The great game: Russia's role in the Persian Empire and Tibet

Abstract

Formerly Professor of History and Central Asian Studies at the Panjab University, Chandigarh, Parshotam Mehra has written largely on India's northern frontiers and relations with Tibet and China. His publications include The North‐West Frontier Drama 1945–47 (1998), An ‘Agreed’ Frontier, Ladakh and India's Northern Borders (1992) and The McMahon Line and After (1974). Two of his books, From Conflict to Conciliation: Tibetan Polity Re‐visited and The Younghusband Expedition, an Interpretation (2^nd edition), are due to appear later this year.

Notes

For more details see Mehra (1969); also see McKay (2003).

Alexandre Andreyev, a well‐known Russian scholar in the field, has, in a recent study (2003), described Tsarist policy towards Lhasa as at once “vacillating and wary”, in sharp contrast to the Soviets who were “active, purposeful and coherent”. See review in Asian Affairs, XXXV, no. I, March, 2004, p. 69.

According to Andreyev, the ostensible purpose of the Consulate was to establish “direct and regular intercourse” between St Petersburg and Lhasa; the decision to open it had been taken by the State Council in November 1901 in response to a Tibetan petition. The Consul, Budda Robdanov, was a confidant of Dorjief on whose recommendation he was appointed. His arrival at Kandin (September 1903) was delayed due to “bureaucratic procrastination”. The Consulate was abolished in October 1904. For details, see Andreyev (2003, p. 35). Also see Schimmelpenninck van der Oyer (2002, p. 50).