Polish children and Tibetan refugees in India

Shelter in a world at war

In Warsaw, the capital of Poland, there is a square named after an Indian ruler, the Good Maharaja Square. Its story goes back to the Second World War (1939–1945). Poland was invaded, families were torn apart and many children lost their parents. Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, the Maharaja of Nawanagar, today’s Jamnagar in Gujarat, was moved by their plight. He worked with the Red Cross and other organisations to rescue Polish children and bring them to Jamnagar, where they were given a safe home, food and care. He is credited with saving about a thousand Polish orphans from 1942 to 1946, and several thousand other Polish refugees were also welcomed in his state.

After the war ended, the children and the other refugees went home safely. In the early 21st century, the President of Poland recognised his service and a memorial was built in his honour. For a few years, India had been a home away from home for children who had lost everything.

Tibet and India, an old link

Tibet, the “Land of Snows” beyond the Himalaya, lies just north of India. In the 7th century its king embraced the Buddha’s teachings, and Buddhism slowly spread there. When Turko-Afghan invasions in eastern India destroyed Nalanda and other Buddhist centres of learning in the 12th and 13th centuries, many monks fled to Tibet with precious Sanskrit manuscripts. From the 15th century the Dalai Lamas, each said to be the rebirth of the one before, gained a larger role, and from the mid-17th century they ruled Tibet.

1959: the Dalai Lama takes refuge

From 1950 the People’s Republic of China took over Tibet in several waves and finally annexed it. In 1959 the people of Lhasa rose up against the Chinese presence there. Advised to escape, the 14th Dalai Lama crossed the Himalaya into India, which granted him asylum. Since then he has lived in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, as an honoured guest, and the Central Tibetan Administration works from there as a government-in-exile. He is known for his Four Commitments: human values, harmony between religions, Tibetan culture and the revival of India’s heritage.

Making a second home

The Indian government rehabilitated the Tibetan refugees, educated their children and helped create Tibetan settlements, so that the community could make India a second home while keeping its own language, culture and heritage. Monasteries modelled on those in Tibet were built, especially in Karnataka, for example at Bylakuppe, so monks could follow their way of life without fear. Non-government organisations helped people find work, and Tibetan markets are now familiar sights, even in Goa. Over time Tibetans have become part of Indian society.

The art of healing

Soon after 1959, Tibetans began to spread their system of medicine, Sowa Rigpa, the art of healing. Its rules were set down in the 8th century CE near Lhasa, and it blends Ayurveda with ideas from China, Central Asia, Persia and Greece. Men-Tsee-Khang in Dharamshala uses it to treat long-lasting diseases, and it is now part of the government’s AYUSH programme alongside Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy.

Why it matters

Both stories show refuge given in hard times, by a single ruler and by a whole country. Compare them with older arrivals in communities who made India home, and read about the values behind them in vasudhaiva kutumbakam. Answers to the textbook questions are in the NCERT solutions for Part 2 Chapter 5; see all of Part 2 Chapter 5 notes.