong or Qakyung).
1990 statistics give its population as 47,256, with 42,044 living in rural areas and 5,212 living in urban areas. The nationalities mainly consist of Tibetan people, Han Chinese, and Yi people, Hui people, and Qiang people. By far the most numerous group are the Tibetans whose population is given as 44,601. It is from north to south and west to east and has an area of .
It borders on Xiangcheng County and Litang County in the east. Derong County to the south, Markam County and Gonjo County counties of Tibet and Dêqên County of Yunnan in the west, across the Jinsha River or "Golden Sands" River (the upper course of the Yangtze). It borders Baiyu County to the north. "Brief Introduction of Batang county."
It is warmer here than most of Tibet (because of the lower altitude) and is reported to be a friendly, easy-going place, surrounded by barley fields.Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael. (2005). Tibet. 6th Edition, p. 260. Lonely Planet. .Buckley, Michael and Straus, Robert. (1986) Tibet: a travel survival kit, p, 219. Lonely Planet Publications. South Yarra, Victoria, Australia. . The plain surrounding the town is unusually fertile and produces two harvests a year. The main products include: rice, maize, barley, wheat, peas, cabbages, turnips, onions, grapes, pomegranates, peaches, apricots, water melons and honey. There are also cinnabar (mercury sulphide) mines from which mercury is extracted..
The low-lying Batang Valley (altitude about 2,740 m) was one of the few regions of Tibet with a Chinese settlement before 1950. There were American Protestant and French Catholic missions here focused on medical and educational projects. "Many Bapa (natives of Batang) acquired high bureaucratic positions following the Chinese occupation in consequence of their familiarity with the Chinese language and modern education."
Batang was visited in the 1840s by two French priests, Abbé Évariste Régis Huc (1813–1860) and Abbé Joseph Gabet and a young Tibetan priest, who had been sent on a mission to Tibet and China by the Pope. They described it as a large, very populous and wealthy town.
It marked the furthest point of Tibetan rule on the route to ChengduWilson, Andrew. (1875). The Abode of Snow, Reprint (1993): Moyer Bell, Rhode Island, p. 108. .
The town was completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1868 or 1869.William Mesny (1905) Mesny's Miscellany. Vol. IV, p. 397. 13 May 1905. Shanghai. Mr. Hosie, on the other hand, dates this earthquake to 1871.Hosie, A. (1905). Mr. Hosie's Journey to Tibet | 1904. First published as CD 2586. Reprint (2001): The Stationery Office, London, p. 136. .
The region of Batang remained under Tibetan control until 1910. Mr. Hosie, who briefly visited the region in 1904 mentions that 400 Tibetan troops were stationed to the south of the town to protect the frontier.
The Abbé Auguste Desgodins, who was on a mission to Tibet from 1855 to 1870, wrote: "gold dust is found in all the rivers and even the streams of eastern Tibet". He says that in the town of Bathan or Batan, with which he was personally acquainted, there were about 20 people regularly involved in washing for gold in spite of the severe laws against it. Among other mines in this region of Tibet, Abbé Desgodins reported there were five gold mines and three silver mines being worked in the Zhongtian Province in the upper Yangtze Valley, seven mines of gold, eight of silver and several more of other metals in the upper Mekong Valley and mines of gold, silver, mercury, iron and copper in a large number of other districts. "It is no wonder than that a Chinese proverb speaks of Tibet as being at once the most elevated and the richest country in the world, and that the Mandarins are so anxious to keep Europeans out of it."Wilson, Andrew. (1875). The Abode of Snow, Reprint (1993): Moyer Bell, Rhode Island, p. 108. .
The Qing government sent Feng Quan, an imperial official, to Kham to begin reasserting Qing control soon after the British invasion of Tibet under Francis Younghusband in 1904, which alarmed the Manchu Qing rulers in China, but the locals revolted and killed him.
The British invasion was one of the triggers for a Qing effort to retake Kham in 1904, when Feng Quan was sent into Tibet. His policies of land reform and reductions to the numbers of monks led to the Batang uprising which started at a Batang monastery. Christian missionaries had already withdrawn from Batang in 1887.
The Qing government in Beijing then appointed Zhao Erfeng, the governor of Xining, "Army Commander of Tibet" to reintegrate Tibet into China. He was sent in 1905 (though other sources say this occurred in 1908) "Ligne MacMahon." FOSSIER Astrid, Paris, 2004 "L’Inde des britanniques à Nehru : un acteur clé du conflit sino-tibétain." [4] on a punitive expedition and began destroying many monasteries in Kham and Amdo and implementing a process of sinification of the region: "About Tibet: Later History" The situation was soon to change, however, as, after the fall of the Qing dynasty in October 1911, Zhao's soldiers mutinied and beheaded him.Hilton, Isabel. (1999). The Search for the Panchen Lama. Viking. Reprint: Penguin Books. (2000), p. 115. .
In February 1910, Qing General Zhong Ying invaded Lhasa in order to directly control Tibet for the first time in Tibet's history. This invasion led to the 13th Dalai Lama's escape to India, then his return to proclaim Tibet's total independence from China in 1913, and the end of their "priest-patron" relationship.Tsering Shakya, "The Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Tubten Gyatso" Treasury of Lives, accessed May 11, 2021
The American medical missionary, Dr Albert Shelton, lived nearly 20 years in Batang but was killed, apparently by a bandit, in 1922 on a high mountain pass near Batang at the age of 46.BOOK REVIEW: "American missionary 'conquers' eastern Tibet." Pioneer in Tibet by Douglas A. Wissing. Reviewed by Julian Gearing in Asia times Online. [7]
In 1932 the Sichuan warlord, Liu Wenhui (刘文辉; 1895–1976), drove the Tibetans back to the Yangtze River and even threatened to attack Chamdo. At Batang, Kesang Tsering, a half-Tibetan, claiming to be acting on behalf of Chiang Kai-shek (Pinyin: Jiang Jieshi. 1887–1975), managed to evict Liu Wen-hui's governor from the town with the support of some local tribes. A powerful "freebooter Lama" from the region gained support from the Tibetan forces and occupied Batang, but later had to withdraw. By August 1932 the Tibetan government had lost so much territory the Dalai Lama telegraphed the Government of India asking for diplomatic assistance. By early 1934 a ceasefire and armistices had been arranged with Liu Wen-hui and Governor Ma of Chinghai in which the Tibetans gave up all territory to the east of the Yangtze (including the region of Batang) but kept control of the Yaklo (Yenchin) district which had previously been a Chinese enclave to the west of the river.Richardson, Hugh E. (1984). Tibet and its History. 2nd Edition, pp. 134-136. Shambhala Publications, Boston. (pbk).
The bloodless occupation of Chamdo, the major city of the old Tibetan province of Kham, by the 40,000 man army of the People's Republic of China on October 19, 1950, when the whole region fell under Chinese control, served as an important precursor to the eventual defeat of the Lhasa government.Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael. (2005). Tibet. 6th Edition, p. 262. Lonely Planet. . Chamdo's governor at the time of the occupation was Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme, who later became an official in the government of the People's Republic of China. The previous governor of Chamdo was Lhalu Tsewang Dorje.
| Towns | ||||||
| Qakyung Town (Qakyung, Batang) | 夏邛镇 | 513335100 | ||||
| Zongza (Zhongza) | 中咱镇 | 513335101 | ||||
| Cola Town (Cuola) | 措拉镇 | 513335102 | ||||
| Gyaying Town (Jiaying) | 甲英镇 | 513335103 | ||||
| Doxong Town (Diwu) | 地巫镇 | 513335104 | ||||
| Townships | ||||||
| Lhagwa Township (Lawa) | 拉哇乡 | 513335200 | ||||
| Chubalung Township (Zhubalong) | 竹巴龙乡 | 513335202 | ||||
| Suwalung Township (Suwalong) | 苏哇龙乡 | 513335204 | ||||
| Changbo Township | 昌波乡 | 513335205 | ||||
| Yarigang Township (Yarigong) | 亚日贡乡 | 513335208 | ||||
| Bokog Township (Bomi) | 波密乡 | 513335209 | ||||
| Mudor Township (Moduo) | 莫多乡 | 513335210 | ||||
| Sumdo Township (Songduo) | 松多乡 | 513335211 | ||||
| Bogorxi Township (Bogexi) | 波戈溪乡 | 513335212 | ||||
| Calu Township (Chaluo) | 茶洛乡 | 513335215 | ||||
| Lêyü Township (Lieyi) | 列衣乡 | 513335216 | ||||
| Dêda Township (Dêdar, Deda) | 德达乡 | 513335217 | ||||
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