Narratives of the Mission of George Boggle to Tibet and of the Journey of Thomas Manning to Lhasa

When Mr. Thomas Manning on October 16, 1811 mounted his horse at Paro in Bhutan, began one of the most remark¬able journeys to Tibet undertaken by any foreigner. Thirty-two years earlier Mr. George Bogle of the Bengal Civil Service had officially visited the Teshoo or Panchen Lama at Tashillunpo Monastery in Central Tibet, thus becoming the first Englishman to enter Tibet and also, as it turned out, probably the first Englishman to marry a Tibetan.

The purpose and results of Manning’s and Bogle’s missions were different. Bogle sought to establish formal relations between the British East India Company and the Government of Tibet. He not only became an intimate friend of the third Panchen Lama but he provided with a firsthand report on conditions in Tibet and attitudes of the Tibetans. Mr. Manning travelled on his own, driven by intellectual curiosity. He moved from Lhasa quickly in order to save his life and although he lived until 1840, he did not care to leave any detailed account of his journey. While Mr. Manning’s narration is entertaining and amusing, Bogle’s is an indispensable source in the study of Early Anglo-Tibetan Political and Commercial relations and represents a fine description of Tibet and the Tibetans.

The journals and papers of these two gentlemen were collected, edited and published by Clements R. Markham in 1876. The present volume is a reprint of the second edition published in 1879. This book provides us with a wealth of information on Tibet.

The appendix to this volume contains some of the earliest European accounts of Tibet by the Jesuits Grueber and Ippolito Desideri and the Capuchin Francesco della Penna.