Tibet under Qing rule refers to the Qing dynasty's rule over Tibet from 1720 to 1912. During the Qing rule of Tibet, the region was structurally, militarily and administratively controlled by the Qing dynasty established by the Manchus in China. In the history of Tibet, Qing administrative rule was established after a Qing army defeated the Dzungars who occupied Tibet in 1720, and lasted until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912, although the region retained a degree of political autonomy under the Dalai Lamas. The Qing emperors appointed imperial residents known as the Ambans to Tibet, who commanded over 2,000 troops stationed in Lhasa and reported to the Lifan Yuan, a Qing government agency that oversaw the empire's frontier regions. The protectorate that China had established over Tibet in the 18th century remained into the 20th century, but by the late 19th century Chinese hegemony over Tibet remained in theory but in actuality was a dead letter given the weight of China's domestic and foreign-relations burdens. However, the Chinese began to take steps to reassert their authority shortly after the British expedition to Tibet.

Güshi Khan of the Khoshut in 1641 overthrew the prince of Tsang and made the 5th Dalai Lama the highest spiritual and political authority in Tibet, establishing the regime known as Ganden Phodrang. The time of the 5th Dalai Lama was also a period of rich cultural development.

With Güshi Khan who founded the Khoshut Khanate as a largely uninvolved overlord, the 5th Dalai Lama conducted foreign policy independently of the Qing, on the basis of his spiritual authority amongst the Mongolians. He acted as a mediator between Mongol tribes, and between the Mongols and the Qing Kangxi Emperor. The Dalai Lama would assign territories to Mongol tribes, and these decisions were routinely confirmed by the Emperor. In 1674, the Emperor asked the Dalai Lama to send Mongolian troops to help suppress a rebellion in Yunnan. The Dalai Lama agreed to do so, but also advised Kangxi to resolve the conflict in Yunnan by allotting fiefs instead of military action. This was apparently a turning point for the Emperor, who began to take action to deal with the Mongols directly, rather than through the Dalai Lama.

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