Note: [1][2] When unifying with ISO 10646, the original Tibetan block was removed in Unicode 1.0.1.[3] The current block (with a new encoding model and a different range) was introduced in version 2.0.
Tibetan is a Unicode block containing characters for the Tibetan, Dzongkha, and other languages of China, Bhutan, Nepal, Mongolia, northern India, eastern Pakistan and Russia.
Note: When unifying with ISO 10646, the original Tibetan block was deleted in Unicode 1.0.1.[3] Tibetan was later reintroduced with a new encoding model for Unicode 2.0.
The Tibetan Unicode block is unique for having been allocated in version 1.0.0 with a virama-based encoding that was unable to distinguish visible srog med and conjunct consonant correctly.[note 1] This encoding was removed from the Unicode Standard in version 1.0.1 in the process of unifying with ISO 10646 for version 1.1,[3] then reintroduced as an explicit root/subjoined encoding, with a larger block size, in version 2.0. Moving or removing existing characters has been prohibited by the Unicode Stability Policy for all versions following Unicode 2.0, so the Tibetan characters encoded in Unicode 2.0 and all subsequent versions are immutable.
Moore, Lisa (2008-08-19), "Consensus 116-C13", UTC #116 Minutes, Change the deprecated property by removing 0340, 0341, 17D3, and adding 0149, 0F77, 0F79, 17A4, 2329, 232A.
Aliprand, Joan; Winkler, Arnold, "3.A.2. item c. Tibetan Extensions", Minutes of the joint UTC and L2 meeting from the meeting in Cupertino, February 25-27, 1998
Umamaheswaran, V. S. (2009-07-08), "M54.13e", Unconfirmed minutes of WG 2 meeting 54
^Proposed code points and characters names may differ from final code points and names
Footnotes
^In most Unicode Indic encodings, although one can force the system to display a visible halanta by using the zero-width non-joiner (ZWNJ) or force the use of a non‑conjunct joining form using the zero-width joiner (ZWJ), there is no method to force a conjunct consonant rendering, which is crucial when writing Tibetan. Some exceptions exist: for instance, Sinhala uses ZWJ to force a conjunct.