The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 letter word AMDO
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
A
M
D
O
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "somewhere in 1A (Tibet)" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case somewhere in 1a (tibet) = amdo.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.