The Dalai Lama flees Tibet for India.
On March 17, 1959, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, made a perilous journey from Tibet to India, fleeing escalating tensions with Chinese authorities. Wearing a soldier’s uniform and carrying a gun, he left the Norbulinka palace at 10 pm, accompanied by his mother and elder sister. This escape was prompted by a revolt in Lhasa and growing fears for his personal safety amid the Chinese occupation of Tibet.