caption : Gyantse Dzong (4180m) -The tragic story
behind the Gyantse Fortress
Like most people who rushed through Gyantse, they will give this
empty fortress a miss. In fact, this Dzong is not being taken care
off and there are rubbish and litters everywhere. The little park
at the base of the Dzong had become a dumping ground and the little
lake was littered with rubbish.
Like others, my team wanted to give this a miss so I was on my
own again. Armed with the direction to the entrance, I set out on
foot for the Dzong. Unfortunately, upon reaching, I found that the
Dzong was closed early for the staff to practice singing for their
National Day celebration. I was locked out again, so I
decided to walk the perimeter of the Dzong instead.
caption : Dzong reflection on the littered
lake
After knowing the story (history) behind the Gyantse Dzong, I
think that it deserves better respect and care than this.
Here this the brief summary of tragic story (history):
This is the story about the British invasion of Tibet in 1903,
also known as the Younghusband Expedition. The war was started
because of some unreliable intelligence and the newspapers rumour
spreading the claim that the Russian had design on Tibet and many
people are starting to believe them.
The British Raj in India feared losing the buffer
state between Russia and India send Major Younghusband, an
army officer on a diplomatic mission to Tibet. After six months of
waiting, no Tibetan showed up for the meeting. Major
Younghusband was instructed to advance to Lhasa with 3000 troops
(plus 7000 shepras and 4000 yaks) to force the recalcitrant
Tibetans to a treaty.
caption : An old Tibetan's town with the newly added
Han's block building in it's backdrop seen at the top of the
gate.
Despite previous brushes with the British firepower, the
Tibetans seem to have little idea what they were up against.
Halfway between Yatung and Gyantse, a small Tibetan army armed with
a motely assortment weapons confronted the British force carrying
light artillery, machine guns and modern rifles. The Tibetans
trumph card was a charm with the seal of the Dalai Lama which they
were told, could protect them against the British bullets. It
didn't and 700 Tibetans were slaughtered in just 4 minutes.
The British buried the dead Tibetan soldiers (the Tibetans dug
them up at night and carried them off for sky burial) and set
up a field hospital to treat the wounded. The dumbfound wounded
Tibetan could not understand why the British would kill them one
day and saved them the next day. The British advanced to Gyantse
and found the fortress deserted. Curious as to why the defensive
fortress was deserted, the British camped outside instead of
occupying it, while waiting for the Tibetan officals from Tibet to
arrive.
caption: A view of Gyantse Kumbum and its chapels around
it from the Fortress
While waiting, Major Younghusband sped of to Karo-la with a
small contingent of troops to take on the 3000 Tibetan who had dug
in at the over 5000m mountain ranges. The result was the highest
land-based battle in the British military history. After another 2
months of waiting for the Lhasa offical, the British was ordered to
retake Gyantse Dzong (it was reoccupied by the Tibetans) to
cut off any attack from the rear and to march straight into Lhasa.
Artillery shell began to breach the wall and one of the shell
destroyed the Tibetan gunpowder supply forcing the Tibetan to
restort to throwing rocks at the invaders. The Dzong fell
within the day with only 4 British casualties and over 300
Tibetans dead.
caption : The spooky look of Gyantse Dzong at
dawn
With the fall of of Gyantse Dzong, the British effectively
controlled the road to Lhasa. Major Younghusband took the 2000
troops to the capital Lhasa without much resistance. Once in Lhasa,
Major Younghusband wanted to look for the Dalai Lama (for
causing the unnecessary casualities) but he had already fled to
Mongolia. Younghusband managed to get the trade treaties done
within a month. Ironically the troops did not find any Russian made
guns and weapons in Lhasa like what the rumour said, but they found
British made biscuits and sausage machine in the Bakhor street
bazzar.For the first time, Major Younghusband felt that he had lost
his war even though they had the final victory.
PS: if you would like to know more
about this chapter of Tibet's history, try reading Charles Allen's
book on "Duel in the Snows: The True Story of the Younghusband
Mission to China" or watch the movie "The Red River Valley" to see
the Chinese version.
