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The Establishment of the British Trade Agencies in Tibet: A Survey*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2009

A. C. McKay
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Extract

The popular image of pre-1950 Tibet is of a remote land seldom visited by outsiders. But more than a hundred British officials served in Tibet during the early part of this century. Between 1904 and 1947 Agents from the Indian Political Service, and supporting staff, were stationed in Gyantse and Yatung, under the control of the Political Officer in Sikkim. An Agency was also maintained at Gartok in Western Tibet, where a native officer was posted as the Trade Agent. After 1936 a mission was stationed at Lhasa. The last British official in Lhasa, Hugh Richardson, departed in 1950 following the Chinese invasion of Tibet. For the British Trade Agents, an almost forgotten section of British colonial administration in Asia, Tibet was an official posting. Their isolation, and the lack of trade, meant that they had the time to study a variety of aspects of Tibet, and to gain a great knowledge of the country and its people.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 2 , Issue 3 , November 1992 , pp. 399 - 421
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1992

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Footnotes

*

I gratefully acknowledge the guidance of Dr Peter Robb (School of Oriental and African Studies, London), in the preparation and editing of this paper; in addition Mr Hugh Richardson has kindly given me valuable advice.

References

1 The positions passed to the responsibility of the new Indian government on 15 Aug. 1947.

2 The difficulties in rendering Tibetan into English are well known. I have used the most commonly accepted spellings, generally those favoured by the Agents at the time, except that I have used the term Panchen Lama, for the then favoured “Tashi Lama”.

3 See Morgan, G., “Myth and reality in the Great Game”, Asian Affairs, LX (1973), p. 59;Google Scholar L-E. Nyman. “The Great Game: a comment”, ibid., pp. 299–301; Comments by Caroe, O. & Richardson, H., Asian Affairs, LXI (1974), pp. 119–21.Google Scholar Also see Morgan, G., Anglo-Russian Rivalry in Central Asia 1810–1895 (London, 1981), pp. 113–49Google Scholar.

4 Personal correspondence, H. Richardson, 19 Oct. 1990.

5 The 1903–4 British expedition to Lhasa made by members of the Tibetan Frontier Commission is commonly referred to as the “Younghusband Mission”, after its Commissioner, Colonel (later Sir) Francis Younghusband. For details of this, see Fleming, P., Bayonets to Lhasa (Oxford, 1986,Google Scholar first published London, 1961); for a summary see Richardson, H., Tibet and its History (London, 1962), pp. 82–90.Google Scholar

6 See Addy, P., Tibet on the Imperial Chessboard (Delhi, 1984), p. 48;Google Scholar Lamb, A., Britain and Chinese Central Asia (London, 1960), pp. 198,Google Scholar 208–9; Singh, A.K.J., Himalayan Triangle (London, 1988), p. 221;Google Scholar Wright, S.F., Hart and the Chinese Customs (Belfast, 1950), pp. 620–2.Google Scholar

7 See Singh, Himalayan, p. 10Google Scholar.

8 See Waddell, L., Lhasa and its Mysteries (London, 1905), p. 48.Google Scholar

9 For a copy of this treaty see Richardson, Tibet, pp. 268–71.

10 See O'Connor, W.F., On the Frontier and Beyond (London, 1931), p. 78;Google Scholar Richardson, Tibet, pp. 83–5Google Scholar; Singh, Himalayan, pp. 27–32, 61–2Google Scholar; Younghusband to Younghusband snr, 9 Oct. 1903, IOLR: MSS Eur. F 197–145.

11 Singh, Himalayan, p. 249Google Scholar, states that Waddell himself had suggested this.

12 The term “Forward school”, which is closely associated with Curzon's policies on the North-east frontier, refers to those who favoured a British expansionist policy, or at least, active response to the perceived Russian threat. The Younghusband Mission was an example of the policy in practice.

13 Addy, Tibet, pp. 150, 170–1Google Scholar.

14 Notes by Major O'Connor regarding Tibet, 13 Mar. 1908, IOLR: L/PS/7/216–1024.

15 Singh, Himalayan, p. 43; Swinson, A., Beyond the Frontiers (London, 1971), p. 51.Google Scholar

16 Lamb, A., The McMahon Line (London, 1966), i, p. 133.Google Scholar

17 Gyantse Annual Diaries 1908–9, 1910–11, IOLR: L/PS/7/249–1151, 229–923; Gyantse Agency Diary, 5 Jan. 1908, MSS Eur F 157–304b.

18 Gyantse Agency Diary, 4 Apr. 1907, IOLR: L/PS/7/201–901.

19 White to Government of India, 1 May 1907, IOLR: R/1/4/1091 (Personal file of W. F. O'Connor).

20 Lamb, , McMahon, i, p. 136.Google Scholar

21 Telegram, Viceroy to Sect, of State, London, 24 July 1907, IOLR: L/PS/7/203–1258.

22 Foreign Department comment by H. Butler, 23 Mar. 1908, IOLR: R/1/4/1091 Government of India Foreign Department to White, Aug. 1907. IOLR: R/1/4/1091.

23 Gyantse Agency Diary, 5 Apr. 1907, IOLR: L/PS/7/201–901. Satirical songs were a recognised form of political comment or popular expression among the general populace in Tibet.

24 Gyantse Agency Diary, 31 May 1907, IOLR: L/PS/7/203–1203.

25 Although a report from Bailey suggests that he resigned as part of an unrelated scandal in the Lhasa Amban's office; see Gyantse Agency Diary, 9 Apr. 1907, IOLR: L/PS/7/201–901.

26 Annual Report of the Yatung Trade Agency 1907–8, IOLR: L/PS/7/219–1490.

27 But as a contemporary report notes, “Was there ever a pioneer of the forward policy who did not find the trans-border people dying to be annexed?”; Foreign Department margin note, 18 Jan. 1906, IOLR: L/PS/7/173–388.

28 Frontier Confidential Report, 14 Feb. 1908, IOLR: L/PS/7/210–602.

29 See Yatung Agency Diary, Aug. 1909, IOLR: L/PS/7/231–1447.

30 See Coen, T., The Indian Political Service (London, 1971), pp. 20–1;Google Scholar Gould, B.J., The Jewel in the Lotus (London, 1957), p. 3;Google Scholar O'Malley, C.S., The Indian Civil Service 1601–1930 (London, 1965, first published 1930), p. 160.Google Scholar

31 See Blunt, E., The I.C.S. (London, 1937), p. 174;Google Scholar Gould, , Jewel, p. 3;Google Scholar O'Malley, , Indian, p. 160.Google Scholar

32 See Coen, , Indian, p. 35;Google Scholar Spangenberg, E., British Bureaucracy in India (Manohar, 1976), pp. 19,Google Scholar 31–2.

33 Collister, P., Bhutan and the British (London, 1987), p. 117;Google Scholar Morgan, , “Myth”, p. 58.Google Scholar

34 Born in Bareilly (India), on 1 Oct. 1853; died in England on 19 Feb. 1918. Educated at Rugby, Bonn (Germany) and Coopers Hill College of Engineering. Arrived in India on 17 Nov. 1876.

35 Collister, , Bhutan, p. 137;Google Scholar White, J.C., Sikhim and Bhutan (London, 1909), p. vii–viii;Google Scholar White to Morley 31 Jan. 1907, IOLR: L /PS/11/1919–2191; Indian Public Works Department Services 1905–6, V/12/53.

36 Fleming, P., Bayonets, p. 72.Google Scholar

37 Younghusband to Younghusband snr, 19 Jul. 1903, IOLR: MSS Eur F 197/145. Younghusband later contributed a laudatory obituary of White, in Geographical Journal, LI (London, 1918), pp. 407–8.Google Scholar This was however typical, in that personal disputes between members of the “Politicals” were not aired publically.

38 Addy, Tibet, p. 166Google Scholar; Report by Dane, L., 24 Jun. 1907Google Scholar, IOLR: RI/4/1091.

39 Singh, , Himalayan, p. 349.Google Scholar

40 This is one of the recurring themes of White's Sikhim and Bhutan.

41 Collister, , Bhutan, p. 173,Google Scholar Singh, , Himalayan, p. 358;Google Scholar records of White's attempt to gain an increased pension are found in IOLR: L/PS/11/1919/2191.

42 Later Sir C. Bell, K.C.I.E., C.M.G. Born in Calcutta on 31 O c t. 1870; died in Victoria B.C. (Canada) on 8 Mar. 1945. Educated at Winchester and Oxford. Joined the I.C.S. on 18 Sept. 1891 and arrived in India on 3 Nov. 1891, served in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa before he was posted to the Himalayas for health reasons.

43 For details of Bell's career see IOLR: The Bell Collection, MSS Eur F 80, and Bell's History of Service file 1912, 1913, V/12 /12; also see Christie, C., “Sir Charles Bell; a memoir”, Asian Affairs, LXIV (1977), pp. 48–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

44 Edwardes, M., Bound to Exile (London, 1969), p. 196,Google Scholar states that “In the latter part of the nineteenth century … ‘Babu’ began to take on an offensive connotation. Originally … a native clerk who wrote English… it was applied … in particular to the Bengali … something to laugh at”.

45 Report on a journey to Chumbi and Gyantse by C. Bell, 10 July 1908, IOLR: L/PS/7/219–1571.

46 Later Lt-Colonel W. F. O'Connor, C.S.I., C.I.E., C.V.O. Born in County Meath (Ireland) on 30 July 1870; died in London on 14 Dec. 1943. Educated at Charterhouse and Woolwich Military Academy. Joined the Royal Artillery on 14 Feb. 1890 and arrived in India on 27 Feb. 1895.

47 O'Connor, , On the Frontier, pp. 15–50;Google Scholar IOLR: O'Connor's History of Service file, V/12/12.

48 O'Connor, ibid., pp. 47–51; Dane to O'Connor 9 Nov. 1904, IOLR: R/1/4/1091.

49 Later Lt-Colonel F. M. Bailey, C.I.E. Born in Lahore on 3 Feb. 1882; died in Norfolk on 17 Apr. 1967. Educated at Edinburgh Academy, Wellington and Sandhurst. Joined the Indian Army on 28 July 1900 and arrived in India on 19 Oct. 1900. His long career included service with Younghusband to Lhasa and at Gallipoli in WWI, shipwreck and story-book adventures as a British Agent in Tashkent after WWi. He carried out valuable exploration of the path of the Brahmaputra river, in both its western extremes and its eastern descent to India. For the story of Bailey's life, though brief and unreliable on his Trade Agency career in this period, see Swinson, Beyond.

50 Swinson, , Beyond, p. 46.Google Scholar

51 Ibid., p. 42.

52 MacGovern, W.M., To Lhasa in Disguise (London, 1924), p. 39.Google Scholar

53 Swinson, Beyond, p. 42Google Scholar.

54 Bailey to Bailey snr, 26 Sept. 1906 IOLR: MSS Eur F 157/166.

55 See Bailey to Bailey snr, 19 Apr. 1906 re White and Ibid., 20 Aug. 1908 and 3 Jan. 1909 re Bell; (Bailey dated this last letter 3 Jan. 1908 in error) IOLR: MSS Eur F 157/166.

56 Later Major W. L. Campbell, C.I.E. Born in Scotland on 10 May 1880, died in London on 13 Dec. 1937. Educated at Edinburgh Academy and R.M.A. Woolwich. Joined Royal Garrison Artillery on 23 Dec. 1898 and the Indian Army on 19 Nov. 1905.

57 See Personal file of W. L. Campbell, IOLR: R/1/4/1104.

58 Ibid.; Viceroy to Foreign Department, Government of India, 2 Oct. 1906, IOLR: L/PS/7/192–1638.

59 See Application for Appointment, and Younghusband report, 5 Feb. 1908, in IOLR: R/1/4/1104.

60 See Bell reports, 26 Dec. 1906, 9 july 1908, 19 Apr. 1917 and 14 Dec. 1918; IOLR: Ibid.

61 See White, Sikhim, p. 34Google Scholar; Williamson, M.D., Memoirs of a Political Officer's Wife in Tibet, Sikkim and Bhutan (London, 1987), pp. 52,Google Scholar 137–8. For a study of architecture as an aspect of the Raj's prestige, see Jones, R.L., A Fatal Friendship (Delhi, 1985).Google Scholar

62 O'Connor, Frontier, p. 79; Bailey to Bailey snr, 26 Sept. 1907, IOLR: MSS Eur F 157–166.

63 Bailey to Bailey snr, 1 Mar. 1908, IOLR: MSS 157/304b.

64 See IOLR: L/PS/10/139–826 regarding this prevarication.

65 O'Connor to Foreign Department, IOLR: L/PS/7/186–886.

66 A brief examination of the records for this period indicates that there were eleven visitors to Gyantse in 1904–5, four of whom were private travellers, (one of whom died in Gyantse), five in 1906, one of whom was a private traveller, and ten in 1907, including two private travellers. In 1908 and 1909 respectively, there were two and three official visitors; see IOLR: MSS Eur F 157/166 and MSS Eur F 157–304b.

67 Bailey to Bailey snr, 23 Apr. 1906, IOLR: MSS Eur F 157/166.

68 Bailey, F.M., “From the outposts. A quiet day in Tibet”, Blackwoods Magazine, CLXXXIX (1911), p. 271.Google Scholar

69 On 9 Mar. 1906 Telegraph Sergeant Wilson accidently shot a coolie in the buttock and the victim died eleven days later. Gyantse Agency Diary, IOLR: MSS Eur F 157/304b.

70 Several of these are named after Bailey; e.g. Aporia baileyi, Halpe baileyi.

71 Taylor was succeeded by a Mr Pierpoint in August 1906. The original Telegraph Sergeants appear to have been Luff (presumably the same man who took the Dalai Lama into British protection in 1910) and Wilson, who left in July 1906. A Sergeant Hill arrived in June 1907, and a Sergeant Hogg was serving with Luff in November 1907, but the exact details of these positions are probably now impossible to establish.

72 The most notable figure amongst those who served in Tibet was Lieutenant, later Field Marshal Sir, Claude Auchinleck.

73 Bailey to Gow, 22 Nov. 1906, IOLR: L/PS/7/196–2234.

74 See Personal file…, IOLR R/1/4/1091.

75 See Chapman, F.S., Lhasa the Holy City (London, 1937), p. 53.Google Scholar In fact that only occurred during the latter part of 1907 when Major Walker commanded the escort and Lieutenant Bailey was Trade Agent, by which time command problems had been resolved.

76 See various correspondence, IOLR L/PS/7/r98–698; Bailey to Bailey snr, various letters, 1906, IOLR: MSS Eur F 157/166.

77 See Bailey to Bailey srn, 4 Aug. 1907, IOLR: MSS Eur F 157/166.

78 Ibid., 13 Jan. 1908; Viceroy to Sect, of State, London, March 1906, IOLR; L/PS/7/186–594.

79 See F. M. Bailey Mission Diary, IOLR: MSS Eur F 157/199.

80 Younghusband to Bailey snr, 31 Dec. 1904, IOLR: MSS Eur F 157/144.

81 Government of India to Government of Punjab, 9 Dec. 1904, IOLR: L/PS/7/173–360.

82 Personal correspondence, Richardson, H., 19 Oct. 1990CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

83 C. M. Collett report, IOLR: L/PS/11/56–2339.

84 Weekly report of T.J. Chand, 1 Oct. 1906, IOLR: L/PS/7/195–2014.

85 Report of C. Sherring, IOLR: L/PS/7/182–1677.

86 Personal correspondence, Richardson, H., 19 Oct. 1990CrossRefGoogle Scholar; The report of Cassels is in IOLR; L/PS/7/207–1873.

87 See Report of C. Bell, IOLR: L/PS/7/195–211. White reported to the Government of India on 15 Jun. 1907, that “Natives are not allowed to occupy bungalows, otherwise they would be in a short time unfit for Europeans”, IOLR: L/PS/7/203–1164.

88 Most histories of the period repeat the story that the Tibetans did not cut the line as the British had told them it had been erected as a guide to enable them to find their way back to India.

89 Bailey, F.M., China—Tibet—Assam (London, 1945), p. 72.Google Scholar

90 Bailey used money from one account, i.e. road-building, for other purposes, e.g. dak bungalow repairs, if that account were low. Bailey is probably correct in claiming this was common practice, not least to avoid paperwork. See Bailey to Bailey snr, 24 Sept. 1908, IOLR: MSS Eur F 157/166.

91 This incident is mentioned in Bailey's letters to his parents (Ibid.), but I have not located any mention of this in official records.

92 Singh, Himalayan, p. 266Google Scholar.

93 Younghusband to bailey snr, 6 Feb. 1906, IOLR: MSS Eur F 157/144; Swinson, Beyond, pp. 47–50.Google Scholar

94 The murder in 1879 of Cavignari, the British representative in Kabul, is often cited as a factor which discouraged Britain from posting agents in isolated capitals.

95 Bailey to Bailey snr, 23 Apr. 1906, IOLR: MSS Eur F 157/166.

96 Foreign Department to White, 26 May 1906, IOLR: L/PS/7/196–2152.

97 Foreign Department to Bell, 18 Sept. 1908, IOLR: L/PS/7/222/1910.

98 Gyantse Quarterly Trade Report, 31 Jan. 1908, IOLR: L/PS/7/214–652.

99 Gyantse Quarterly Trade Report, 31 Dec. 1906, IOLR: L/PS/7/198–543.

100 Military Report on Tibet, IOLR: L/MIL/17/14–92.

101 Gyantse Agency Diary, 29 Apr. 1909, IOLR: MSS F 157–304.

102 Report of W. L. Campbell, 18 May 1906, IOLR: L/PS/7/197–336.

103 The figures given by Bell differ from those given by Lamb, Britain, pp. 342–3Google Scholar, figures which Lamb notes are unreliable, but they show the 1909–1910 figure to be similar to that of 1900–1901. Curiously Bell notes in this report that trade figures were not kept for the 1906–7 period, so it is difficult to tell the basis on which figures for that year are given. See Gyantse Annual Report 1908–9, IOLR: L/PS/7/229–923.

104 See Report of C. Bell, 17 Nov. 1905, IOLR: L/PS/7/183–1940.

105 See Report of K. K. Singh Pal, 23 Sept. 1906. IOLR: L/PS/7/201–927.

106 Calvert states that “The Tibetans must trade with the Bhotias or starve”, but the reverse would also be true, given the Bhotias' traditional trade patterns, see Report of H. Calvert, IOLR: L/PS/7/207–1873; Also see Lamb, Britain, pp. 5, 56.

107 Chand, T.J. to Foreign Department, 28 Sept. 1906,Google Scholar IOLR: L/PS/7/202–1061.

108 Chand, T.J. to Government of Punjab, 16 Aug. 1906,Google Scholar IOLR: L/PS/7/193–1744.

109 Gyantse Annual Report 1908–9, IOLR: L/PS/7/229–923.

110 Bailey to Bailey snr, 11 Aug. 1906, IOLR: MSS Eur F 157/166; also see Black, C.E.D., “The trade and resources of Tibet”, Asian Review, XXVI (1908), p. 98.Google Scholar

111 A. C. de Righi to Foreign Department, 12 Aug. 1907 and 26 Sept. 1907, IOLR: L/PS/7/205–1574 and L/PS/7/207–1872.

112 M. S. Bhatt petition to O'Connor, IOLR: L/PS/7/205–1534.

113 Quarterly Trade Report, 30 Sept. 1907, IOLR: L/PS/7/214–652.

114 Even the need for a Trade Agency in Western Tibet is difficult to account for. Lamb describes it as a gesture to Louis Dane, a former Resident in Kashmir (1901–3) who saw it as a means of ensuring that Ladakh and the Punjab stayed loyal. See Lamb, Britain, p. 307; Younghusband states that the original suggestion for the Ryder-Rawling's mission to Gartok came from Dane, see comment by F. Younghusband on Ryder, C.H., “Exploration and survey with the Tibet Frontier Commission… ”, Geographical Journal, XXVI (1905), p. 391.Google Scholar

115 Gyantse Quarterly Trade Report, 31 Mar. 1907, IOLR: L/PS/7/203–1249.

116 Bell, C., Portrait of a Dalai Lama (London, 1987, first published London, 1946), pp. 71–2.Google Scholar

117 Dalai Lama to Bell, forwarded to Foreign Department 28 Sept. 1910, IOLR: L/PS/7/244–1608.

118 This is not to suggest Bailey was then attached to British Intelligence, however. While exploring unknown territory in Assam during leave in 1911, he was forced to return when his leave was up. Had he been on intelligence duty he would surely have been permitted to continue.

119 Personal correspondence, H. Richardson, 19 Oct. 1990.

120 Addy, Tibet, p. 86Google Scholar; Lamb, Britain, p. 23sGoogle Scholar. A number of these reports are to be found in the IOLR L/PS/7 files.

121 Lamb, Ibid., pp. 150, 235. Again these reports can be found in the IOLR L/PS/7 files.

122 Addy, Tibet, p. 86Google Scholar; Singh, Himalayan, p. 35Google Scholar; O'Connor to Foreign Department, 23 Dec. 1904 and 24 Mar. 1905, IOLR: L/PS/7/173–361 and L/PS/7/177–860 respectively. There were six British officials in Tibet in the employ of the Chinese Customs Service, between 1890 and 1907; J. H. Hart, W. R. M'd Parr, V. C. Henderson, F. E. Taylor and briefly Messrs Holison and Montgomery. They do not appear to have been allowed to visit Lhasa.

123 For example, Gyantse Agency Diary, 23 May 1909, records that the half-brother gave Bailey news of the Dalai Lama's whereabouts. IOLR: MSS Eur F 157/304.

124 Addy, Tibet, p. 86Google Scholar.

125 Gyantse Agency Diary, 3 July 1905, IOLR; L/PS/7/180–1344.

126 See Government of India Foreign Department proceedings August 1904, nos. 1–2, IOLR; R / 1 / 1 / 303.

127 Gyantse Agency Diary, 24 Nov. 1908, IOLR: MSS Eur F 157/304. Also see Fatal, Jones A., p. 99Google Scholar on the subject of servants as spies.

128 E.g. Bell to Foreign Department, 13 Dec. 1906, refers to “an agent whom I sent to Lhasa”; IOLR: L/PS/7/197.

129 White to Foreign Department, 28 Nov. 1905, refers to “ the very unsatisfactory medium of secret agents”, IOLR:L/PS/7/183.

130 E.g. Gyantse Agency Diary, 10 Mar. 1908, “Got secret letter from Tashilumpo”; IOLR: MSS Eur F. 157/197.

131 Gyantse Agency Diary, 15 Oct. 1905 and 24 Oct. 1905, IOLR: L/PS/7/183–1868 and L / PS / 183 –1834 respectively.

132 Gyantse Agency Diary, 25 July 1905, IOLR: L/PS/7/180–1439; also see Viceroy to Sect, of State for India 29 July 1905, IOLR: L/PS/7/17–1214. “Slate letters” were used to convey confidential messages in Tibet. They were designed to be easily erasable in the event of any threat of their falling into the wrong hands.