Francis Younghusband

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Sir Francis Younghusband
First World War
AwardsOrder of the Star of India
Order of the Indian Empire
Charles P. Daly Medal (1922)
MacGregor Medal[1]
Alma materRoyal Military College, Sandhurst
Spouse(s)Helen Augusta Magniac

KCIE (31 May 1863 – 31 July 1942) was a British Army officer, explorer and spiritual writer. He is remembered for his travels in the Far East and Central Asia; especially the 1904 British expedition to Tibet, led by himself, and for his writings on Asia and foreign policy. Younghusband held positions including British commissioner to Tibet and president of the Royal Geographical Society
.

Early life

Francis Younghusband was born in 1863 at

British India (now Pakistan), to a British military family, being the brother of Major-General George Younghusband and the second son of Major-General John W. Younghusband[2] and his wife Clara Jane Shaw. Clara's brother, Robert Shaw, was a noted explorer of Central Asia. His uncle Lieutenant-General Charles Younghusband
CB FRS, was a British Army officer and meteorologist.

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

Military career

Jilin, China, where Younghusband and his companions stayed in 1887[3]

Having read

Harry English Fulford, on 4 April 1887, Lieut Younghusband explored Manchuria, visiting the frontier areas of Chinese settlement in the region of the Changbai Mountains.[5][6]

On arrival in India he was granted three months' leave by the Commander-in-Chief

Patron's Medal
.

"From Peking To Yarkand and Kashmir via the Mustagh Pass"

In 1889, he made captain, and was dispatched with a small escort of

Cossack escort, and Younghusband impressed Grombchevsky with the rifle drill of his Gurkhas.[10] After their meeting in this remote frontier region, Grombchevsky resumed his expedition in the direction of Tibet and Younghusband continued his exploration of the Karakoram
.

Indian Political Service career

Younghusband received a telegram from Simla, to attend the Intelligence Department (ID) to be interviewed by Foreign Secretary

Abdul Rahman
as no friend to the British. Younghusband tentatively concluded that their possessions at Bokhara and Samarkand were vulnerable. Having drunk large quantities of vodka and brandy, the Cossacks presented arms in cordial salute and they parted in peace. Woefully unprepared for winter, the British garrison at Ladakh refused them entry.

Younghusband finally arrived at Gulmit to a 13-gun salute. In khaki, the envoy greeted Safdar Ali at the marquee on the Karakoram Highway, the men of Hunza kneeling at their ruler's feet. This was colonial diplomacy, based on protocol and etiquette, but Younghusband had not come for merely trivial discussions. Reinforced by Durand's troops, Younghusband's arguments were to prevent the criminal looting, murder and highway robbery. Impervious to reason though Safdar Ali was, Younghusband was not prepared to allow him to laugh at the Raj. A demonstration of firepower "caused quite a sensation", he wrote in his diaries. The British major was disdainful, but content when he left on 23 November to return to India, which he reached by Christmas.

In 1890, Younghusband was sent on a mission to

Taotai
of Xinjiang.

In July 1891, they were still in the Pamirs when news reached them that the Russians intended to send troops "to note and report with the Chinese and Afghans". At

Order of St George, approached his camp to announce that the area now belonged to the Tsar. Younghusband learnt that they had raided the Chitral territory; furthermore, they had penetrated the Darkot Pass into the Yasin Valley
. They were joined by eager intelligence officer Lieutenant Davison, but the British were disabused by Ivanov of British sovereignty: Younghusband remained polite, maintained protocol but hospitable to the big Russian bear hug.

During his service in Kashmir, he wrote a book called Kashmir at the request of

to appoint Younghusband, by then a major, British commissioner to Tibet from 1902 to 1904.

Expedition to Tibet

Lamellar coat and helmet. From Tibet, in modern-day China. 14th–17th century CE. Iron, leather, and textile. Presented by Lieutenant Colonel Sir Francis Younghusband. Discoveries Gallery, National Museum of Scotland

In 1903, Curzon appointed Younghusband as the head of the Tibet Frontier Commission; John Claude White, the political officer of Sikkim, and E. C. Wilton, served as his deputy commissioners in the commission.[14] Younghusband subsequently led the British expedition to Tibet, which had the putative aim to settle disputes over the Sikkim–Tibet border, but eventually exceeded instructions from the government of the United Kingdom and became a de facto invasion of Tibet.[15] Roughly 100 miles (160 km) inside Tibet, on the way to Gyantse, thence to the capital of Lhasa, a confrontation outside the hamlet of Guru led to a victory by the expedition's troops over 600–700 Tibetan soldiers.[16] Younghusband's well-trained troops were armed with rifles and machine guns, enabling them to easily defeat disorganised Tibetan forces wielding hoes, swords and flintlocks.

Ultimately, 202 men of Younghusband's expedition were killed in action while 411 died of non-combat causes.

Treaty of Lhasa
that Younghusband had signed with Tibetan leaders during the invasion.

In 1891, Younghusband received the Companion of the

Gold Medal of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in 1905.[19] In 1906, Younghusband settled in Kashmir as the British Resident representative before returning to Britain in 1909,[20] where he was an active member of many clubs and societies. In 1908, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. During the First World War, his patriotic Fight for Right campaign commissioned the song "Jerusalem
".

Himalaya and mountaineering

In 1889, Younghusband reached base of Turkestan La (North) from north, and he noted that this was a long glacier and a major Central Asian dividing range.[21]

In 1919, Younghusband was elected President of the

Mount Everest Committee which was set up to coordinate the initial 1921 British Reconnaissance Expedition to Mount Everest.[22] He actively encouraged the accomplished climber George Mallory to attempt the first ascent of Mount Everest, and they followed the same initial route as the earlier Tibet Mission. Younghusband remained Chairman through the subsequent 1922 and 1924
British Expeditions.

In 1938, Younghusband encouraged Ernst Schäfer, who was about to lead a German expedition, to "sneak over the border" when faced with British intransigence towards Schäfer's efforts to reach Tibet.[23]

Personal life

In 1897 Younghusband married Helen Augusta Magniac, the daughter of

Eileen Younghusband (1902–1981), who became a prominent social worker.[25]

From 1921 to 1937 the couple lived at Westerham, Kent, but Helen did not accompany her husband on his travels. In July 1942 Younghusband suffered a stroke after addressing a meeting of the World Congress of Faiths in Birmingham. He died of cardiac failure on 31 July 1942 at Madeline Lees' home Post Green House, at Lytchett Minster, Dorset.[26] He was buried in the village churchyard.[25]

Spiritual life

Biographer Patrick French described Younghusband's religious belief as one who was

brought up an

racial theory, then transformed it into what Bertrand Russell called 'a religion of atheism.'[27]

Ultimately he became a spiritualist and "premature hippie" who "had great faith in the power of cosmic rays, and claimed that there are extraterrestrials with translucent flesh on the planet Altair."[28]

During his 1904 retreat from Tibet, Younghusband had a mystical experience which suffused him with "love for the whole world" and convinced him that "men at heart are divine".

World Parliament of Religions). Younghusband published a number of books with titles including The Gleam: Being an account of the life of Nija Svabhava, pseud. (1923); Mother World (in Travail for the Christ that is to be) (1924); and Life in the Stars: An Exposition of the View that on some Planets of some Stars exist Beings higher than Ourselves, and on one a World-Leader, the Supreme Embodiment of the Eternal Spirit which animates the Whole (1927). The last drew the admiration of Lord Baden-Powell, the Boy Scouts founder.[30] Key concepts consisted of the central belief that would come to be known as the Gaia hypothesis, pantheism
, and a Christlike "world leader" living on the planet "Altair" (or "Stellair"), exploring the theology of spiritualism, and guidance by means of telepathy.

In his book Within: Thoughts During Convalescence (1912), Younghusband stated:

We are giving up the idea that the Kingdom of God is in Heaven, and we are finding that the Kingdom of God is within us. We are relinquishing the old idea of an external God, above, apart, and separate from ourselves; and we are taking on the new idea of an internal spirit working within us – a constraining, immanent influence, a vital, propelling impulse vibrating through us all, expressing itself and fulfilling its purpose through us, and uniting us together in one vast spiritual unity.[31]

Younghusband took interest in Eastern philosophy and Theosophy and dismissed the idea of an anthropomorphic god.[32] Taking influence from Henri Bergson's Creative Evolution, he proposed purpose in the cosmos through a creative life force. Younghusband's philosophy of cosmic spiritual evolution was outlined in his books Life in the Stars (1927) and The Living Universe (1933).[32] In the latter book he proposed the idea that the universe is a living organism. Younghusband held the view that spiritual forces in the universe are directing evolution and producing life and intelligence on many different planets.[32] Younghusband's ideas were dismissed by scientists and few took his ideas seriously. He founded the World Congress of Faiths to promote dialogue between different religions.[32]

Younghusband allegedly believed in free love ("freedom to unite when and how a man and a woman please"), marriage laws examined as a matter of "outdated custom".[33]

Fictional portrayal

One of Younghusband's domestic servants, Gladys Aylward, became a Christian missionary in China. The Ingrid Bergman film The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958) is based on Gladys Aylward's life, with Ronald Squire portraying Younghusband.[34]

Works

Younghusband wrote 26 books in all between 1885 and 1942. Subjects ranged from Asian events, exploration, mountaineering, philosophy, spirituality, politics and more.

  • Confidential Report of a Mission to the Northern Frontier of Kashmir in 1889 (Calcutta, 1890).
  • The Relief of Chitral (1895) (co-authored with his brother George John Younghusband)
  • South Africa of Today (1896)
  • The Heart of a Continent (1896) The heart of a continent: vol.1
  • "Our True Relationship with India" . The Empire and the century. London: John Murray. 1905. pp. 599–620.
  • Kashmir (1909) (with illustrations by Major Edward M. J. Molyneux)
  • India and Tibet: a history of the relations which have subsisted between the two countries from the time of Warren Hastings to 1910; with a particular account of the mission to Lhasa of 1904. London: John Murray. 1910.
  • Within: Thoughts During Convalescence (1912)
  • Mutual Influence: A Re-View of Religion (1915)
  • The Sense of Community (1916)
  • The Heart of Nature; or, The quest for natural beauty (1921)
  • The Gleam (1923)
  • Modern Mystics (1923) (, reprint 2004)
  • Mother World in Travail for the Christ that is to be (1924)
  • Wonders of the Himalayas (1924)[35]
  • The Epic of Mount Everest (1926) (, reprint 2001).
  • Life in the Stars (1927)
  • The Light of Experience (1927)[35]
  • Dawn in India (1930)
  • The Living Universe (1933)
  • The Mystery of Nature in Frances Mason. The Great Design: Order and Progress in Nature (1934)
  • The Sum of Things (1939)
  • Vital Religion (1940)

Taxon named in his honor

References

Citations

  1. ^ "MacGregor Medal". United Service Institution of India. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d C. Hayavando Rao, ed. (1915). The Indian Biographical Dictionary. Madras: Pillar & Co. pp. 470–71. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  3. ^ James 1888, pp. 235–238
  4. ^ General Sir C MacGregor, The Defence of India, (Simla, 1884)
  5. ^ a b Younghusband, Francis E. (1896). The Heart of a Continent, pp. 58-290. John Murray, London. Facsimile reprint: (2005) Elbiron Classics.
  6. , Longmans, Green, and Co.
  7. ^ James 1888, pp. 254, 262)
  8. ^ James 1888, pp. 125, 217)
  9. ^ The Heart of a Continent, pp. 186ff
  10. ^ The Heart of a Continent, pp. 234ff
  11. ^ Dictionary of National Biography "Sir George Macartney"
  12. .
  13. ISSN 1061-1924. Archived from the original
    on 1 June 2006.
  14. .
  15. ^ "Tibetans' fight against British invasion". En.Tibet.cn – China Tibet Information Center. Archived from the original on 3 November 2007. Retrieved 15 January 2008.
  16. ^ Morris, James: Farewell the Trumpets (Faber and Faber, 1979), p. 102.
  17. .
  18. ^ Great Britain. India Office The India List and India Office List for 1905, p. 145, at Google Books
  19. ^ "Scottish Geographical Medal". Royal Scottish Geographical Society. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  20. .
  21. ^ 1999, Saga of Siachen, The Himalayan Journal, Vol.55.
  22. ^ "Text of The Epic of Mount Everest, Sir Francis Younghusband". Archived from the original on 26 May 2008. Retrieved 16 April 2008.
  23. ^ Hale, Christopher. Himmler's Crusade (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2003) pp. 149-151
  24. .
  25. ^ a b Dictionary of National Biography
  26. ^ Anon. 1942 Obituary: Sir Francis Edward Younghusband. Geographical Review 32(4):681
  27. ^ French, p.313.
  28. ^ French, p. xx
  29. ^ quoted in French, p. 252.
  30. ^ French, p. 321
  31. S2CID 162397265
    .
  32. ^
  33. ^ French, p. 283
  34. ^ French., p. 364
  35. ^ a b Hopkirk, op cit.
  36. ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (22 September 2018). "Order CYPRINIFORMES: Family CYPRINIDAE: Subfamilies ACROSSOCHEILINAE, BARBINAE, SPINIBARBINAE, SCHIZOTHORACINAE, SCHIZOPYGOPSINAE and Incertae sedis". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Archived from the original on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2023.

Sources

Secondary sources

External links