The British in Tibet

When British troops crossed the border between British controlled India and Tibet, the Tibetans repeatedly asked them to leave. The British wanted to negotiate a new trade deal, but the Tibetans refused. As a result, British troops marched further and further into Tibet. In 1903 they went no further than Khamba Dzong, but in 1904 the British returned determined to get what they wanted. By August 1904 they had reached Lhasa.

British column approaching Tuna
British troops and supplies crossing the Tang La to Tuna in March 1904.
Camp at Phari Dzong
This panoramic photograph of the British camp at Phari Dzong shows the vast numbers of people and animals involved in the Mission.

The Tibetan, Chinese and British sources that record the Mission to Tibet, all record different versions of events. Despite this we know a number of things:

  • The British made camp at Khamba Dzong, Phari Dzong, Tuna, Karo La, Gyantse, Nagartse, and Pethi Dzong.
  • The British killed and wounded many hundreds of Tibetan soldiers at Chumi Shonko near Tuna in March 1904 (known as Guru in English) and many more died in battle in and around Gyantse between May and July.
  • Monasteries and estates were looted and sometimes destroyed as the British tried to take control of important towns and locations. Examples include, Nenying Monastery (looted and destroyed), Tsechen Monastery (looted and destroyed), Gyantse Dzong and Monastery (looted and partially destroyed), Phala Estate (looted and destroyed), Changlo Estate (looted).
  • The Tibetans finally agreed to a new treaty with Britain when the troops reached Lhasa. It was signed in the Potala by Ganden Tripa and Colonel Younghusband on 7th September 1904. It was quickly overturned by the British Government; they said Younghusband had made too many demands.

The photographs shown here – like other sources – can only give a partial picture of what happened when the British invaded Tibet.

Tuna Camp and Chomolhari in distance
The British camped at Tuna for several months during winter, as the weather improved the troops began their march into Tibet.
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When British troops crossed the border between British controlled India and Tibet, the Tibetans repeatedly asked them to leave. The British wanted to negotiate a new trade deal, but the Tibetans refused. As a result, British troops marched further and further into Tibet. In 1903 they went no further than Khamba Dzong, but in 1904 the British returned determined to get what they wanted. By August 1904 they had reached Lhasa.

British column approaching Tuna
British troops and supplies crossing the Tang La to Tuna in March 1904.
Camp at Phari Dzong
This panoramic photograph of the British camp at Phari Dzong shows the vast numbers of people and animals involved in the Mission.

The Tibetan, Chinese and British sources that record the Mission to Tibet, all record different versions of events. Despite this we know a number of things:

  • The British made camp at Khamba Dzong, Phari Dzong, Tuna, Karo La, Gyantse, Nagartse, and Pethi Dzong.
  • The British killed and wounded many hundreds of Tibetan soldiers at Chumi Shonko near Tuna in March 1904 (known as Guru in English) and many more died in battle in and around Gyantse between May and July.
  • Monasteries and estates were looted and sometimes destroyed as the British tried to take control of important towns and locations. Examples include, Nenying Monastery (looted and destroyed), Tsechen Monastery (looted and destroyed), Gyantse Dzong and Monastery (looted and partially destroyed), Phala Estate (looted and destroyed), Changlo Estate (looted).
  • The Tibetans finally agreed to a new treaty with Britain when the troops reached Lhasa. It was signed in the Potala by Ganden Tripa and Colonel Younghusband on 7th September 1904. It was quickly overturned by the British Government; they said Younghusband had made too many demands.

The photographs shown here – like other sources – can only give a partial picture of what happened when the British invaded Tibet.

Tuna Camp and Chomolhari in distance
The British camped at Tuna for several months during winter, as the weather improved the troops began their march into Tibet.
← PreviousNext →

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Tsering Youdon is the Program Manager at 108 Peace Institute. She has 6 years of experience as a project officer and program coordinator in the Central Tibetan Administration’s Nepal branch. Her expertise includes planning, designing, and monitoring projects and supporting the capacity building of local organizations and individuals. Tsering is an MBA graduate from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in New York.

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Tenzin Donzey is a Program Manager at the 108 Peace Institute. She has served in the Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR), Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) as a Project Officer and Tibet Support Groups’ Liaison Officer. Tenzin has extensive experience in planning, designing, and managing programs. She is a recipient of the Tibetan Scholarship Program under which she obtained an MBA from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), New York.

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Lobsang Sangay is a Senior Visiting Fellow at East Asian Legal Studies Program, Harvard Law School. He was a democratically elected Sikyong (President) of the Central Tibetan Administration and served two terms (2011-21). Lobsang completed his BA and LLB from Delhi University. He did his LLM ’95 and SJD ‘04 from Harvard Law School and received the Yong K. Kim’ 95 Memorial Prize for excellence in dissertation and contributions to the understanding of East Asia at the Harvard Law School. While at Harvard, akin to track III, he organized seven rounds of meetings/conferences between Tibetan, Western, and Chinese scholars, most notably, the first-ever meeting between HH the Dalai Lama and Chinese scholars and students.

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