Abstract: The file contains correspondence related to a forced landing by an American aircraft in Tibet on 30 November 1943, and the subsequent rescue of the airmen and their return to India. A detailed account of the incident can be found in a letter written by George Sheriff, Head of the British Mission in Lhasa, on folios 17-24. Also included in the file are extracts from reports from the British Mission, which either relate to the aforementioned incident or to rumours of aircraft sighted over Tibet. Brief observations on Chinese-Tibetan relations can also be found within.Additional correspondents featured in the file are the External Affairs Department of the Government of India, and the Secretary to the United States Representative in India.The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 33; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence regarding the supply of arms, ammunition and training by the British to the Tibetan Government. The details of the 1921 agreement between Britain and Tibet, the quantity of munitions to be supplied, and the intended use of the arms (for internal policing or external policy) are debated throughout the correspondence.The principal correspondents are: the Political Officer at Sikkim (Frederick Williamson, later Basil Gould); the Resident at Sikkim (James Leslie Rose Weir); the British Mission to Peking [Beijing]; and the Government of India Foreign and Political Department. The file also contains notes and memoranda on the above, made by the Foreign Office and the India Office Political Department. A number of translated telegrams from the Chief Ministers of the Tibetan Government, and Thub-bstan-rgya-mtsho, Dalai Lama XIII (1876-1933), are also found within the file.Correspondence dated 1932-1933 concerns the following: clashes between Tibet and China at Kanze [Ganzi] in eastern Tibet; a request for the final supply of arms under the 1921 agreement; the financial situation of the Tibetan Government; and Chinese requests for details of the 1921 agreement.Correspondence dated 1936-1939 concerns the following: Sir Basil Gould's mission to Lhasa; rejection by the Tibetan Government of Britain's intervention in the settlement of the dispute with the Tashi Lama; the supply of munitions and training of Tibetan officers in India; and an incident in which the brother of a Tibetan trade agent passed arms to China.Correspondence dated 1943-1947 concerns the following: the provision of arms and ammunition beyond the amount specified in the 1921 agreement; the extension of Government of India control in areas immediately south of the Indo-Tibet frontier (McMahon line); and the assessment of the importance of Tibet to the security of India's north-eastern frontier. A memorandum found at folio 70 provides a summary of all of the arms supplied following the 1921 agreement; folios 33-68 consist of extracts from intelligence reports, documenting arms traffic within Tibet; and a Chiefs of Staff Committee Report at folios 16-26 provides an assessment of Russian and Chinese military threats to Tibet, and possible Tibetan and British responses.The file includes dividers which give lists of correspondence references contained in the file by year. These are placed at the end of the correspondence (folios 2-3).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 320; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An external leather cover wraps around the documents; the front inside of the cover has been foliated as f 1; the back of the external cover has therefore not been foliated. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-319; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: This volume is a diary of Sir Arthur Hirtzel (then Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for India) for the year 1906. Dated entries start from 7 May and end at 30 December (some dates in between these dates do not have any entries). The entries are usually brief (although entries for some dates run over into the space for the entry for the next date).Hirtzel’s diary entries mostly concern John Morley (Viscount Morley of Blackburn, Secretary of State for India, referred to as ‘J.M.’ throughout), and mainly record the following: conversations between Hirtzel and Morley; the views and opinions expressed by Morley on various issues, mainly relating to India and India Office business, and on various individuals (as recorded by Hirtzel); meetings between Morley and various individuals; Cabinet and Committee meetings and other events attended by Morley; and Morley’s moods, feelings and health (as recorded by Hirtzel).The diary records meetings between Morley and individuals including: King Edward VII (9 May, folio 54 verso; 22 October, folio 105 verso; 24 November, folio 115 recto); the Prince of Wales (the future King George V) (10 May, folio 56 recto); Gopal Krishna Gokhale (9 May, folio 54 verso; 23 May, folio 58 verso; 31 May, folio 62 recto; and 1 August, folio 79 verso); George Nathaniel Curzon (7 July, folio 73 recto; 29 October, folio 107 verso); and Henry Campbell-Bannerman (Prime Minister) (3 September, folio 90 verso).It includes entries relating to discussions between Hirtzel and Morley regarding issues including: Morley’s proposal to put a native Indian judge on his own Council (17 July, folio 75 verso); and the Government of India’s relations with Tehran, and Morley’s resolve that the Government of India should not be regarded as an independent power (4 September, 92 recto; and 12 September 94 recto).The ‘Memoranda’ section at the start of the diary contains notes by Hitzel regarding Morley receiving his seals of office as Secretary of State for India and appointing Hirtzel as his Private Secretary, and Morley’s views on the following: the military administration question, Tibet, Afghanistan, Aden, the Defence Committee, Lord Kitchener, and the Partition of Bengal.The volume itself is a
Blackwood’s Desk Diaryfor 1906, published by Chas. Straker & Sons, Ltd., London. It includes printed information at the front and the back, such as an almanack [almanac], Post Office regulations, a list of foreign currencies and their value in ‘English’ money, a list of public museums and places of interest in London, and a list of country bankers and their London agents and the market days of each town. There are also advertisements for various products and hotels at the front and back of the volume.Pages (not folios) in the diary which relate to press cuttings in the Sir Arthur Hirtzel Press Cuttings volume [Mss Eur D1090/6], are noted in the Press Cuttings volume.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 245; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.