My Blood Relation Pundit Nain Singh Rawat

Nain Singh Rawat

Nain Singh Rawat
Royal Geographical Society gold medal in 1876.
Born	1830
Died	1895
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Asian explorer
Title	Pundit
Religion	Hindu

Pandit Nain Singh Rawat (Hindi: नैन सिंह रावत), 1830-1895, was one of the first of the late 19th century pundits who explored the Himalayas for the British. He hailed from the Johaar Valley of Kumaon. He mapped the trade route through Nepal to Tibet, determined for the first time the location and altitude of Lhasa, and mapped a large section of the Tsangpo, the major Tibetan river.

In 1865, with his cousin Mani Singh, Nain Singh left Dehra Dun, the Trigonometric Survey of India's northern India headquarters, for Nepal. From there Mani returned to India by way of western Tibet, but Nain went on to Tashilhunpo, where he met the Panchen Lama, and Lhasa, where he met theDalai Lama. During his stay in Lhasa, his true identity was discovered by two Kashmiri Muslim merchants residing at Lhasa, but not only did they not report him to the authorities, they lent him a small sum of money against the pledge of his watch.^[1][2] Nain Singh returned to India by way ofMansarowar Lake in western Tibet.

On a second voyage, in 1867, Singh explored western Tibet and visited the legendary Thok Jalung^[3] gold mines. He noticed that the workers only dug for gold near the surface, because they believed digging deeper was a crime against the Earth and would deprive it of its fertility.^[1][4]

In 1873-75, he traveled from Leh in Kashmir to Lhasa, by a route more northerly than the one along the Tsangpo that he had taken on his first journey.^[1][5]

In recognition of his prodigious feats of exploration, regarding which Colonel Henry Yule commented that "his explorations have added a larger amount of important knowledge to the map of Asia than any other living man", Nain Singh was presented with an inscribed gold chronometer by the Royal Geographic Society (RGS) in 1868. This was followed by the award of the Victoria or Patron's Medal of the RGS in 1877. The Society of Geographers of Paris also awarded Nain Singh an inscribed watch. The Government of India bestowed two villages as a land-grant to him.^[6]

Legacy

On June 27, 2004, an Indian postage stamp featuring Nain Singh^[7] was issued commemorating his role in the Great Trigonometric Survey.

Recently Dr. Shekhar Pathak and Dr. Uma Bhatt, have brought out a biography of Nain Singh together with three of his diaries and the RGS articles about his travels in 3 volumes titled Asia ki Peeth Par published by Pahir, Naini Tal - a belated but fitting tribute to the man.

Even today, after a half-century of modernization, Tibet can still be profitably viewed through the eyes of these early explorers of this mysterious land. Their explorations are still the window to the world of Tibet.

Nain Singh was a man of strong character – where others admitted defeat, he persisted. Due to the clandestine nature of their work and because they were ‘Spy Explorers’ their work never gained the recognition due such an important feat. As these ‘Spy Explorers’ worked for the British, after Indian independence their work was not given due recognition. The clandestine nature of their work made such important discoveries look unpatriotic. This must be the only reason why their accomplishments faded from public memory.

The life of Nain Singh Rawat paraphrases the entire struggle for power not only in the plains of India but through the crucial and strategic plateaus and valleys of Tibet, the high Himalaya and theHindu Kush. The British were justifiably concerned about Russia’s interest in Tibet. It was a race against time for Tsarist Russia and British India to claim this yet untamed territory. The odds here were greater - the Tibetans were no fools, with a relay system that surpassed many superior security systems.

Messengers criss-crossed the landscape bearing letters and messages. These men, mounted on horses, covered the 800 miles between Lhasa and Gangtok and were forbidden to stop other than to eat or change horses. They wore a long-sleeved garment (chogas) inside of which were tucked letters, the breast fastening of their overcoats were sealed to ensure that they did not change clothes. The officer to whom the letter was addressed would break the seal. A message took just 30 days to travel from Lhasa to Gartok, a special message could make the journey even faster, in 22 days. News traveled very fast due to this system and any foreigner who attempted to enter Tibet was reported and forced back to the border. The explorers were thus required to tackle this local resistance, prior to attempting the hazardous travel in this most unfriendly terrain. However, this reluctance on the part of the Tibetan native did not always exist. Previously, theNepalese Kumaon was the only resistance the explorers faced. Once inside Tibet, they always reported very friendly, warm and deeply religious people. In Akbar’s time the first Jesuit mission left to search for the origin of the Ganges River, their main concern though was the quest for the lost tribe of Prester John. The Jesuits had heard from wandering sadhus and yogis of people in Tibet who had rituals and practices similar to those of Christians. To find out about this they were eager to reach Tibet.

In 1624 the Jesuit Antonio de Andrade along with Portuguese lay brother Manuel Marques and two Christian servants reached Badrinath disguised as pilgrims. After initial resistance from the officials of Raja of Srinagar, the two entered Tibet from Mana Pass at 17,900 feet and were welcomed in this isolated land. Andrade impressed the king and queen with his devotion to his religion but could not persuade the king to convert to Christianity. He returned in the summer of 1625 with more missionaries and the king laid the foundation of the first Christian church in Tibet. However, after Andrade left there was a revolt among Tibetan Lamas and the church was razed.

The tradition of employing natives for survey work started quite accidentally. When the Maratha War ended, the military engineers and draughtsmen became comparatively free to focus their attention on mapping newly acquired upper Indian lands. At 24 years of age, when James Rennell was appointed Surveyor General of India, he assembled a band of surveyors and draughtsmen to map the subcontinent. Rennell was awestruck when he first viewed the Himalayas from the plains of Bengal. He was curious about the origins of the Ganges, Indus and Brahmaputra rivers, which had their sources in Himalayas. He admitted his ignorance and even accepted the native belief that the Ganges had its source in the holy lake of Kailash Manassarovar. Though he left India in 1777 due to deteriorating health, he continued to play a major role in the development of Indian geography and so is correctly honored with the title of ”Father Of Indian Geography”.

Robert Colebrooke and Henry Colebrooke were cousins deeply interested in the Ganges. Robert was appointed Surveyor General of India in 1794 and Henry was posted as Assistant Commissioner of Purnea. He was a Sanskrit scholar and the first President of Bengal's The Asiatic Society. Robert spent his time either sailing on the Ganges or on its banks. He knew the river thoroughly and was eager to explore the source of the sacred river. His findings were a major contribution to Henry’s Asiatic researches. In1807 Robert Colebrooke sailed upstream from Calcutta. He was joined by 22 year-old Webb of Bengal Native Infantry and fifty sepoys. They employed Captain Hyder Jung Hearsey, an independent freebooter who knew the terrain and the ways of the local peoples well.

His mounted irregulars also provided them protection against bandits and marauders. While surveying the jungles of the Terai, Robert Colebrooke fell ill. This development prevented him from going any further, so Web, along with Hearsay and an old friend, Felix Raper, from the old regiment, traveled towards the Himalayas with instructions to explore the Ganges. They were assisted fromHaridwar to Gangotri. At Haridwar, they were lucky to meet the Gurkha Governor of Nepalese Srinagar who was visiting the Kumbh Mela festival. After initial reluctance, he gave way and this party headed for Gangotri. The trail was difficult to say the least and just 40 miles short of their destination, for reasons unknown, Webb decided to turn back. Here was the start of a novel method of surveying when "An intelligent native", most probably Hearsey’s Hindu munshi was briefed about the use of compass and sent to look for the famous ‘Cow’s Mouth’. The remaining party of Webb, Hearsey and Raper moved towards Badrinath to locate the source of Alaknanda. They reached the Bhotia village of Mana and from here proceeded towards the source of Alaknanda with a local guide. They found the source in a narrow valley at the foot of Badrinath massif. The purpose of the mission was achieved, as Hearsey’s munshi brought back the information that there was no cow’s mouth at the Ganges' source at Gangoutri.

Thus the theory that the Ganges had its source in Mansarover was proved a fable. There was indeed a Cow’s mouth – a vast cul-de-sac discovered by Captain John Hodgson and his assistant Captain James Herbert in 1817. This as the traditional source of the Ganges called Bhagirathi here, with an enormous glacier shaped like a snout. of a cow. With the Ganges' origin finally traced back to the source, the focus of the British surveyors was on the inner Himalayas and on Tibet though it was a forbidden land as the Nepalese Kumaon did not take British presence lightly. These conditions led to the British policy of non-interference in these areas and when Hearsey and Dr Moorecroft, Veterinary Doctor entered Kumaon for ’Tour of hills’ as they called it, it clearly was not appreciated. Moorecroft was over 40 years old, he was Vet Surgeon to the Government of Bengal, he had been irritating [troubling] the Agent to the Governor General with plans of a journey into the hills to find new blood from the hill strains and goats with long hair for wool.

They were assisted by two native surveyors Harballabh and his nephew Hurruck Dev and the latter was given the unpleasant task of keeping a tally of the number of steps he took. He was directed to stride, the whole of the road at paces equal to four feet each because the Indian pace is recorded each time the left foot touches the ground, which is every two steps. Hearsay and Moorecroft were disguised as pilgrims Mayapori and Haragiri.

They reached the Bhotia village of Neeti but were stopped from going any further. The Bhotias the traditional go between of the western Himalayas refused to offer any assistance to these suspicious looking men. While waiting here Moorecroft started treating anyone who came to him. He cured a young Bhotia boy for dropsy and this won him the gratitude of the boy’s father, a trader from the Johar valley, Deb Singh Rawat. Deb Singh Rawat and his brother, Bir Singh were among the wealthiest and most influential Bhotias in the region. Thus Moorecroft set the seal on the friendship between the British and the Bhotias.

They reached Manassarovar via Daba, where they traded the goods brought from India, with the large flock of sheep and fifty Pashmina goats. They promised the authorities at Daba to stick to the pilgrim routes. Moving ahead they reached Rakas Tal or Ravan Hrudb and found that none of the tributaries of Sutlej had its source in the lakes (it was later in 1846 that Henry Strachey would meet Deb Singh at Milam on his way to the lakes and find out that Sutlej did take its source from Manassarovar).

They measured Manassarovar and found it to be an oval shaped lake and by circumnavigating the lake found that the two lakes Ravan Hrudb and Manassarovar were not connected by any channel (This was corrected by Henry Strachey, when he discovered that there was a large stream three feet deep and hundred feet wide flowing from Rakas Tal to Manassarovar. This seepage of water was missed entirely by Moorcroft and Hearsey as they had stuck to the shores and failed to see what was on the other side of the raised bank of Shingle). This brought to close the mysteries related to the holy lake Manassarovar and the belief that Sutlej took its source from the holy lake of Manassarovar was finally proved correct.

Life

Rai Bahadur Nain Singh Rawat was born to Lata Burha in 1830 in Milam village in the valley of Johar. This beautiful valley in the Kumaon hills is located at the foot of the Milam glacier from which the river Goriganga originates. The Rawats ruled over the Johar valley, during the reign of Chand dynasty in Kumaon, this was followed by the Gorkha rule. In 1816 the British defeated Gorkhas but maintained a policy of non-interference and friendship towards the Johar Bhotias. The famous Bhotia explorers mostly belong to the village of Johar.

There is a history to how the Bhotias came to this valley and became the trading link between the Tibet and the rest of the world. When Mohammed Ghori invaded India between 1191 and 1193, there was a mass exodus from the Hindu Rajputana. The Rajput ancestors of Nain Singh, settled in a place called Jawala Bagarh. Around 1680, a prominent family member Hiroo Dham Singh went to the Mt. Kailas/Lake Manassarovar region for pilgrimage. Pilgrims in those days traveled in caravans fully armed to protect themselves from robbers.

The Tibetans were being troubled greatly by Chinese invaders at this time. Hiroo Dham Singh along with a large number of fellow pilgrims and retainers helped Tibetans drive away the Chinese bandits who were looting and stealing the cattle, horses and sheep. Hiroo Dham Singh’s guerrilla warfare tactics helped Tibetans in driving away these Chinese marauders. The Tibetans returned the favour by giving him trade concessions and, thus, the lion’s share of the cross-border trade with Gartok in Western Tibet. Hiru Dham Singh was also honored with the title of ‘Pradhan’ from the Government in Lhasa. While returning from this very beneficial pilgrimage, Hiroo Dham Singh and his party passed through the Johar valley, east of Nanda Devi. He liked the place so much that he settled in Johar with a large number of his clan members.

After leaving school, Nain Singh helped his father. He visited different centers in Tibet with his father, learned the Tibetan language, customs and manners and became familiar with the Tibetan people. This knowledge of Tibetan language and local customs and protocol came handy in Nain Singh’s work as "Spy Explorer". Due to the extreme cold conditions, Milam and other villages of the upper Johar valley are inhabited only for a few months from June to October. During this time the men used to visit Gyanima, Gartok and various other markets in Western Tibet.

Each Indian trader of Johar, had a ‘mitra’ or colleague in Tibet. Initially, the splitting of a stone, each keeping one half, marked their partnership in trade. Henceforth, the Indian trader or his representative would carry the token to sell his goods in Tibet market only to his mitra’s representative who would fit his half of the stone to the Indian’s.

In 1855, Nain Singh Rawat, now a well-disposed and intelligent man of 25 years, of traditional Bhotia stature – short, stocky and stubborn, was first recruited by German geographers – the Schalaginweit brothers. Baron Humboldt had sent these German scientists to the office of the Survey of India, which reluctantly allowed them to proceed with their survey.

Adolf and Robert Schlagintweit had met old Deb Singh Rawat in the Johar valley, who even showed them a thanks chit signed by William Moorecroft and inscribed ‘Northern foot of the Himanchal Mountains near Daba in Chinese Tartary, August 25th 1812.’ On his advice they recruited three members of his family for their expedition; Mani Singh Rawat, Dolpa and Nain Singh Rawat. Nain Singh’s first exploration trip was with the Germans between 1855 to 1857. He traveled to the lakes Manassarovar and Rakas Tal and then further to Gartok and Ladakh.

After the exploration with the Schalaginweit brothers, Pundit Nain Singh Rawat joined the Education Department, being appointed as the headmaster of a Government vernacular school in his village at Milam from 1858 to 1863.

Before we embark on Nain Singh’s journey with the British, let us have a closer look at the dynamics of the political climate of those times. British and Russians were engaged in a battle of oneupmanship, in the vast desolate plains of Central Asia. It was Lieutenant Arthur Connolly of the 6th Bengal Native Cavalry who first coined this tussle into the now famous phrase ‘Great Game’ in a letter to a friend.

The secret missions and hawkish eye of the opponents led to wild speculations among the two adversaries. Some materialized, while others were mere presumptions of these ultra sensitive players of an equally ambitious and vague ‘Great Game’. Though Russophobia was on the rise with the successive generations of company men, just as the trail was getting hot, it was also becoming increasingly difficult to send officers on clandestine missions of map making as the risk factors were too great. If captured it meant certain death for these daredevil men. Secondly, the detection of such missions also meant political embarrassment for the British. Sir John Lawrence, Viceroy of India banned the British from venturing into these lands, his political view being that if they lose their lives, we cannot avenge them and so lose credit. It was Captain Montgomery who proposed to his superiors, a novel method to train the natives in scientific western methods of survey. These natives he had argued were far less likely to be detected than a European, however good the latter’s disguise.

Moreover, even if they were unfortunate enough to be discovered, it would be politically less embarrassing to the authorities, compared to if a British officer was caught red handed making maps in these highly sensitive and dangerous parts. This was approved and the foundations were laid for a new era of cartographers, relying on the intelligence brought back by the trained natives. In 1862-63, Edmund Smyth was in correspondence with Captain Montgomery, who wanted some trustworthy men to train as explorers. Smyth strongly recommended the Bhotias, as they knew Tibetan language and were allowed to enter Tibet. Smyth selected Nain Singh and his cousin Mani Singh. Here it needs a mention that Education Officer Edmund Smyth was the first to realize the unique traits of the Bhotias. His own views were:- The Bhotias have Hindu names and call themselves Hindus but they are not recognized as such by the Orthodox Hindus of the plains. While in Tibet, they seem glad enough to shake off their Hinduism and become Buddhists, or anything you like. They pass their lives in trade with Tibet and they are the only people allowed by the Tibetan authorities to enter the country for purposes of trade.

From June to November they are constantly going over the passes, bringing the produce of Tibet (borax, salt, wool, and gold dust; also ponies) and taking back grains of all kinds, English goods, chiefly woolens and other things. The goods are carried on the backs of sheep, goats, ponies, yaks and jhopoos (a cross between the Tibetan yak and a hill cow). Their villages are situated at an elevation of from 10,000 to 13,000 feet, at the foot of the passes leading into Tibet, though only occupied from June to November in each year. During the remainder of the year they move down to the foot of the hills and sell their produce to the Buniahs or traders.

In 1863, Nain Singh Rawat along with his cousin, Mani Singh Rawat, were sent to the Great Trignometric Survey office in Dehradun where they underwent training for two years. This included training on the use of scientific instruments and ingenious ways of measuring and recording and the art of disguise. Nain Singh Rawat was exceptionally intelligent and quickly learned the correct use of scientific instruments like the sextant and compass. He could also recognize all major stars and different constellations easily. This had all been possible due to exhaustive practice and a drive and determination in the hand-picked men that are difficult to explain. A sergeant major drilled them using a pace-stick, to take steps of a fixed length which remained constant even while climbing up, down or walking on a level surface. They were trained to record the distances by an ingenious method using a modified Buddhist rosary or mala.

This rosary, unlike a Hindu or Buddhist one, which has 108 beads, had just 100 beads. Every 100 steps the Pandit would slip one bead, so a complete length of the rosary represented 10,000 steps. It was easy to calculate the distance as each step was 31½ Inches and a mile was calculated to be around 2000 steps. To avoid suspicion, these explorers went about their task disguised as monks or traders or whatever suited the particular situation. Many more ingenious methods were devised. The notes of measurements were coded in the form of written prayers and these scrolls of paper were hidden in the cylinder of the prayer wheel.

The Pundits kept this secret log book up to date. A compass for taking bearings was hidden in the lid of the prayer wheel. Mercury, used for creating an artificial horizon, was kept in Cowrie shells and, for use, poured into the begging bowl carried by the Pundit. A thermometer found its place in the topmost part of the monk’s staff. There were workshops, where false bottoms were made in provisions chests to hold sextants and other surveying instruments. Hidden pockets were also added to the clothes worn during these secret missions.

Thus prepared and trained, the Pundits traveled for months at a stretch, collecting intelligence under the most difficult conditions, traveling closely with the natives in caravans. What was to follow, were some of the most glorious years in the exploration and mapping of Tibet and all its river systems and, indeed, some of the most fascinating explorations worth recounting. In 1865-66, Nain Singh traveled 1200 miles from Katmandu to Lhasa and thence to Lake Manassarovar and back to India. His last and greatest journey was from Leh in Ladhak via Lhasa to Assam in 1873-75. For his extraordinary achievements and contributions, Nain Singh was honored with many awards by the Royal Geographical Society.

Nain Singh Rawat died of a heart attack in 1895, while visiting his Jagir, a plains village granted to him by the British in 1877.