The Lhasa terrane, once part of Gondwana until the Permian/Triassic, rifted away and accreted to Eurasia, forming a core part of the Tibetan Plateau. Pinpointing its palaeogeographical position is essential for understanding both the reconstruction of Gondwana and the plateau's evolution. However, considerable controversy persists over its exact position before separation, with geochemical and isotopic data suggesting ties to Australian, Indian or African sections of eastern Gondwana. Here, we use newly acquired, palaeobiogeographically sensitive fossils from the Baingoin area of central Tibet to determine the terrane's affinities. This late Darriwilian-Sandbian (Middle-Late Ordovician, ca. 457-453 Ma) biota lay along a palaeolatitudinally differentiated biotic gradient, indicative of a distinctly closer palaeobiogeographical affinity to northeastern India than to Australia or Africa. This finding, confirmed by a critical review of existing fossil and geochemical data, strongly supports a northeastern Indian origin of the Lhasa terrane.