The Tibetan uprising: 50 years of protest

1 March 1959: Priests lead American Kalmuks in protest against Communist religious persecution of Tibetans at the United Nations building in New York Photograph: Carl Mydans/Time & Life Pictures/Getty

17 March 1959: Thousands of Tibetan women surround the Potala Palace, the main residence of the Dalai Lama, to protest against Chinese rule and repression in Lhasa, Tibet. Hours later, fighting broke out and the Dalai Lama was forced to flee to safety in India Photograph: AP

21 March 1959: The Dalai Lama and his escape party on the fourth day of their flight to freedom as they cross the Zsagola pass, in Southern Tibet, while being pursued by Chinese military forces. The 23-year-old Dalai Lama, wearing spectacles, is on the white horse in the centre Photograph: AP

March 1959: The Dalai Lama, sixth from left, with members of an escape party during his flight to exile across the Himalayas Photograph: AP

3 April 1959: A crowd demonstrating outside the Chinese embassy in New Delhi against the 'violation of Tibet's autonomy' by the Beijing government Photograph: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty

6 April 1959: Chinese troops stand guard near the Tibet border Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis

11 April 1959: Tibetan monks, surrounded by soldiers of the Chinese Popular Liberation army, lay down their arms somewhere in the Tibetan mountains after an unsuccessful armed uprising against Chinese rule Photograph: AFP/Getty

11 April 1959: A Chinese military officer addresses Tibetans in front of the Potala Palace (former home of the Dalai Lama) in Lhasa, after an unsuccessful armed uprising against Chinese rule Photograph: AFP/Getty

1 May 1959: Tibetan refugees at the Missamari camp Photograph: John Dominis/Time & Life Pictures/Getty

9 May 1959: Tibetan rebels file out of the Potala Palace to surrender Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis

19 May 1959: The Dalai Lama with his mother, Gyuam Chemo, outside Birla House, Mussoorie, India Photograph: AP

1 October 1959: The US ambassador to the UN, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr (l), and US assistant secretary of state, Walter S Robertson, during a debate in the UN general assembly on the resolution to deplore events in Tibet Photograph: Marvin Lichtner/Time & Life Pictures/Getty

15 June 1987: Tibetan monks and supporters attack a Chinese police station, holding several monks under arrest Photograph: Leon Schadeberg/Rex Features

15 June 1987: Tibetan monks and supporters attack a Chinese police station Photograph: Leon Schadeberg/Rex Features

14 March 2008: Chinese security personnel shield themselves against stones thrown by protesters in Lhasa Photograph: Reuters

14 March 2008: Tibetans throw stones at army vehicles on a street in Lhasa after violent protests broke out Photograph: AFP/Getty

14 March 2008: Tibetan protesters burn motorcycles and goods from shops belonging to Chinese residents, as they protest Chinese rule in Lhasa Photograph: Jonathan Brady/AP

15 March 2008: Buddhist Monks in a stand-off with security forces in the monastary town of Xiahe Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian

15 March 2008: Buddhist Monks in the monastary town of Xiahe Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian

30 March 2008: A Tibetan Buddhist nun is forcibly detained by police during a pro-Tibetan protest outside the Chinese consulate in Kathmandu, Nepal Photograph: Brian Sokol/Getty Images