Lieutenant Colonel Sir Francis Edward Younghusband (31 May 1863 - 31 July 1942) was a British Army officer, explorer, and spiritualist. He is remembered chiefly for his travels in the Far East and Central Asia and his writings on the subject. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 151st day of the year (152nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1863 (MDCCCLXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 212th day of the year (213th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... This list of explorers is sorted by surname. ... The far east as a cultural block includes East Asia, Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia and South Asia. ... Map of Central Asia showing three sets of possible boundaries for the region Central Asia located as a region of the world Central Asia is a vast landlocked region of Asia. ...

Early life

Francis Younghusband was born in 1863 at Murree, British India (now Pakistan) to a British military family, John Younghusband and his wife Clara Shaw. Clara's brother, Robert Shaw, was a noted explorer of Central Asia. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Anthem God Save The Queen/King British India, circa 1860 Capital Calcutta (1858-1912), New Delhi (1912-1947) Language(s) Hindi, Urdu, English and many others Government Monarchy Emperor of India  - 1877-1901 Victoria  - 1901-1910 Edward VII  - 1910-1936 George V  - January-December 1936 Edward VIII  - 1936-1947 George... Robert Shaw may mean: Robert Shaw (footballer) Robert Shaw (actor) This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ... Map of Central Asia showing three sets of possible boundaries for the region Central Asia located as a region of the world Central Asia is a vast landlocked region of Asia. ...

As an infant, Francis was taken to live in England by his mother. When Clara returned to India in 1867 she left her son in the care of two austere and strictly religious aunts. In 1870 his mother and father returned to England and reunited the family. In 1876 at age thirteen Francis entered Clifton College, Bristol. In 1881 he entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and in 1882 he was commissioned as a subaltern in the 1st King's Dragoon Guards. An 1898 etching of the College Close Clifton College (grid reference ST569737) is a coeducational public school in Clifton, Bristol, England. ... This article is about the English city. ... New College, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst New Colours are presented to RMAS, June 2005. ... A subaltern is a military term for a junior officer. ... The 1st Kings Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army. ...

Military career

In 1886, on leave from his regiment, Younghusband made an expedition through Manchuria, crossing the Gobi Desert and pioneering a route from Kashgar and India through the uncharted Mustagh Pass. For this achievement he was elected the youngest member of the Royal Geographic Society and received the society's gold medal. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Gobi Desert lies in the territory of the Peoples Republic of China and the Country of Mongolia. ... Location of Kashgar Kashgars Sunday market Kashgar (also spelled Cascar[1]) (Uyghur: /; Chinese: ; pinyin: , ), is an oasis city in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the Peoples Republic of China. ... The Mustagh Pass or Muztagh Pass is a pass across the Baltoro Muztagh range in the Karakorams and includes K2, the worlds second highest mountain. ... The Royal Geographical Society with the associated Institute of British Geographers is a learned society of geography and geographers. ...

In 1889, Younghusband was dispatched with a small escort of Gurkha soldiers to survey an uncharted region of the Hunza valley and the Khunjerab Pass through the Karakoram mountain range. Whilst encamped in a remote area of Hunza, Younghusband received a messenger at his camp, inviting him to dinner with Captain Gromchevsky, his Russian counterpart in "The Great Game". Younghusband accepted the invitation to Gromchevsky's camp, and after dinner the two rivals talked into the night, sharing brandy and vodka, and discussing the possibility of a Russian invasion of British India. Gromchevsky impressed Younghusband with the horsemanship skills of his Cossack escort, and Younghusband impressed Gromchevsky with the rifle drill of his Gurkhas. After their meeting in this remote frontier region, Gromchevsky resumed his expedition in the direction of Kashmir and Younghusband continued his exploration of Hunza. Gurkha, also spelled as Gorkha, are people from Nepal and parts of North India, who take their name from the eighth century Hindu warrior-saint Guru Gorakhnath. ... Hunza Valley (Urdu: ہنزہ) is a mountainous valley near Gilgit in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. ... Khunjerab Pass from Pakistani side Snow leopard, an endangered species, is found in the Khunjerab National Park The Khunjerab Pass is a high mountain pass on the northern border of Pakistan with the Peoples Republic of China. ... Karakoram is a mountain range spanning the borders between Pakistan, China, and India, located in the regions of Gilgit, Ladakh and Baltistan. ... Central Asia, circa 1848. ... For other uses, see Cossack (disambiguation). ... Kashmir (or Cashmere) may refer to: Kashmir region, the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent India, Kashmir conflict, the territorial dispute between India, Pakistan, and the China over the Kashmir region. ...

In 1890, Younghusband transferred to the Indian Political Service. He served as a political officer on secondment from the British Army. Then a Major, He served as British commissioner to Tibet from 1902-1904. In 1903-1904, under orders from the Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon, he, jointly with John Claude White, the Political Officer for Sikkim, led a military mission to Tibet as a result of disputes over the Sikkim-Tibet border; the mission controversially became a de facto invasion and British forces occupied Lhasa. During this brutal campaign on the way to Lhasa, Younghusband slaughtered 1,300 Tibetans in Gyangzê. The British force was supported by King Ugyen Wangchuck of Bhutan, who was knighted in return for his services. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... 1900 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ... George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston (January 11, 1859 - March 20, 1925), was a conservative British statesman and sometime Viceroy of India. ... {{Warbox| conflict=The British Expedition to Tibet Tibet is kool ! ... This article is about historical/cultural Tibet. ... , Sikkim (Nepali:  , also Sikhim) is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayas. ... This article is about historical/cultural Tibet. ... Tibet is situated between the two ancient civilizations of China and India, but the tangled mountain ranges the Tibetan Plateau and the towering Himalayas serve to distance it from both. ... For other uses, see Lhasa (disambiguation). ... Gyantse with the Dzong fortress in the background Gyantse Fortress A view of Gyantse from the top of its fortress Gyantse (rGyal rtse) also spelled Gyangtse; Wylie: rgyal rtse; Tibetan: རྒྱལ་རྩེ་) is a city located in Gyangzê County, Shigatse Prefecture. ... Ugyen Wangchuck (or Ugyen Wangchuk) (1861–1926) was the first king of Bhutan from 1907 to 1926. ...

In 1906 Younghusband settled in Kashmir as the British representative before returning to Britain where he became an active member of many clubs and societies. During World War I his patriotic Fight for Right campaign commissioned the song Jerusalem. He was elected President of the Royal Geographic Society in 1919. Later he actively encouraged climbers, including George Mallory, to attempt the first ascent of Mount Everest, and they followed the same initial route as the earlier Tibet Mission. In 1938 Younghusband encouraged Ernst Schäfer, who was about to lead a German expedition to Tibet, to "sneak over the border" when faced with British intransigence towards Schäfer's efforts to reach Tibet.^[1] 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Kashmir (or Cashmere) may refer to: Kashmir region, the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent India, Kashmir conflict, the territorial dispute between India, Pakistan, and the China over the Kashmir region. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... “Jerusalem (song)” redirects here. ... The Royal Geographical Society with the associated Institute of British Geographers is a learned society of geography and geographers. ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... George Herbert Leigh Mallory (18 June 1886 – 8 June/9 June 1924) was an English mountaineer who took part in the first three British expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s. ... “Everest” redirects here. ... Ernst Schäfer (1910-1992) was a famous German hunter and zoologist in the 1930s, specializing in ornithology. ...

Spiritual Life

Younghusband's religious upbringing had a profound influence on his later life. In 1884 he wrote in his diary that "I shall through my life be carrying out God's Divine message to mankind". Later, recovering from an accident, he would read Leo Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God is Within You - a book which also greatly influenced Mahatma Gandhi.^{[citation needed]} Year 1884 (MDCCCLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy(Lyof, Lyoff) (September 9 [O.S. August 28] 1828 – November 20 [O.S. November 7] 1910) (Russian: , IPA:  ), commonly referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer – novelist, essayist, dramatist and philosopher – as well as pacifist Christian anarchist and educational reformer. ... The 1st English edition of The Kingdom of God is Within You, 1894 The Kingdom of God is Within You is a non-fiction work written by Leo Tolstoy and was first published in Germany in 1894, after being banned in his home country of Russia. ... “Gandhi” redirects here. ...

• Younghusband was the founder of the World Congress of Faiths (1936), and he wrote several books on faith and spirituality.^[2]

• He encouraged one of his domestic servants, Gladys Aylward, to become a Christian missionary to China.^{[citation needed]}

• He was the founder member of Christian High School Murree, where he translated a chapter of Matthew, from the New Testament into Dhondi/Kareali language.^{[citation needed]}

1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Gladys Aylward (Chinese name: 艾偉德, pinyin: Ai. ... For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ... This article is about the Christian scriptures. ... Dhondi/Kareali language [[1]] is spoken in all Circle Bakote, andjoining Murree Hills and Gallies [[2]] areas. ...

Footnotes

Further reading

• Allen, Charles. (2004) Duel in the Snows: The True Story of the Younghusband Mission to Lhasa. John Murray (Publishers), London. ISBN 0-7195-5427 6.
• Broadbent, Tom On Younghusband's Path: Peking to Pindi (ISBN 0-9548542-2-5, pub. 2005).
• Candler, Edmund The Unveiling of Lhasa. (Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd ?1905)
• Fleming, Peter Bayonets to Lhasa (ISBN 0-583881-583861-9, reprint 1986).
• French, Patrick Younghusband: The Last Great Imperial Adventurer (ISBN 0-00-637601-0, reprint 1997).
• Hopkirk, Peter The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia (ISBN 1-56836-022-3, reprint 1994).
• Younghusband, Sir Francis The Epic of Mount Everest (ISBN 0-330-48285-8, reprint 2001).
• Younghusband, Sir Francis Modern Mystics (ISBN 1-4179-8003-6, reprint 2004).
• For an academic article relating to the Tibet Mission read: Carrington, Michael: "Officers Gentlemen and Thieves: The Looting of Monasteries during the 1903/4 Younghusband Mission to Tibet", Modern Asian Studies 37, 1 (2003), PP 81-109.

External links

• World Congress of Faiths' own account of their origins
• Royal Geographic Society photograph of Younghusband's Mission to Tibet
• 1st King's Dragoon Guards (regiments.org)
• The heart of nature (1921) (scanned book)