Tourist Guide to the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, 1896

A tourist guide like no other! The illustrated tourist guide to the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is a very well written book and covers an aspect of the life in Victorian Darjeeling seen through the achievement of the Railway line to Darjeeling. This little railway, now a UNESCO world heritage site, was a path breaking effort of British engineers who got this mammoth enterprise together successfully.  This book also contains some brilliant photos.

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The book Cover

Tracks being laid, 1888

The Darjeeling Disaster : An account of the devastating Landslides of 1899

On September 24th 1899, Darjeeling was devastated by a deluge of landslides in pouring rain, which wiped out many habitations. One such incident took place in a church school with little children as boarders, which was washed away killing almost all the children. This book is about the aftermath for a family who lost their children to this disaster. This is the tale about a heroic mother, Ada Lee, with a small child who made the trip from Calcutta the next day of the landslides, when darjeeling was totally cut off and there were no roads. This book was published in 1912.

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The Lee Family before the disaster

Birds of Darjeeling and India by I. J. Macintosh

The first detailed study of the birds around Darjeeling and The Sikkim Himalayas. This book by I. J. Macintosh, is a detailed report on the many types of Birds found mostly in the Sikkim area as well as the other parts of India and was published in 1915.

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An Illustration from the book

Journals Kept in Hyderabad, Kashmir, Sikkim and Nepal

Journals of Sir Richard Temple, Bart, M.P., a prolific writer of his times who held very high positions like the Governor general of Bombay. This compilation published in 1887 contains his observations over time of his visits to Hyderabad, Kashmir, Sikkim and Nepal and gives a very good insight into these places and their cultures.

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East India Company Document of 1800

One of the reasons the British were interested in Sikkim was the Trade which could be done with Tibet through Sikkim, and that was the sole motivation for good old "Johnny Company" or The East India Company. So how much trade were the company handling in the late 1700's? Read the report which was sent by Marquis Wellesley, the Governor General of India, to the board of Directors of the East India Company in the year 1800.

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Round Kanchenjunga, a narrative of an expedition around the Mountain.

This volume is a description of the first Tour of Kangchenjunga made by Europeans and contains a narrative of the whole Journey. Written by DOUGLAS W. FRESHFIELD, also a part of the expedition, which took place around 1900-01 and was published in the year 1903. A gripping narrative with some fabulous photos and an interesting insight into the lives of the locals and their customs.

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A Photo from the book captioned " The Crest of Siniolchu"

Notes on Tours in Darjeeling and Sikkim: Lt.Col. W. J. Buchanan, CLE., I. M.S.

Another set of notes, published around 1916, covering areas of both Independent and British Sikkim. Written by a soldier who had traveled extensively in his military career, this one is oriented more as a tourist guide giving valuable insight into the tourism infrastructure during those days. These notes have interesting info about the Dak Bungalows of the time and the rates for using anything, including cutlery!

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The Road between Ghoom and Darjeeling being built, 1870

On the Tribes around Darjeeling by A. Campbell

Dr. A Campbell, who in 1868 published these notes, had been the illustrious Superintendent of Darjeeling during its formative years. Taking avid interest about the people of the regions, he wrote what could be the first anthropological reports of the tribes of the area. He first wrote notes on the notes on the Lepchas, and this document lists the remaining tribes who were in Darjeeling, the budding town of luxury in the Himalayas!

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On the Lepchas by Dr. A Campbell

Dr. A. Campbell is famous in history for his position as the superintendent of Darjeeling during the period the town was being built, and is also credited with making the town a place of importance. He is credited with knowing the locals intimately and wrote about the people around Darjeeling in the mid 1800's. One of these notes which he wrote concerned the Lepchas, and was printed and bound into a book around the year 1869, Titled "Notes on the Lepchas" which is below.

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A Page from the Document

Sikkim to Lhasa

As part of the efforts to collect intelligence about Tibet before the Younghusband expedition of 1904, a lot of books were published. One among them stood out as it was written by a man who had a handle on things and was a Government man. This book by Graham Sandberg, published in 1901, contained a map of the route from Sikkim to Lhasa along with vital information, which was also referred to by Younghusband's team in 1904. The book was Titled  " An Itinerary of the route from Sikkim to Lhasa "

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The Book Cover

Manual on the Sikkimese Bhutia Language

A little known pastor, Graham Sandberg, while in Darjeeling in 1888, took an interest in the language spoken locally and later wrote a book. This perhaps was the first attempt by a Britisher to study the local dialects of the area. The book is presented here in PDF format, which was digitized by Google/Microsoft.

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The cover of the Book

British Confidential report on Sikkim, 1885

The British Government sent a delegation headed by Colman Macaulay in the year 1885 to meet with the King of Sikkim, who at that time had his palace at Tumlong. The real aim of this team was to give a confidential report regarding the situation with Tibet regarding the border. This problem escalated to the war in 1888 at Lingtu. The team ultimately prepared a confidential report when they went back to Calcutta. They took some beatiful Photos on this expedition, some of which are below along with a link to the document itself

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Lamas at the Tholung Gompa in North Sikkim

The German Expedition of 1938

Introduction

A group of Germans headed by Ernst Schäfer stayed in Sikkim for a few months before they could get permission to go into Tibet. The origins of the expedition was cloaked in secrecy but this team took a lot of photos in Sikkim.

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The whole team with Sir Basil Gould, the Political Officer in Sikkim, at the Tibetan Border

Mission school in Lachen, a Finnish missionary with her assistant and a native pastor

The Yumbulakhang fortress at Khambadzong, on the Tibet- Sikkim border, as photographed by Ernst Krause in 1938 

THE SIKKIM EXPEDITION OF 1888

INTRODUCTION.

The immediate cause of the Sikkim Expedition of 1888 was the despatch by the Thibetan authorities of an armed force of 300 men, across the Sikkim Frontier, to occupy a position at Lingtu which commanded the trade route between Darjeeling and Thibet. The circumstances, however, which had led up to the outrage, and the considerations which permitted the Government of India to sit quiet under it from September, 1886, till March, 1888, require further explanation ; they were in reality the outcome of our relations with Sikkim, and of our endeavour to open up trade with Thibet, through that country, Our first engagement with Sikkim dates from the conclusion of the Nepal war, when in 1817 we restored to Sikkim a great portion of the country wrested from it by the encroachments of Nepal during the previous forty years — and indeed added to it. This engagement distinctly affirmed the feudatory position of the Maharajah of Sikkim to the British Government.

Click here to read the full report prepared on this expedition by the Derbyshire Regiment  (clicking this link will download the text file to your computer)

The Lingtu expedition  was the cover story of the Illustrated London News on  Saturday, October 4th 1888

Some more drawings from the expedition in the same edition.