India and Tibet : vol.1 / Page 90 (Color Image)

0090	India and Tibet : vol.1

64 THE CONVENTION WITH CHINA

the monks at Lhasa numbered 19,100, of whom 16,500

were concentrated in three great monasteries, and they

were vigorous and formidable in a riot, having attacked

the Chinese in 1810 and 1844 and the Nepalese in 1883.

R'Ir. Nolan, with his long experience on this frontier,

had, as events have shown, most accurately gauged the

situation. The Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Charles Elliott,

considered that his report showed that the improvement

hoped for from conciliation and forbearance had not taken

place in the two seasons during which the mart had

nominally been opened, and by the systematic obstruction

of the Tibetans the object of the treaty with China had

been frustrated. He therefore renewed his recommendation

that a diplomatic reference should be made to China,

pointing out how completely the 'Tibetans had violated the

spirit of the treaty and Trade Regulations, and had

refused to be bound by their terms.

But the Government of India again replied that they

wished to pursue a policy of conciliation, and did not

wish to make any serious representations to the Chinese

Government. They repeated that trade had increased,

and as regards demarcation of the frontier, they understood

from a further report of Mr. Nolan's that the Tibetans

claimed a strip of territory near Giagong, in the north of'

Sikkim, and these claims the Government of India con-

sidered it would not only be impolitic but inequitable to

ignore. The Viceroy therefore wrote to the Chinese

Resident, suggesting that Chinese and Tibetan delegates

should be sent to Gantok, the capital of Sikkim, to meet

Mr. White there, and proceed with him to Giagong to

make a local inquiry, but that no actual demarcation

should take place until the reports of the results of the

inquiry had taken place.

And so the game rolled on, and nothing whatever

resulted. The Chinese Resident was superseded, and the

Chinese asked that action should be deferred till the new

one arrived. The new Resident came, and wrote that

the Tibetans are naturally doltish, and prone to doubts

National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books