CIHTS, the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, was founded in 1967 by Indian Prime Minister Nehru and the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. Initially under the umbrella of Sanskit University in Varanasi, it became independent in 1977 and moved to Sarnath. In 1997 it was declared a university and the name changed to the Central University for Tibetan Studies, although it continues to use the familar anacronym CIHTS.