Jokhang in the context of Songsten Gampo

The Tibetan Empire, or the Empire of Tibet (Tibetan: བོད་ཆེན་པོ, Wylie: bod chen po, lit. 'Great Tibet') was centered on the Tibetan Plateau and formed as a result of expansions under the Yarlung dynasty's 33rd king, Songtsen Gampo, in the 7th century. It expanded further under Trisong Detsen and reached its greatest extent under Ralpachen, stretching east to Chang'an, west beyond modern Afghanistan, south into modern India and the Bay of Bengal. It is referred to as Tufan or Tubo (吐蕃) in Chinese sources.

The Yarlung dynasty was founded in 127 BC in the Yarlung Valley along the Yarlung River, south of Lhasa. The Yarlung capital was moved in the 7th century from the Yungbulakang Palace to Lhasa by the 33rd ruler Songtsen Gampo, and into the Red Fort during the imperial period which continued to the 9th century. The beginning of the imperial period is marked in the reign of the 33rd ruler of the Yarlung dynasty, Songtsen Gampo. The power of Tibet's military empire gradually increased over a diverse terrain. During the reign of Trisong Detsen, the empire became more powerful and increased in size. At this time, a 783 treaty between the Tibetan Empire and the Tang dynasty defined the borders, as commemorated by the Shol Potala Pillar in Lhasa. Borders were again confirmed during the later reign of the 40th king Ralpachen through his 821–823 treaty, which was inscribed on a pillar at Jokhang. In the opening years of the 9th century, the Tibetan Empire controlled territories extending from the Tarim Basin to the Himalayas and Bengal, and from the Pamirs into what are now the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan. The murder of King Ralpachen in 838 by his brother Langdarma, and Langdarma's subsequent enthronement followed by his assassination in 842 marks the simultaneous beginning of the dissolution of the empire period.

Songtsen Gampo (Tibetan: སྲོང་བཙན་སྒམ་པོ, Wylie: srong btsan sgam po); (605–649 CE, reign 618-649) was the 33rd Tibetan king of the Yarlung dynasty and the founder of the Tibetan Empire. The first of three Dharma Kings of Tibet, he formally introduced Buddhism to Tibet and built the Jokhang with the influence of his queen Bhrikuti, of Nepal's Licchavi dynasty. He unified several Tibetan kingdoms, conquered lands adjacent to Tibet, and moved the capital to the Red Fort in Lhasa. His minister Thonmi Sambhota created the Tibetan script and Classical Tibetan, the first literary and spoken language of Tibet.

His mother, the queen, is identified as Driza Thökar (Tibetan: འབྲི་བཟའ་ཐོད་དཀར་, Wylie: 'bri bza' thod dkar, ZWPY: Zhisa Tögar). The exact date of his birth and his enthronement are not certain, and in Tibetan history it is generally accepted that he was born in an Ox year of the Tibetan calendar. According to Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa, he ascended the throne at age thirteen, in 614, and reigned at least until 648.

Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China.

Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining and, at an altitude of 3,656 metres (11,990 ft), Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world. The city has been the religious and administrative capital of Tibet since the mid-17th century. It contains many culturally significant Tibetan Buddhist sites such as the Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and Norbulingka Palaces.According to the census, the total resident population of the city by the end of 2024 will be 876,400.

The Tang - Tibetan Empire Treaty Inscription (Tibetan: གཙུག་ལག་ཁང་མདུན་གྱི་རྡོ་རིངས་, Wylie: gtsug lag khang mdun gyi rdo rings; simplified Chinese: 唐蕃会盟碑; traditional Chinese: 唐蕃會盟碑; pinyin: Táng-Bō Huìméng Bēi) is a stone pillar standing outside the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. The inscription is written in both Tibetan and Classical Chinese, concerning the Changqing Treaty between the Tibetan Empire and Tang Empire in A.D. 821/823. Amy Heller's book Tibetan Art describes it as one of the most important treaties between the Tang and Tibetan Empire. Inscription states the relationship of Tang and Tibetan Empire as uncle and nephew of same family.

Sera Monastery (Tibetan: སེ་ར་དགོན་པ, Wylie: se ra dgon pa "Wild Roses Monastery"; Chinese: 色拉寺; pinyin: Sèlā Sì) is one of the "great three" Gelug university monasteries of Tibet, located 1.25 miles (2.01 km) north of Lhasa and about 5 km (3.1 mi) north of the Jokhang. (The other two are Ganden Monastery and Drepung Monastery.)

The origin of its name is attributed to a fact that during construction, the hill behind the monastery was covered with blooming wild roses (or "sera" in Tibetan). (An alternate etymology holds that the location that was surrounded by raspberry shrubs called 'Sewa' in Tibetan, that formed like a 'Rawa' in Tibetan, meaning "Fence".)