(TibetanReview.net, Apr04’26) – Tibet was an independent country when Great Britain ruled India and had a political officer posted in Sikkim, then also an independent kingdom, to conduct diplomacy with it, highlights an exhibition that opened Apr 3 at the Tibet Museum in Dharamshala, India, on Apr 3.
The exhibition, “Frontier Diplomacy: Britain, Tibet and Sir Basil Gould.”, was inaugurated by Sikyong Penpa Tsering of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), joined by Frances C Cutler, granddaughter of Sir Basil John Gould, who served as the British Political Officer based in Sikkim from 1935 to 1945.
The exhibition is an adaptation from Sir Basil Gould’s book, The Jewel in the Lotus: Recollections of an Indian Political Officer. It explores the historical records of Gould’s mission to Tibet, from his appointment as successor to Rosy Weir, the British Trade Agent in Gyantse, to his attendance at the enthronement ceremony of the young 14th Dalai Lama.
The exhibition features, among other things, two rare historical documents donated to the CTA by Gould’s family last year, stated to testify to Tibet’s de facto independence in both internal governance and external affairs at that time.
These are two letters dated Oct 10, 1947, written by the current Dalai Lama and Tibetan authorities to Gould, seeking British India’s assistance in facilitating a Tibetan trade delegation to multiple countries, with the exhibition presenting them as evidence of Tibet exercising sovereign functions at the time.
* * *
In his keynote address, the Tibetan Sikyong has cited records of Westerners’ visits to Tibet that dated back to early 17th century as evidence of its historical status, and as negation of China’s distorted current narratives about its history prior to the Chinese PLA’s arrival there.
He has noted that similar important documents remain in private hands, often unaffordable to the CTA.
“This… exhibition bears historical significance as well as relevance to the current Tibetan struggle, as the challenges to Tibetan identity have intensified after decades of PRC occupation of Tibet,” Secretary Karma Choeying of the CTA’s Department of Information and International Relations has said at the event.
“The year 1947 stands at the threshold of immense global transformation. As empires receded and new nations emerged, Tibet was actively engaging with the international community to assert its identity. Sir Basil Gould, as the British Political Officer of Sikkim and a key interlocutor between Tibet and British India, occupied a unique place in this relationship.”
And he has added, “The documents presented today illuminate these relationships with clarity and authenticity. The letter from Taktra Rinpoche reflects the official voice of the Tibetan government during the regency period, while the letter from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama carries a different yet equally powerful significance. Together, these letters affirm a simple and profound truth.”
Cutler has said it was only in 2024, after her mother’s passing, that she and her spouse discovered the documents and other items among her parents’ belongings, and donated them to the Tibet Museum.
(based on tibet.net report Apr 3’26, tribuneindia.com report Apr 4’26)