SYNOPSIS : YOUNGHUSBAND EXPEDITION 1903-04

INTRODUCTION

1. The British expedition to Tibet during 1903 & 1904 was an invasion of
Tibet by British Indian forces, seeking to prevent the Russian Empire from
interfering in Tibetan affairs & thus gaining a base in one of the buffer states
surrounding British India. It was an expedition carried out in the peak of
winters over the Himalayan ranges involving a considerably large mov of men
& mtrl into an unchartered territory. This expedition was unique in its conduct
& the implications it had for the various players involved.

AIM

2. The aim of the talk is to acquaint the student offrs with the conduct of
the Younghusband Expedition of 1903-04 & draw out lessons from it.

SCOPE

3. The talk shall be delivered in the following parts:-

(a) Part I. Reasons for the British to undertake the expedition.

(b) Part II. Conduct of the expedition.

(c) Part III. Lessons learnt & implications.

PART I : REASONS FOR THE BRITISH TO UNDERTAKE THE

EXPEDITION

4. Great Game. At the end of the 19th century & early 20th century,
Russia & Britian were two superpowers engaged in a bitter rivalry to dominate
Asia. The Russians had gained considerable influence in Afghanistan &
occupied large tracts of land in the strategically imp Pamir region. The British
considered them a growing threat to British interests in Asia in gen & India in
particular.

5. Lord Curzon. While the Great Game was being pursued by both
parties in earnest, Lord Curzon assumed viceroyalty of British India in 1903.
At the young age of 38 yrs, he was an aggressive diplomat & a proclaimed
Russophobe. He appre Tibet to be the new frontier in the Great Game &
decided to est British presence before the Russians. He apch the Dalai Lama
for trade agreements, however he recd no response.

6. Col FE Younghusband. He was a veteran player of the Great Game

at 40 yrs of age & very well known to Lord Curzon. He was selected to lead a
trade expedition to Khamba Dzong in Tibet in Apr 1903 & meet the delegates
from Lhasa sent by Dalai Lama to finalise an agreement. However the
delegates were never sent from Lhasa & Col Younghusband returned back
empty handed.

7. Armed Expedition. Lord Curzon perceived that this was being done
under influence of Russian agents by the Dalai Lama & decided to send an
armed expedition to Tibet to secure trade concessions. Thus, under the
leadership of Col Younghusband an armed expediton was dispatched. The
armed escort of approx 2000 soldiers, several thousand coolies & pack
animals was provided under comd of Brig Gen Mac Donald.

PART II : CONDUCT OF THE EXPEDITION

8. The mil expedition plan was completed in four ph as follows:-

(a) Ph I. 15 Oct 03 to 24 Mar 04 - occupation of Chumbi valley.

(b) Ph II. 25 Mar 04 to 9 Jul 04 - adv to Gyantse.
(c) Ph III. 10 Jul 04 to 03 Aug 04 - adv & capture Lhasa.
(d) Ph IV. 23 Sep onwards finalization of treaty & return.

9. The expedition commenced its march from Gangtok in Sikkim, crossed

Jelep La & entered the Chumbi Valley on 12 Dec 03. It contd to stay in the
Chumbi Valley upto 24 Mar 1904 prep the lgs for further adv. No resistance
was offered by Tibetans till this time.

10. Battle of Guru. During their march ahead of Chumbi Valley

towards Gyantse, a 3000 strong Tibetan force confronted the British at the
pass of Guru on 31 Mar 04. Despite the Tibetans having extinguished their
fuses of Matchlock rifles the British cdr ordered his tps to forcibly disarm the
Tibetan force leading to a scuffle finally resulting to firing. British forces used
the Maxim Machine Guns & killed over 700 Tibetans.

11. Battle of Red Gorge. At the Red Idol Gorge Tibetans had
occupied def posns along the route of the expeditionary force. On 09 Apr 04,
the force reached the gorge & after hy fighting the force could clear the posn
& resume adv.

12. Storming of Gyantse Dzong. Having waited at Gyantse Dzong for

the arr of Tibetan delegation, the British force decided to mov to Lhasa as per
the terms given to Dalai Lama. The Gyantse Dzong was a massively well
protected fortress, which possessed the best Tibetan tps & was a forbidding
posn over the valley below. The ops to capture it took over four days which
incl breaching of its walls by contd shelling by arty & aslt through the breach.
It was finally captured on the morning of 07 Jul 1904.

13. Arr at Lhasa. The force marched on to Lhasa & Col Younghusband arr
in Lhasa on 03 Aug 1904 to discover that the 13th Dalai Lama had fled to
Urga, the capital of Outer Mongolia. But Younghusband
persuaded/intimidated the acting Regent to sign a treaty in presence of the
Chinese rep, the “Amban’, known subsequently as the Anglo-Tibetan
Agreement of 1904.

14. Terms of Treaty. It allowed the British to trade freely in Yadong,

Gyantse, & Gartok. It called for Tibet to pay a large indemnity of 75 Lakh
rupees & ceding the Chumbi Valley to Britain until it was paid. It formally
recognized the Sikkim-Tibet border. It accepted Chinese suzerianity over
Tibet with a condition that it would not have any relations with any other
foreign powers.

PART III : LESSONS LEARNT & IMPLICATIONS

15. Lessons Learnt.

(a) Timing of Ops. Russia was engaged in war with Japan in

early 1904 & it was evident that it could not offer any asst to the
Tibetans.

(b) Plg & Prep. The tps chosen for the expedition were Pathans &
Gurkhas hailing from mtns. The force prep, trained & accln itself at
Gangtok before embarking on the msn.

(c) Deception. The Tibetans expected the force to mov from N

Sikkim, however the force mov from the NE Sikkim through Jelep La.
The Tibetan resistance org opp N Sikkim had to be disbanded & could
not be reorg. Thus the force reached Chumbi Valley w/o any
resistance.

(d) Obsts. The expedition undertook ops in harshest of trn in most

difficult climatic conditions. The impregnable Himalayas were crossed
over in mid December. The fast flowing Tsang Po was crossed during
summers when the current is considered to be too strong. It shows that
a determined en can overcome all obsts incl natural barriers.

(e) Psy Ops. The aim of the British cdr was to demonstrate the
mil might of the British, hence he used his maxim machine guns even
on retreating Tibetans to cause max casualties. Thereafter, the
Tibetans retreated easily in other actions fought.

(f) Maint of Aim. The aim of the msn was to comprehensively

defeat the Tibetans & conclude a treaty. Though the initial mandate to
 the msn was to adv up to Gyantse & reach trade agreements, Col
Younghusband decided to press on up to Lhasa & managed to secure
the concessions.

(g) Lgs. The lgs aspects were never lost sight of during the entire
campaign. The force mov ahead only when they had secured / recd
adequate supplies, incl res. It stayed on in the Chumbi Valley till the
stks were build up for further adv.

(h) Lack of Mil Ldrs. The Tibetans lacked experienced mil ldrs as
a result they lost all the engagements despite having superior Nos &
fighting in own trn. They were distr in pockets & engaged piecemeal by
the British. They could never exploit the British vulnearability of
extended L of C.

16. Implications. This campaign was more of a win-win sit for all parties.
Some salient implications are as follows :-

(a) Tibet. Tibet did loose in the campaign however at the strategic
level it only gained. China was never accepted or respected as a
suzerain power by the Tibetans. Its failure to protect Tibet from the
invasion only reinforced this view. The terms of treaty were never
honoured by the Tibetans & British were never in a posn to enforce
them. British forces withdrew from Chumbi valley & the money was
never paid.

(b) China. Though the Chinese could do little to prevent the

invasion, they gained by deposing the Dalai Lama who they termed a
deserter when he fled from Lhasa. The British ack Tibet as a part of
China with a condition that no third power would be allowed in the
Tibetan affairs.

(c) Britain. The msn achieved what it had set out to. It had put
Tibetans, Chinese & Russians in place. With this expedition they put to
rest any ambitions of Russia & brought the Great Game to a favourable
conclusion.

(d) Bhutan. The governor of the Tongsa province who acted as

mediator betn British & Dalai Lama, Sir Ugyen Wangchuk was suitably
rewarded by the British for his services & he with their help became the
ruler of Bhutan replacing the Namgyal dynasty. His lineage contd to
rule Bhutan till they became a democracy.

(e) Present India.

(i) The Tibetans never accepted China as their masters &

behaved as such. The Chinese hold over them was ltd to the
presence of their rep, the Amban who was at best allowed to
exist. The British after this conquest could have treated Tibet as
an independent state, however they deliberately accepted
 Chinese as suzerains to prevent any third party to influence
Tibetans at a later stage.

(ii) The British vac the Chumbi Valley without the Tibetans
honoring their terms. As on date, Chumbi Valley presents the
single biggest threat to the vulnerable Siliguri corridor.

(iii) In the treaty the British demarcated the bdy betn Sikkim &
Tibet, however they deliberately left the western areas opp
Arunachal vague. Later on in 1914 their atmt to demarcate the
bdy into Inner & Outer Tibet with outer Tibet being part of British
India outside the cont of Chinese was never ratified by China.
This legal lacuna could have very well been avoided if this bdy
demarcation was done in 1904 where the Chinese Amban was
party to the proceedings.

(iv) The Indo China war of 1962 would have been avoided
had the British treated Tibet w/o involving the Chinese or
demarcated the bdy as per their terms in presence of Chinese
rep.

CONCLUSION

17. The British expedition of 1903-04 led Col Younghusband successfully

completed its task & gained the necessary concessions from Tibet. It has
many lessons which would benefit students of mil history. Militarily this
expedition proved that no barrier stands betn a determined force & its obj. The
implications of this expedition have & will continue to have a significant
bearing on Sino Indian relations.