Colonel Younghusband's mission to Lhasa 1904: parliament, the British government and the 'forward policy' in Tibet

Abstract

This thesis takes as its focus the Mission led by Colonel Younghusband in 1904 and despatched to Lhasa by the Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon; and places it in the context of British suspicion of Russia's ambitions in Central Asia at the close of the nineteenth and the opening of the twentieth century. It lays particular emphasis on British public and parliamentary perceptions of Russia and her intentions towards Britain's interests on the frontiers of-India, and traces the devious tactics employed by the Unionist Government of A J Balfour in avoiding Parliamentary scrutiny of its Tibetan policy as long as possible. It demonstrates the embarrassment of Government spokesmen in both Houses, when finally debate had to be conceded, and argues that this was in itself a reflection of the Government's own deep anxieties about Curzon's 'forward policy’ in Tibet. The role of a. retired Indian civil servant. Sir Henry Cotton, in stimulating opposition and - co-ordinating the agitation both in the press and in Parliament is explored, and finally the extent to which Cotton influenced the reversal of British policy in Tibet by the incoming Liberal Government of December 1905 is indicated. The main primary sources for the thesis are Hansard and selected organs of the newspaper and periodical press.