I don't know if the Tibetans should be represented as just rebels, though. I was pretty bummed the other day, because I have this HUGE book about ancient cultures, including Tibet, and was thinking, "Oh I can totally do a whole bunch of research to piece together Tibetan culture." But guess what? It only starts with introduction of Buddhism into Tibet in 800 AD! However, there were plenty of independent Tibetan kingdoms. I cannot find out what they were like, though, because my book only starts 1000 years later!