The Unveiling of Lhasa

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Candler Edmund. The Unveiling of Lhasa

PREFACE

CHAPTER I. THE CAUSES OF THE EXPEDITION

CHAPTER II. OVER THE FRONTIER

CHAPTER III. THE CHUMBI VALLEY

CHAPTER IV. PHARI JONG

CHAPTER V. THE ROAD AND TRANSPORT

CHAPTER VI. THE ACTION AT THE HOT SPRINGS

CHAPTER VII. A HUMAN MISCELLANY

CHAPTER VIII. THE ADVANCE OF THE MISSION OPPOSED

CHAPTER IX. GYANTSE

CHAPTER X. GYANTSE — continued

CHAPTER XI. GOSSIP ON THE ROAD TO THE FRONT

CHAPTER XII. TO THE GREAT RIVER

CHAPTER XIII. LHASA AND ITS VANISHED DEITY

CHAPTER XIV. THE CITY AND ITS TEMPLES

CHAPTER XV. THE SETTLEMENT

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The conduct of Great Britain in her relations with Tibet puts me in mind of the dilemma of a big boy at school who submits to the attacks of a precocious youngster rather than incur the imputation of 'bully.' At last the situation becomes intolerable, and the big boy, bully if you will, turns on the youth and administers the deserved thrashing. There is naturally a good deal of remonstrance from spectators who have not observed the byplay which led to the encounter. But sympathy must be sacrificed to the restitution of fitting and respectful relations.

The aim of this record of an individual's impressions of the recent Tibetan expedition is to convey some idea of the life we led in Tibet, the scenes through which we passed, and the strange people we fought and conquered. We killed several thousand of these brave, ill-armed men; and as the story of the fighting is not always pleasant reading, I think it right before describing the punitive side of the expedition to make it quite clear that military operations were unavoidable – that we were drawn into the vortex of war against our will by the folly and obstinacy of the Tibetans.

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Our countermove – the Tibet Expedition – must have been a crushing and unexpected blow to Russia. For the first time in modern history Great Britain had taken a decisive, almost high-handed, step to obviate a danger that was far from imminent. We had all the best cards in our hands. Russia's designs in Lhasa became obvious at a time when we could point to open defiance on the part of the Tibetans, and provocation such as would have goaded any other European nation to a punitive expedition years before. We could go to Lhasa, apparently without a thought of Russia, and yet undo all the effects of her scheming there, and deal her prestige a blow that would be felt throughout the whole of Central Asia. Such was Lord Curzon's policy. It was adopted in a half-hearted way by the Home Government, and eventually forced on them by the conduct of the Tibetans themselves. Needless to say, the discovery of Russian designs was the real and prime cause of the despatch of the mission, while Tibet's violation of treaty rights and refusal to enter into any relations with us were convenient as ostensible motives. It cannot be denied that these grievances were valid enough to justify the strongest measures.

In June, 1903, came the announcement of Colonel Younghusband's mission to Khamba Jong. I do not think that the Indian Government ever expected that the Tibetans would come to any agreement with us at Khamba Jong. It is to their credit that they waited patiently several months in order to give them every chance of settling things amicably. However, as might have been expected, the Commission was boycotted. Irresponsible delegates of inferior rank were sent by the Tibetans and Chinese, and the Lhasa delegates, after some fruitless parleyings, shut themselves up in the fort, and declined all intercourse, official or social, with the Commissioners.6

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