Thanks to my new little brother Faried for the great welcome! Faried says in his welcome that he hopes I will find what I am looking for in this group... well Faried, I have found friends and that's a good start!

I am interested in finding out more on the history of Muslim's in Tibet. I understand that Islam first arrived in Tibet in the 1200's when merchants travelled from Kashmir. They were invited to settle and form communities, which have continued until today despite severe repression. When the Chinese began colonizing Tibet in 1959, the majority of Tibet's Muslims fled to Kashmir where they were granted Indian citizenship. I am looking for information on their culture from the 1200's and beyond, the art of Islam in Tibet, Tibetan influences on Islamic art... and of course Islamic influences on Tibetan art. Islam has been present in Tibet for nearly 1,000 years in what we have considered to have always been a monolithically Buddhist culture and as so little is known of 'ethnic minorities' in Tibet and Tibetan Muslim's in general, I find the subject both fascinating and intriguing.

I may need the odd poke in the back to get me to contribute on a regular basis... but if Faried was to offer me rempeyek udang that would most definitely keep me on my toes!

(psssssst Little Brother: *Hugs* for Nie!).