Antiquities of Indian Tibet -2 vols. (Hardcover)

by A.H. Francke (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The journey that the author A.H Franke, a member of the Moravian Misson, undertook in 1909 was on the behest of the British Indian Government for carrying out an archaeological survey of the districts that comprised of Indian Tibet (now the regions of Lahul and Spiti in state of Himachal Pradesh, and Ladakh in the state of Jammu and Kashmir). These areas had never been explored and Franke was best suited for this purpose, given his knowledge of local history and antiquities and fluency in the Tibetan language. Starting from Shimla on the 14th of June 1909 he traveled upto the Satluj Valley through the hill state of Rampur Bashahr he reached Spiti.Crossing the Parungla pass he continued through Rubshu and the Tso Moriri Lake in South Eastern Ladakh and then to Leh, the capital of Ladakh. After a brief stay at Leh he crossed the Zoji pass to reach Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir. The second volumes give the Tibetan text and English translation of the chronicles of Zangskar, Baltistan, Lahul along with the genealogies of the chiefs of these areas. It contains rare maps of the lahul, spiti, rubshu, kinnaur areas.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Asian Educational Services,India; Facsimile of 1914 ed edition (November 1992)
• ISBN-10: 8120607694
• ISBN-13: 978-8120607699
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,086,712 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars On the footprints of Rev. August Hermann Francke, January 17, 2004

By	VASTA Marco (Italy) - See all my reviews

I trekked on author's step on 2003 from Spiti to Ladakh. Francke'spersonal narrative was first published in 1914 and is an archaeological survey of the districts which once formed the kingdom of Western Tibet.
These mountainous regions, then belonging to the Indian Empire, and therefore indicated as Indian Tibet had never been explored by any scholar combining a knowledge of local history and antiquities with a thorough acquaintance of Tibetan. The author Dr. Franck acquired these rare accomplishments in the course of his many years in in Ladakh and Lahul.
Starting from Simla on the 14th June, 1909, he traveled up to Satluj Valley through the hill-state of Rampur-Bashahr, and crossing through Pharang Pass, and mountain passes the Phologongkha Pass and the Thagland Pass reached Ladakh, the real center of the ancient realm of Western Tibet. After a brief stay at Leh, the ancient seat of the Gyal-Po rulers of that country, Dr. Francke traveled westwards and after crossing the Photho La, Namika Pass, and the Zoji La, reached Srinagar on the 16th of October.
This journal of his four months travel bear ample evidence of the spirit of the explorer who was animated by the true enthusiasm of the scholar. This journal made very important additions to our knowledge of the archaeology and history of Indian Tibet.