Account of an Embassy to the Court of the Teshoo Lama in Tibet - Tapa dura

The mountains of the kingdom of Bhutan form a part of the Himalayan range. In the year 1772, without provocation, the army of Bhutan invaded the province of Cooch Behar, which shares its borders with Bengal. Alarmed by this incursion, the council of Bengal sent a deputation to deal with the occupying force. The troops of Bhutan were no match for the trained and well-equipped army of Bengal. The King of Bhutan, alarmed and defeated, sent an embassy to the Tesoo Lama to sue for peace by mediation. The Tesoo Lama was, at that time, the regent of Tibet and the guardian of the Dalai Lama, who was still a minor. The Tesoo Lama, acting on the prayers of Bhutan - which was a dependency of Tibet - sent a deputation to Calcutta, with a telegram addressed to the Governor Warren Hastings in 1774. The governor readily took this opportunity to extend British influence over this little-known quarter of the world. George Boyle was the man chosen to represent the British to carry an answer, and presents, back to the Lama. A man of keen observation and intellect, George Boyle's narrative of this mission is the subject of this book.