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PREFACE
PREFACE
An apology is needed for the length of this book. When it was passing through the press, a Parliamentary Blue-book appeared containing much important information as to recent developments, and what I had intended as only the account of our relations with Tibet up to the return of the Mission of 1904 I thought with advantage might be extended to include our relations to the present time. The whole forms one connected narrative of the attempt, protracted over 137 years, to accomplish a single purp
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
This book is an account of our relations with Tibet, but many still wonder why we need have any such relations at all. The country lies on the far side of the Himalayas, the greatest range of snowy mountains in the world. Why, then, should we trouble ourselves about what goes on there? Why do we want to interfere with the Tibetans? Why not leave them alone? These are very reasonable and pertinent questions, and such as naturally spring to the mind of even the least intelligent of Englishmen. Obv
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CHAPTER I BOGLE’S MISSION, 1774
CHAPTER I BOGLE’S MISSION, 1774
It is an interesting reflection for those to make who think that we must necessarily have been the aggressive party, that the far-distant primary cause of all our attempts at intercourse with the Tibetans was an act of aggression, not on our part, not on the part of an ambitious Pro-consul, or some headstrong frontier officer, but of the Bhutanese, neighbours, and then vassals, of the Tibetans, who nearly a century and a half ago committed the first act—an act of aggression—which brought us into
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CHAPTER II TURNER’S MISSION, 1782
CHAPTER II TURNER’S MISSION, 1782
Warren Hastings was not content with a single effort to reopen the commercial and friendly intercourse which in former times had subsisted between Tibet and India. As he had expected little from the first move, so he had always intended to work continuously with the same end in view, hoping to eventually gain that end by repeated efforts over long periods. Bogle returned to Calcutta in June, 1775, and in November of the same year Hastings deputed Dr. Hamilton, who had accompanied him to Tibet, o
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CHAPTER III MANNING’S VISIT TO LHASA
CHAPTER III MANNING’S VISIT TO LHASA
Now when statesmen were most lukewarm about Tibet the inevitable English adventurer came to the front. And it is a curious circumstance that it was just when our relations with the Tibetans were at their coldest that the only Englishman who ever reached Lhasa before the Mission of 1904 achieved this success. He was not an accredited agent of Government sent to bring into effect a deliberate policy such as that conceived by Warren Hastings. He was a private adventurer, and he went up in spite of,
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CHAPTER IV THE BENGAL GOVERNMENT’S EFFORTS, 1873–1886
CHAPTER IV THE BENGAL GOVERNMENT’S EFFORTS, 1873–1886
It was not till a century had elapsed since Warren Hastings had begun his attempts to form a friendship with the Tibetans that the Government in India again made any real effort to come into proper relationship with their neighbours. For a century they were content to let things take their course, in spite of their informality, and in spite of the fact that Indian subjects were having all the worst of the intercourse, for while Tibetans were allowed to come to India when and where and how they l
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CHAPTER V THE CONVENTION WITH CHINA
CHAPTER V THE CONVENTION WITH CHINA
The Chinese Amban, or Resident, at Lhasa now appeared upon the scene to effect a settlement, and during 1889 we endeavoured to have the frontier line properly fixed and our exclusive supremacy in Sikkim, which was recorded in well-known treaties, definitely recognized. We also wished, if possible, to have trade regulated. Considering that we had abandoned the proposed mission to Lhasa out of deference to Chinese and Tibetan susceptibilities, that the Tibetans had assumed the offensive, and that
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CHAPTER VI SECURING THE TREATY RIGHTS
CHAPTER VI SECURING THE TREATY RIGHTS
Now that five years had elapsed since the Trade Regulations were concluded, and they were, according to their provisions, subject to revision, the Government of India began to consider any practical measures for securing fuller facilities for trade. The Convention of 1890 and the Trade Regulations of 1893 were intended to provide these facilities, but so far none had been obtained; and the Indian Government thought that, as the Tibetans attached great importance to retaining the Giagong piece of
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CHAPTER VII NEGOTIATIONS WITH RUSSIA
CHAPTER VII NEGOTIATIONS WITH RUSSIA
I would again recall the fact that when the Government of India wrote the above-quoted despatch, Russia was not yet at war with Japan, and was very much in the ascendant and active in Asia. She had recently occupied Port Arthur, and run a railway through Manchuria; and she was in a dominant, almost domineering, position at Peking. And as showing the interest she took in Tibet, there came, just after the receipt by the India Office of Lord Curzon’s despatch, a representation from the Russian Char
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CHAPTER VIII A MISSION SANCTIONED
CHAPTER VIII A MISSION SANCTIONED
While the negotiations with Russia were proceeding the Home Government would come to no final decision as to the action to be taken. The question at issue, they informed the Indian Government [21] in February, was no longer one of details as to trade and boundaries—though on these it was necessary that an agreement should be arrived at—but the whole question of the future political relations of India and Tibet. They agreed with the Indian Government that, having regard to the geographical positi
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CHAPTER IX SIMLA TO KHAMBA JONG
CHAPTER IX SIMLA TO KHAMBA JONG
The previous chapters have been necessarily, though perhaps somewhat tediously, filled up with a narrative of the many intricate considerations which went towards the final determination to send a mission to Tibet. But of all that had been going on—of the voluminous correspondence in the great offices, of the meetings and attempts at meetings on the frontier—I was wholly ignorant. Anglo-Indian papers seldom contain information on such happenings. And for some years past, in accordance with the w
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CHAPTER X KHAMBA JONG
CHAPTER X KHAMBA JONG
Now that Chinese and Tibetan representatives of some kind had appeared, even though they were not of much rank or accredited with much power, I thought it well to proceed to Khamba Jong to get into touch with them, and form my own impression of how matters stood. I therefore rode straight through from Tangu to Khamba Jong on the 18th, accompanied by Mr. Dover, the Sikkim engineer, who had made such excellent rough roads and bridges, and escorted by a few mounted men. After Tangu the mountain-sid
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CHAPTER XI DARJILING TO CHUMBI
CHAPTER XI DARJILING TO CHUMBI
During our stay at Khamba Jong Mr. White, Captain O’Connor, and I had often talked over the question of advancing into Tibet in winter. It had always so far been assumed that with the approach of winter all operations on this frontier must cease, missions must withdraw, and troops go into winter-quarters. But on the Gilgit frontier we had taken troops across snow-passes in winter, and Colonel Kelly took troops and guns across the Shandur Pass to the relief of Chitral in April, which, from the so
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CHAPTER XII TUNA
CHAPTER XII TUNA
The first event of importance after our arrival at Tuna was the receipt, on January 12, of a message from the Lhasa officials, saying that they wished for an interview. At noon, the time I had appointed, several hundreds of men appeared on the plain below the village. They halted there, and asked that I should come out and meet them halfway. Perhaps unnecessarily, I refused this request. It was bitingly cold in the open plain, and I thought the Tibetan leaders might have come into my camp, where
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CHAPTER XIII GYANTSE
CHAPTER XIII GYANTSE
Gyantse, which had been our goal for so many months, and with which we were to be but too well acquainted before we had finished, has two principal features—the jong and the monastery, called Palkhor Choide. The jong is a really imposing structure built of strong, solid masonry, and rising in tiers of walls up a rocky eminence springing abruptly out of the plain to a height of 400 or 500 feet. It has a most commanding and dominant look. And the monastery immediately adjoining it at a part of the
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CHAPTER XIV THE STORMING OF GYANTSE JONG
CHAPTER XIV THE STORMING OF GYANTSE JONG
Strong reinforcements had now come up from India: the remainder of the mountain battery, under Major Fuller, a wing of the Royal Fusiliers, the 40th Pathans, and the 29th Punjabis; and on June 13 I set out to return to Gyantse with General Macdonald to relieve the Mission escort at Gyantse and, if need be, to advance to Lhasa, while Colonel Reid remained in charge of the communications. At each post we stopped at the officers in charge invariably reported that the people were well content with u
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CHAPTER XV THE ADVANCE TO LHASA
CHAPTER XV THE ADVANCE TO LHASA
Just a year had now elapsed since we had arrived at Khamba Jong, and now at length all were united in the single purpose of advancing to Lhasa—the Imperial Government, the Indian Government, and the military authorities. A year had been wasted in futile forbearance for the benefit of the British public, but at length what the responsible Government of India had advocated since January of the previous year was to be carried into effect, and on July 14 we left our dreary little post at Gyantse and
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CHAPTER XVI THE TERMS
CHAPTER XVI THE TERMS
I have often been asked what were my feelings when I first saw Lhasa—whether I was not filled with a sense of elation. I was filled with nothing of the kind. It was when I left Lhasa that I really had all that feeling of intense relief and satisfaction which everyone experiences when he has set his heart on one great object and attained it. When I left Lhasa I had my treaty, and—what I had always put at more value than the treaty itself—the good-will of the people. When I arrived at Lhasa it was
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CHAPTER XVII THE NEGOTIATIONS
CHAPTER XVII THE NEGOTIATIONS
The very day that we arrived at Lhasa I made a commencement at negotiating a treaty based on the terms set forth in the preceding chapter. I had already, before I left Gyantse and before Government had made up their minds as to the terms which should be asked, told the Tongsa Penlop informally what we were likely to ask, so that the Tibetans might have a rough idea of our demands; and as the Chinese Resident had intimated to me that he would come and visit me on the afternoon of our arrival, I t
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CHAPTER XVIII THE TREATY CONCLUDED
CHAPTER XVIII THE TREATY CONCLUDED
We were now at the end of August; my time was very short, and I was in an awkward predicament. On the 30th I had telegraphed to Government that the Tibetans, in spite of their protests of poverty, could really pay the indemnity, but that I thought trade concessions in lieu of a portion would be preferable. I also asked for liberty to arrange for payment of the indemnity by instalments of one lakh of rupees (£6,666) a year for a long term of years, if that arrangement were preferred by the Tibeta
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CHAPTER XIX IMPRESSIONS AT LHASA
CHAPTER XIX IMPRESSIONS AT LHASA
With the signature of the Treaty a tense strain was released, and as I rode down from the Potala I felt at last at ease. That evening General Macdonald, Major Iggulden, his chief staff officer, and the rest of the military staff entertained the Mission at dinner, and among the memories of that eventful day will always be included the recollection of the warmly appreciative speech which General Macdonald made on that occasion. On the day following two Councillors visited me, and I informed them t
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CHAPTER XX THE RETURN
CHAPTER XX THE RETURN
Lord Cromer, when I saw him at Cairo on my way home, made a remark which showed an unusually appreciative insight into situations such as we were in at Lhasa. He said that everyone was praising us for reaching Lhasa, but he thought most Englishman could do that. What he considered really praiseworthy was our getting back again. In such situations ragged ends are often left, resentments incurred, entanglements formed, which make it difficult to retire with grace or even to retire at all. We were
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CHAPTER XXI THE RESULTS OF THE MISSION
CHAPTER XXI THE RESULTS OF THE MISSION
Even in the present year I was asked by a Cabinet Minister what good we did in going to Lhasa. Since that question was asked one striking result of our Mission has come to light, in the fact of the Dalai Lama, who before we went to Lhasa would not even receive a communication from the Viceroy, now in person, at Calcutta itself, appealing to the Viceroy to preserve his right of direct communication with us. The suspicious and hostile attitude of the Tibetans has so far changed that they have now
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CHAPTER XXII NEGOTIATIONS WITH CHINA
CHAPTER XXII NEGOTIATIONS WITH CHINA
We had settled with Tibet direct, as was Lord Curzon’s chief object, and it had been proposed that China should sign what was styled an Adhesion Agreement, formally acknowledging the Tibetan Treaty. But Yu-tai, the Resident at Lhasa, was instructed not to sign any such agreement, and a Special Envoy was sent by the Chinese Government to Calcutta to treat with the Indian Government in the matter. Yu-tai himself had been specially deputed for these negotiations regarding Tibet, but apparently he w
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CHAPTER XXIII THE ATTITUDE OF THE TIBETANS SINCE 1904
CHAPTER XXIII THE ATTITUDE OF THE TIBETANS SINCE 1904
Immediately following the conclusion of the Treaty at Lhasa, the attitude of the Tibetans was friendly enough. The Ti Rimpoche wrote to the Government of India expressing the gratitude of the Tibetans for the reduction of the indemnity from 75 to 25 lakhs of rupees, and for the promise to restore the Chumbi Valley after three years if the provisions of the Treaty were duly observed. “The two parties have now commenced friendly relations,” wrote the Regent, “and we hope that for the future they w
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CHAPTER XXIV SOME CONCLUSIONS
CHAPTER XXIV SOME CONCLUSIONS
The close of the long narrative of our efforts since 1773 to effect the single object of harmonizing our relations with Tibet having now been reached, it may be useful to draw here some practical conclusions from our past experience which may be a help for future action. And first I would make some observations on the agency through which our intentions have been carried into effect. On several occasions in the course of this narrative I have referred to the relations of local officers with thei
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CHAPTER XXV A FINAL REFLECTION
CHAPTER XXV A FINAL REFLECTION
“That strange force which has so often driven the English forward against their will appears to be in operation once more,” wrote the Spectator in May, 1904; “it is certain that neither the British Government nor the British people wished to go to Lhasa.” This reflection was criticized by other journals at the time as savouring of hypocrisy. One paper said that no mention was made of the Viceroy, and that it was obvious that “the advance was a perfectly gratuitous move on the part of Lord Curzon
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CONVENTION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND CHINA RELATING TO SIKKIM AND TIBET.
CONVENTION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND CHINA RELATING TO SIKKIM AND TIBET.
Whereas her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India, and His Majesty the Emperor of China, are sincerely desirous to maintain and perpetuate the relations of friendship and good understanding which now exist between their respective Empires; and whereas recent occurrences have tended towards a disturbance of the said relations, and it is desirable to clearly define and permanently settle certain matters connected with the boundary between Sikkim and
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CONVENTION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND RUSSIA, 1907.
CONVENTION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND RUSSIA, 1907.
His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, and His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, animated by the sincere desire to settle by mutual agreement different questions concerning the interests of their States on the Continent of Asia, have determined to conclude Agreements destined to prevent all cause of misunderstanding between Great Britain and Russia in regard to the questions referred to, and ha
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CONVENTION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND TIBET, SIGNED AT LHASA ON THE 7TH SEPTEMBER, 1904.
CONVENTION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND TIBET, SIGNED AT LHASA ON THE 7TH SEPTEMBER, 1904.
Whereas doubts and difficulties have arisen as to the meaning and validity of the Anglo-Chinese Convention of 1890, and the Trade Regulations of 1893, and as to the liabilities of the Tibetan Government under these agreements; and whereas recent occurrences have tended towards a disturbance of the relations of friendship and good understanding which have existed between the British Government and the Government of Tibet; and whereas it is desirable to restore peace and amicable relations, and to
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CONVENTION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND CHINA, DATED 27TH APRIL, 1906. (RECEIVED IN LONDON, 18TH JUNE, 1906.)
CONVENTION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND CHINA, DATED 27TH APRIL, 1906. (RECEIVED IN LONDON, 18TH JUNE, 1906.)
Whereas His Majesty the King of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, and His Majesty the Emperor of China are sincerely desirous to maintain and perpetuate the relations of friendship and good understanding which now exist between their respective Empires; And whereas the refusal of Tibet to recognize the validity of or to carry into full effect the provisions of the Anglo-Chinese Convention of the 17th March, 1890, and Regulations of the 5th
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CONVENTION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND RUSSIA, 1907.
CONVENTION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND RUSSIA, 1907.
His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, and His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, animated by the sincere desire to settle by mutual agreement different questions concerning the interests of their States on the Continent of Asia, have determined to conclude Agreements destined to prevent all cause of misunderstanding between Great Britain and Russia in regard to the questions referred to, and ha
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