Adventurous spirit

WHEN MEN AND MOUNTAINS MEET - The explorers of the Western Himalayas 1820-75: John Keay; Harper-Collins Publishers India Pvt. Ltd., 7/16, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002. Rs. 150.

THE EARLY exploration of the Western Himalayas had no colonisation motivation. As regards British interest in opening up the long mountain range, as is said in the introduction to the book, was the desire for the formidable boundary and the 300-mile-wide knot of mountains met their requirements. Its strategic significance speaks of the interest of five countries - Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, China and India. It is in this context the author says: ``In most parts of the world the exploration of traders, missionaries and geographers paved the way for political penetration. In the Western Himalayas it was more the other way round.''

Though Buddhist monks were quite familiar in their travel from India to China, the real thrust came from the account of Marco Polo crossing the Pamirs. In 1808 A.D., according to the author, the possibility of Napoleon attempting Alexander the Great's march, made the British undertake a survey. It was Thomas Moore's ``Lalla Rookh, an Oriental Romance'' along with Marsden's edition of Marco Polo and Elphinstone's ``Caubul'' that formed the basis of other Himalayan travellers.

The East India Company's interest was stirred by the efforts of the three Governors-General - Warren Hastings, Cornwallis and Wellesley - who made the British a great power in the subcontinent. Their aim in the Himalayan region was not impelled as much by territorial acquisition as to expand commercial profitable activities. The operation of William Moorcroft was inspired by trade with Central Asia and envisaged a network of trading interests by the British which could bring prosperity and also provide a land defence.

Three other travellers were Baron Carl von Hugel, John Henderson and Godfrey Thomas Vigne. The meeting of the three took place near Baltistan. The book is replete with these explorers' encounter with the Rajas and royal heads of those regions. Based on the reports of these, exploration of Western Himalayas was directed to opening up a north-south route from India to Turkestan through Ladakh. The travel of Alexander Gardiner was remarkable because ``single-handed, without official support and without any geographical training, he had by 1831 A.D. explored the Western Himalayas.'' Lord Hardinge had a fascination for Simla because of the climate similar to England. It was in 1834 that the Surveyor-General, George Everest, was measuring a base line at Dehra Dun. According to the calculation Mount K2 was 28,287 ft. high, K1 25,600 ft and Mount Everest was recognised as the world's highest in 1852.

Along with the adventurous spirit of the early pioneer explorers we have interesting details of the idiosyncracies and angularities of them in the backdrop of the political motivation of the countries in the region. On the whole it provides a historical background to the political, commercial and trading objectives and how the travel accounts of the early explorers served the aims of the rulers.

SVK

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