Britain and Tibet 1765-1947

HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies Volume 26 Number 1 People and Environment: Conservation and Management of Natural Article 16 Resources across the Himalaya No. 1 & 2 2006 Britain and Tibet 1765-1947: A Select Annotated Bibliography of British Relations with Tibet and the Himalayan States, Including Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan by Julie Marshall; reviewed by Peter Hansen Peter Hansen Worcester Polytechnic Institute Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya Recommended Citation Hansen, Peter. 2006. Britain and Tibet 1765-1947: A Select Annotated Bibliography of British Relations with Tibet and the Himalayan States, Including Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan by Julie Marshall; reviewed by Peter Hansen. HIMALAYA 26(1). Available at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol26/iss1/16 This Research Article is brought to you for free and open access by the DigitalCommons@Macalester College at DigitalCommons@Macalester College. It has been accepted for inclusion in HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Macalester College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BRITAIN AND TIBET 1765-1947: A SELECT ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BRITISH RELATIONS WITH TIBET AND THE HIMALAYAN STATES INCLUDING NEPAL, SIKKIM AND BHUTAN JULIE MARSHALL Britain and Tibet 1765-1947 is an outstanding is given to boundary questions throughout, and scholarly reference forthe history ofBritish colonialism the bibliography concludes with references to Sino- in the Himalayas and relations with Tibet. Julie G Indian border disputes of the 1960s. Even scholars Marshall, formerly head librarian and now a research familiar with specialized topics will find obscure or associate in Asian Studies at La Trobe University, unusual sources, and Marshall's bibliography will previously published a shorter bibliography, Britain become the definitive reference for British relations and Tibet 1765-1947: the Background to the India- with Tibet up to 1947. China Border Dispute, in 1977. That work has been Focus on British relations with the region is superseded by this revised and much expanded simultaneously the strength and weakness of this bibliography that is sumptuously produced and bibliography. The introduction summarizes its expensively priced by RoutledgeCurzon. The new standpoint thus: "The history of the period 1765- volume includes scholarly theses and material 1947 in the Himalayan Region is the history of published 1974-2003, earlier material excluded from Britain's gradual extension of territory and influence the previous bibliography, and new sections onJapan to the southern borders of Tibet" (xx). The sheer and Soviet Russia's interest in Tibet. volume of work published from this perspective gives Marshall embraces the wide range of areas affected disproportionate attention to Bogle, Turner, and by Britain's relations with Tibet over nearly two other explorers and diplomats, the Younghusband centuries. Material on other Himalayan states is Expedition, the delimitation and demarcation of the included in chronological and thematic chapters on boundaries of British India, the McMahon Line, and Nepal, Ladakh, Kumaon, Garhwal, Sikkim, Bhutan, the "Great Game." In some ways, this compilation is and Assam to the extent that British policy towards the summation of the imperial archive of knowledge these areas was influenced by British relations with about Tibet and the Himalayas produced under the Tibet. The author's introduction, a foreword by Alastair British Raj. The imperial/colonial provenance of so Lamb, and editorial introductions to chapters and many works in the bibliography remains important sub-sections provide excellent capsule summaries because so much of what is known about Tibet and and keep the focus on British exploration, military the Himalayas during this period is only retrievable conflicts, treaties and diplomatic relations. Nearly all through and filtered by this archive. In the foreword, of the 4020 items are annotated, and some include Alastair Lamb suggests that perhaps the majority of cross-references to book reviews. All works were users of the bibliography will be engaged in research published in European languages. Special attention into this question: was Tibet an independent entity or part of the Chinese empire 7 Since the bibliography only available in mimeographed hand lists or well- excludes works in Chinese or Himalayan languages, thumbed card catalogs of specialized institutions. it is not clear that this question is answerable based Some bibliographies are migrating to the World on the works in the bibliography. However, it is Wide Web which holds the promise of a format that clear that Marshall's attention to the many English- is easily kept up-to-date. Yet websites can disappear language works written "against the grain" of empire and institutions sometimes cancel subscriptions to over the last thirty years exceeds the limitations of the eBooks. Whether on the web or between hard covers, older imperial archive and will significantly improve this bibliography will remain an indispensable the answers that anyone using the bibliography is resource for anyone interested in Britain and Tibet likely to give to historical questions about Tibet The new edition of "Britain and Tibet 1765-1947" is Peter Hansen teaches at Worcester Polytechnic Institute available in hardcover or as an eBook, which should and is working on a book on the history oj mountains make it even more widely available. Not too long ago, and modernity since the eighteenth century. bibliographical reference works of this quality were TIBETAN RENAISSANCE: T ANTRIC BUDDHISM IN THE REBIRTH OF TIBETAN CULTURE The Buddhism of the Himalayan highlands has Such was the situation Tibetans encountered been abundantly explored in the past thirty years; in medieval India. As Chapter Two depicts, the the history of Tibet, less so, and still less scholarly domestic Tibetan scene was also shot through with attention has been given to studying how religion disorder and with competition among new religious has influenced Tibetan history. Ronald Davidson's and social groupings. The Tibetan King Lang Darma Tibetan Renaissance: Tantric Buddhism in the Rebirth had persecuted Buddhist institutions, most likely to oj Tibetan Culture helps fill this gap, taking up a quash competition for resources and bolster revenues particularly thorny and, not surprisingly, under- (66), and was murdered by a Buddhist monk. The New York: Columbia studied chapter of the history of Tibetan culture, the problem of his succession divided the realm and in the absence of an established polity, lawless violence niversity Press, period from 950-1200. 005. 596 p., wi bib., This volume follows on Davidson's previous offering, and brigandry ensued. Chapter Three shows that ildex, and illus. an excellent account of the social circumstances and while the Eastern Vinaya monks were able to re-found outflows of the rise of tantra in India. Summarizing monastic institutions, monastic Mahayana Buddhism and advancing this work in Chapter One, Davidson could not provide the "magical authority" or "rituals proposes that in the culturally and politically of dominion" (16) that tantra could. However, fragmented wake of the dissolution of Harsavardana's while tantra had the requisite power, its authenticity empire (607-647 CE), tantric discourses were able was often in question, and thus translators became to simultaneously access and undermine the power vital links between the ancient established Indian of other religious elements. The mandala framework Buddhism and the newly emerging Tibetan forms. was flexible, expandable, and readily adaptable to While the cultural importance of the 10 tsa ba feudal political organization (31). is well-documented, beginning in Chapter Four.

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