A Year in Lhasa

VISITORS to Tibet, and even those who stay there a long time, do not as a rule come into touch with the leading people of the country. But during the nineteen years out of my public service which I spent partly on the borderland between India and Tibet and partly in Tibet itself, it was my good fortune to be brought into close con? tact with the Dalai Lama and the leading men of the country on several occasions. In 1910 the Chinese invaded Tibet and occupied Lhasa. The Dalai Lama, with the majority of the members of his Government, fled to India and remained there for over two years. Being, among other duties, in charge of our political relations with Tibet, I saw His Holiness and his ministers at short intervals during the whole of this period. For they were naturally distressed at the invasion and occu? pation of their country, and any little kindness or hospitality that one could show was likely both to ease their minds and to react favourably on the relations between Tibet and India. They returned to Lhasa in 1912, after their soldiers had expelled the Chinese troops from Central Tibet, and from that time onwards I received constant invitations from His Holiness and the Tibetan Government to visit them at Lhasa. The Prime Minister of Tibet revisited India in 1913 in connection with a diplomatic conference, and remained there for eight or nine months, during which time our friendship was further strengthened. In October 1920 our Government deputed me on a diplomatic mission to Lhasa. I left the Chumbi Valley on November 1, arrived in Lhasa on the 17th, and remained for nearly a year?longer than any white man had been there for over a hundred and fifty years. And as the invited guest of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government I was shown pretty well everything that I wished to see. I quote these biographical details merely to show that I enjoyed facilities for studying the life in Lhasa, a few features of which I propose to show you this evening. And how interesting that life is ! For?more than in most countries

Geography · Indian History and Philosophy · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · South Asian Studies and Conflicts

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  Open Access•H Garrison Wilkes•Economic Botany•1968

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