Photo 430/53

Half-leather and green buckram album, measuring 373x460mm, stamped 'Tibet' in gilt on upper board and containing 89 mounted platinum prints with handwritten captions. The photographs were taken by White during three missions between 1902 and 1904, in which representatives of the Government of India attempted to enforce the boundary between Tibet and Sikkim as laid down in the 1890 Treaty with China, and to open up cross-border trade. In 1902, White himself led a mission to expel Tibetans who had encroached into Indian territory (Prints 1-3). In 1903, he accompanied Sir Francis Younghusband to Khampa Dzong (or Gamba), for a meeting with Chinese and Lhasa delegates which unsuccessfully attempted to resolve the dispute (Prints 4-11). As a result of this failure, a force, again under Younghusband, was sent to Lhasa in 1904 to put the British case directly to the Tibetan leaders (Prints 12-89). Most of White's photographs from the Younghusband Mission were also reproduced as carbon prints with letterpress notes in his 'Tibet and Lhasa', a two volume work published by the Calcutta photographic firm of Johnston and Hoffmann (whose business card is attached to the front pastedown of this album) in 1906. For the India Office Library copy of this work, see Photo 1084/1-2. White had close associations with the firm of Johnston and Hoffmann, having previously accompanied Hoffmann on an expedition in Sikkim in June-July 1891 and it is probable that he sold his negatives to the firm with official approval.