Tibetan Muslims

The Tibetan Muslims, also known as the Kachee (Kache), are a small minority in Tibet. Despite being Muslim, they are classified as Tibetans. The Tibetan word Kachee literally means Kashmiri and Kashmir was known as Kachee Yul (Yul = Country).

Entrance to old mosque in Lhasa - 1993.

The small number of Tibetan Muslims live throughout Tibet. ,Many of them can be found in Lhasa and Shigatse. Some live outside the Tibet Autonomous Region. These ethnic groups such as the Balti (indigenous people) and Burig are of Tibetan origin and consider themselves to be ethnically Tibetan, are Muslims as well. These other groups, however, are mainly found in the Occupied Kashmir's Ladakh area and the Pakistani-admnistered Baltistan.