Political Missions to Bootan

Sir Ashley Eden · Robert Boileau Pemberton · Kishen Kant Bose

Jan 1865 · Printed at the Bengal Secretariat Office

About this ebook

Published in Calcutta (present-day Kolkata) in 1865, this volume contains four narratives relating to the interactions in the 19th century between British India and the Kingdom of Bhutan. The first is the report of Sir Ashley Eden (1831-87), a British administrator who, in 1863, was sent on a mission to conclude a treaty of peace and friendship with Bhutan. Eden's mission failed and was followed by the outbreak of the Anglo-Bhutan War of 1864-65 (also known as the Dooar or Duār War), in which Bhutan was forced to cede several border regions to the British. The second narrative is by Captain R. Boileau Pemberton, who undertook a mission to Bhutan in 1837-38 but failed to conclude a treaty between Bhutan and the British East India Company. The third narrative is the journal of William Griffiths, a medical doctor who accompanied Pemberton. The final narrative is a translation of a report by Baboo Kishen Kant Bose, a native agent who, in 1815, traveled to Bhutan on behalf of the East India Company to negotiate certain issues. In addition to the main narratives, the book includes the texts of several draft treaties and tables containing detailed information about the vegetation, geology, and climate of Bhutan.