The McMahon Line- a Century of Discord

by J J Singh

  3.Gondker Narayana Rao, The India-China Border, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd, 1968, pp. 62–63.

  4.Captain F.M. Bailey, Report on an Exploration of the North East Frontier 1913, Simla: Government of India, 1914, p. 14.

  5.Ibid., p. 79.

  6.Ibid., pp. 10–11.

  7.Ibid., p. 2.

  8.Ibid., pp. 2–3.

  9.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. II, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1966, p. 277.

  10.Captain F.M. Bailey, Report on an Exploration of the North East Frontier 1913, pp. 10–11.

  11. British Administration of Eastern Himalayan Region

  1.Manilal Bose, Historical and Constitutional Documents of North Eastern India, (1824–1973), Delhi: Concept Publishing Company, 1979, p. 21.

  2.Dorothy Woodman, Himalayan Frontiers, London: Barrie and Rockliff, The Cresset Press, 1969, p. 112.

  3.Verrier Elwin, A Philosophy for NEFA, Itanagar: Government of Arunachal Pradesh, 2006, p. 2.

  4.Gondker Narayana Rao, The India-China Border: A Reappraisal, Delhi: Motilal Banarasidass Publishers Private Limited, 1968, p. 71.

  5.Report of the Officials of the Governments of India and the Peoples Republic of China on the Boundary Question, Part II, p. 102. Hereafter will be referred to as Officials’ Report.

  6.Ibid.

  7.Ibid.

  8.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. II, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1966, p. 313.

  9.Dorothy Woodman, Himalayan Frontiers, p. 109.

  10.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, Delhi: The Macmillan Company of India Ltd, 1975, p. 90.

  11.Sadiya was completely destroyed by the severe earthquake of 1950 and the Brahmaputra and its tributaries changed their course at many places resulting in the loss of many lives and property.

  12.Manilal Bose, Historical and Constitutional Documents of North-Eastern India (1824-1973), p. 157.

  13.Dorothy Woodman, Himalayan Frontiers, p. 135.

  14.Captain F. M. Bailey, Report on an Exploration of the North-East Frontier 1913, Simla: Government of India, 1914, p. 25.

  15.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. II, p. 346.

  16.Ibid., p. 335.

  17.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, p.96.

  18.Ibid., p. 97.

  19.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. II, p. 345, n. 33.

  20.Parshotam Mehra, The North-Eastern Frontier, Vol. I, 1906-14, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1979, p. 41.

  21.Captain H. T. Morshead, Report on an Exploration on the North East Frontier 1913, Dehradun: Government of India, 1914, p. 4.

  22.Sir Robert Reid, History of the Frontier Areas Bordering on Assam from 1883–1941, Guwahati: Spectrum Publications, 1942, p. 181.

  23.Ibid.

  24.Ibid.

  25.Dorothy Woodman, Himalayan Frontiers, p. 369.

  26.Ibid., p. 135.

  27.Ibid., p. 369.

  28.Sir Robert Reid, History of the Frontier Areas Bordering on Assam from 1883–1941, p. 283.

  29.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. II, p. 361.

  30.Ibid., p. 406.

  31.Ibid., pp. 361–62.

  32.Dorothy Woodman, Himalayan Frontiers, p. 132.

  33.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. II, p. 356.

  34.Ibid., p. 543. See also O’Callaghan’s Tour Diary, 7 March 1914.

  35.Ibid., p. 357.

  36.H.E. Richardson, A Short History of Tibet, New York: E.P Dutton & Co. Inc., 1962, p. 73.

  37.Ibid., pp. 73–74.

  38.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, p. 34.

  39.Sir Charles Bell, Portrait of the Dalai Lama, London: Collins, 1946, p. 42.

  40.Ibid., pp. 61–62.

  41.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. I, p. 44.

  42.L. Austine Waddell, Lhasa and Its Mysteries, Delhi: Sanskaran Prakashak, 1905, p. 416.

  43.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. I, pp. 149–51.

  44.Heather Spence, British Policy and the ‘Development’ of Tibet 1912–1933, Sydney: University of Wollongong, 1993, p. 7.

  45.Sir Charles Bell, Portrait of the Dalai Lama, p. 76.

  46.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. I, p. 54.

  12. The Prelude

  1.Viceroy to Foreign Office, 15 June 1913, BLA, IOR L/P&S/18/B 201, p. 2376, hereafter referred to as BLA.

  2.Mr Alston’s No. 352 of 8 September 1913, to Viceroy, Tibet: Memorandum from Jan 1 to Aug 30, 1913, BLA, IOR, L/P&S/18/B201, p. 5062.

  3.Mr Alston’s No. 266 of 30 June 1913, BLA, IOR L/P&S/18/B 201.

  4.Alston’s Tibet: Memorandum from Jan 1 to Aug 30, 1913, BLA, IOR L/P&S/18/B202, p. 17.

  5.Ibid., p. 18.

  6.W. Langley, Foreign Office to Under Secy of State, India Office, dated 13 Aug 1913, BLA, IOR L/P&S/18/B 201, p. 299.

  7.Colonel A.H. McMahon, in his address ‘International Boundaries’, published in Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, London, 15 November, 1935, p. 2.

  8.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, Delhi: The Macmillan Company of India Ltd, 1975, p. 173, n. 10.

  9.BLA, IOR L/P&S/18/B 201, p. 2564.

  10.Ibid., p. 2279, Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Gray, 5 June 1913.

  11.Mr Alston’s No. 352 of 8 September 1913, Tibet: Memorandum from Jan 1 to Aug 30, 1913, BLA, IOR L/P&S/18/B 202.

  12.Dorothy Woodman, Himalayan Frontiers, London: Barrie & Rockliff, The Cresset Press, 1969, p. 155.

  13.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol-II, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1966, p. 474.

  14.Mr Alston’s No. 352, 8 September 1913, Tibet: Memorandum from Jan 1 to Aug 30, 1913, p. 13, BLA, IOR L/P&S/18/B 202.

  15.Dorothy Woodman, Himalayan Frontiers, p. 155.

  16.Sir Charles Bell, Tibet Past and Present, Delhi: Low Price Publications, 1924, p. 158.

  17.Ibid., pp. 157–58.

  18.Claude Arpi, ‘The Border is Fixed: The Simla Conference’, Indian Defence Review, 17 Aug 2015.

  19.Sir Charles Bell, Tibet Past and Present, pp. 157–58; Final Memorandum of McMahon, 1914, p. 13, BLA, IOR L/P&S/B 206.

  13. The Conference Proceedings

  1.Parshotam Mehra, The North-Eastern Frontier, Vol. I, 1906-14, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1979, p. 209.

  2.Alston’s Memorandum from Jan 1 to Aug 30, 1913, British Legation, Peking, p. 18, BLA, IOR L/P&S/18/B 202.

  3.BLA, IOR L/P&S/10/432 dated 20 Apr 1914, p. 1751.

  4.Neville Maxwell, India’s China War, New Delhi: Natraj Publishers, 1970, p. 37.

  5.Dorothy Woodman, Himalayan Frontiers, London: Barrie & Rockliff, The Cresset Press, 1969, p. 157.

  6.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. II, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1966, p. 477.

  7.BLA, IOR L/P&S/18/B 201, p. 4229.

  8.Ibid., p. 4215.

  9.Ibid.

  10.McMahon’s Memorandum of Progress of Negotiations from 06 October 1913–20 March 1914, p. 5014, BLA, IOR L/P&S/18/B 206.

  11.BLA, IOR L/P&S/18/B 201, p. 4215.

  12.Ibid.

  13.Ibid.

  14.Ibid.

  15.Sir Charles Bell, Tibet Past and Present, Delhi: Low Price Publications, 1924, p. 152.

  16.Ivan Chen to McMahon, 30 October 1913, p. 1, BLA, IOR L/P&S/18/B 206.

  17.Ibid.

  18.Ibid.

  19.Ibid.

  20.Ibid.

  21.Ibid.

  22.Ibid., p. 4473. Viceroy to Secy of State London, 30 October 1913.

  23.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. II, p. 480.

  24.Proceeding of the 2nd Meeting of the Tibet Conference (18 November 1913), BLA, IOR L/P&S/18/B 206.

  25.Ibid., p. 480.

  26.BLA, IOR L/P&S/18/B 206, p. 4798.

  27.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, Delhi: The Macmillan Company of India Ltd, 1975, p. 187.

  28.Simla Conference, Proceeding of Informal Meetings, Dec 1913, BLA, IOR/P&S/10/343, p. 194.

  29.Ibid., p. 195.

  3
0.Ibid.

  31.Ibid.

  32.Ibid.

  33.Ibid., p.196.

  34.Ibid.

  35.Ibid.

  36.Ibid., p. 197.

  37.Ibid., p. 196.

  38.Ibid., p. 197.

  39.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, p. 197.

  40.Progress of Simla Convention Viceroy State Dept 18 Dec 1913, BLA, IOR L/P&S 18/ B 201, p. 5092.

  41.Proceedings of the 3rd Meeting, BLA, IOR L/P&S/10/343, p. 481.

  42.Ibid.

  43.Ibid.

  44.Ibid.

  45.Ibid.

  46.Ibid.

  47.Parshotam Mehra, The North-Eastern Frontier, Vol. I, 1906-14, pp. 159–60.

  48.Ibid.

  49.Ibid., and Progress of Simla Convention, Viceroy to State Department, 18 December 1913, BLA, IOR L/P&S 18/ B 201.

  50.BLA IOR LP&S/10/343, p. 14.

  51.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, p. 195.

  52.Foreign Office to India Office, London, BLA, IOR L/P&S/10/432.

  53.Secretary of State to Viceroy, 6 January 1914, BLA, IOR L/P&S/10/343, p. 201.

  54.Viceroy to Secretary of State, 17 February 1914, BLA, IOR LP&S/10/343, p. 621.

  55.John Rowland, A History of Sino- Indian Relations, Dvan Nostrand Company Inc., 1967, p. 49.

  56.Final Memorandum of McMahon, 1914, Enclosure 3, p. 9, BLA IOR L/P&S/18/B 202.

  57.Ibid.

  58.BLA, IOR L/P&S/18/B 202.

  59.Alston’s Memorandum, from Jan 1 to Aug 30, 1913, British Legation, Peking, 30 August 1913, BLA, IOR/L/P&S/18/B 202.

  60.Parshotam Mehra, The North-Eastern Frontier Vol. I, 1906-14, p. 211.

  61.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, p. 210.

  62.Parshotam Mehra, Essays in Frontier History, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2007, p. 67.

  63.Parshotam Mehra, The North-Eastern Frontier Vol. I, 1906-14, p. 171.

  64.Final Memorandum of McMahon, 1914, p. 10.

  65.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, p. 216.

  66.Final Memorandum of McMahon, 1914, p. 10.

  67.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, p. 216; BLA, IOR L/P&S/10/432-11584 of 16 March 1914.

  68.Final Memorandum of McMahon, 1914, p. 10.

  69.Ibid., p. 11.

  70.Ibid.

  71.Ibid.

  72.Ibid., p. 12.

  73.Ibid.

  74.Dorothy Woodman, Himalayan Frontiers, p. 172.

  75.Parshotam Mehra, The North-Eastern Frontier Vol. I, 1906-14, p. 159.

  76.Ibid.

  77.BLA, IOR L/P&S/10/343, p. 1021.

  78.Alastair Lamb, The McMahon Line, Vol. II, p. 505.

  79.Ibid., p. 509.

  80.Ibid., p. 507.

  81.Ibid., p. 509.

  82.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, pp. 255–256.

  83.Ibid., pp. 256–60.

  84.Final Memorandum of McMahon, 1914, p. 10. Encl 4, p. 2.

  85.Ibid.

  86.Ibid., p. 3.

  87.Proceedings of the 8th Meeting at Simla, 3 July 1914, p. 2, sourced from Peking 1940, ‘The Boundary Question Between China and Tibet: A Valuable Record of the Tripartite Conference between China, Britain and Tibet held in India, 1913–14, pp. 145–50. Hereafter will be referred to as Procs of the 8th Meeting, 1914.

  88.Ibid., p. 2.

  89.Ibid., p. 3.

  90.H.E. Richardson, A Short History of Tibet, p. 114.

  91.Procs of the 8th Meeting, 1914, p. 3.

  92.Ibid., p. 4.

  93.BLA, IOR L/P&S/18/B 206, No. 90 of 1914.

  14. Defining and Delineating the McMahon Line

  1.T.H. Holditch, Political Frontiers and Boundary Making, London: Macmillan and Co. Ltd 1916, p. 174. An eminent geographer and authority on Frontier Surveys of the Indian subcontinent, he was the president of the Royal Geographic Society.

  2.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, Delhi: The Macmillan Company of India Ltd., 1975, pp. 96–97; also Hardinge to Crewe, 21 September 1911, BLA, IOR, P&EF 1910/13.

  3.Final Memorandum of McMahon, 1914, Enclosure 5, p. 6, BLA, IOR L/P&S/18/B 202.

  4.Alston’s Memorandum of 30 August 1913, BLA, IOR L/P&S/18/B 202.

  5.Dorothy Woodman, Himalayan Frontiers, London: Barrie & Rockliff, The Cresset Press, 1969, p. 370.

  6.Ibid., p. 376.

  7.Ibid., p. 377.

  8.Captain F.M. Bailey, Report on an Exploration of the North East Frontier 1913, Simla: Government of India, 1914, pp. 13, 14, 34.

  9.McMahon Memorandum of 28 March 1914, BLA, IOR L/P&S/10/343, p. 1517.

  10.Officials Report 1960, Part 2, p. 103; also Gondker Narayana Rao, The India-China Border A Reappraisal, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd, 1968, p. 62.

  11.W. H. Wilkinson, British Consul General, Chengtu, 22 April 1912 to Lord Hardinge, 114.

  12.Ibid.

  13.BLA, IOR L/P&S/10/343, p. 6, and Final Memorandum of McMahon, 1914.

  14.McMahon’s Memorandum of 28 March 1914, BLA, IOR L/P&S/10/343, p.1517.

  15. Dalai Lama’s Temporal, Spiritual Rule Reinstated

  1.Heather Spence, British Policy and the ‘Development’ of Tibet 1912-1933, Sydney: University of Wollongong, 1993, p. 234.

  2.H.E. Richardson, A Short History of Tibet, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co. Inc., 1962, p. 117.

  3.Ibid., p. 116.

  4.Dorothy Woodman, Himalayan Frontiers, London: Barrie & Rockliff, The Cresset Press, 1969, pp. 185–87.

  5.Ibid., p. 187.

  6.Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, New York: Potala Publications, 1984, p. 262.

  7.Ibid.

  8.Amar Kaur Jasbir Singh, Himalayan Triangle, London: The British Library, 1988, p. 28.

  9.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, Delhi: The Macmillan Company of India Ltd, 1975, p. 331.

  16. Tibet: A Political Chessboard; Panchen Lama; Death of Dalai Lama

  1.Dorothy Woodman, Himalayan Frontiers, London: Barrie & Rockliff, The Cresset Press, 1969, p. 188.

  2.Amar Kaur Jasbir Singh, Himalayan Triangle, London: The British Library, 1988, p. 28; also, Viceroy to Secretary of State, 29 August 1919, BLA, IOR L/P&S/10/715, p. 4657.

  3.Dorothy Woodman, Himalayan Frontiers, p. 190.

  4.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, Delhi: The Macmillan Company of India Ltd, 1975, p. 350.

  5.Ibid., p. 348.

  6.Dorothy Woodman, Himalayan Frontiers, p. 191.

  7.Amar Kaur Jasbir Singh, Himalayan Triangle, p. 28.

  8.Warren W. Smith Jr, Tibetan Nation: A History of Tibetan Nationalism and Sino-Tibetan Relations, Delhi: HarperCollins Publishers, 1996, p. 211.

  9.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, p. 367.

  10.H.E. Richardson, A Short History of Tibet, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1962, p. 124.

  11.Amar Kaur Jasbir Singh, Himalayan Triangle, p. 30.

  12.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, p. 375.

  13.Bell to Government of India, 19 January 1921, BLA, IOR L/P&S/10/971; also Heather Spence, British Policy and The ‘Development’ of Tibet 1912-1933, Sydney: University of Wollongong, 1993, p. 217.

  14.Ibid., p. 221.

  15.Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, New York: Potala Publications, 1984, p. 249.

  16.W.W. Rockhill, The Dalai Lamas of Lhasa and their Relations with the Manchu Emperor of China, 1644–1908, Leyden: Oriental Printing Office, 1910.

  17.Warren W. Smith Jr, Tibetan Nation: A History of Tibetan Nationalism and Sino-Tibetan Relations, pp. 216–17.

  18.Sir Charles Bell, Portrait of the Dalai Lama, London: Collins, 1946, p. 363.

  19.Warren W. Smith Jr, Tibetan Nation: A History of Tibetan Nationalism and Sino-Tibetan Relations, pp. 216–17.

  20.Melvyn C. Goldstein, A History of Modern Tibet, 1913-1951, Oakland: University of California Press, 1989, p. 63.

  21.Warren W. Smith Jr, Tibetan Nation: A History of Tibetan Nationalism and Sino-Tibetan Rel
ations, pp. 216–17.

  22.Ludlow Diaries, entry on 28 October 1926, BLA, IOR: MSS D 979, also, Heather Spence, British Policy and The ‘Development’ of Tibet 1912-1933, p. 269.

  23.Amar Kaur Jasbir Singh, Himalayan Triangle, p. 30.

  24.Alexander Berzin, April 2003, http://studybuddhism.com/en/advanced studies/history-culture/shambhala/use-of-shambhala-in-russian-japanese-schemes-in-tibet, accessed on 12 August 2018.

  25.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, p. 366.

  26.Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, p. 280.

  27.Warren W. Smith Jr, Tibetan Nation: A History of Tibetan Nationalism and Sino-Tibetan Relations, 1996, p. 240.

  28.Ibid., p.219.

  29.Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, p. 271.

  30.Ibid.

  31.Ibid., p. 274.

  32.Sir Charles Bell, Tibet: Past and Present, Delhi: Low Price Publications, 1924, p. 270.

  33.Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, p. 270.

  34.H.E. Richardson, A Short History of Tibet, p.132.

  35.Sir Charles Bell, Portrait of the Dalai Lama, p. 380.

  36.Ibid.

  37.H.E. Richardson, Short History of Tibet, p. 139.

  38.Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, p. 275.

  39.H.E. Richardson, Short History of Tibet, p. 140.

  40.Sir Charles Bell, Portrait of the Dalai Lama, p. 380.

  41.H.E. Richardson, A Short History of Tibet, p.142.

  42.Ibid., p. 143.

  43.Ibid., p. 145.

  44.Dorothy Woodman, Himalayan Frontiers, p. 204.

  45.Heather Spence, British Policy and the ‘Development’ of Tibet 1912-1933, p. iv.

  46.Parshotam Mehra, The McMahon Line and After, p. 460.

  17. Bonhomie, Appeasement, Imprudence, Deception

  1.S. S. Khera, India’s Defence Problem, New Delhi: Orient Longman Ltd, 1968, p. 152.

  2.John W. Garver, Protracted Contest: Sino-Indian Rivalry in the Twentieth Century, Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 2001, p. 14.

  3.Amar Kaur Jasbir Singh, Himalayan Triangle, London: The British Library, 1988, p. 42.

  4.Home Minister Vallabhbhai Patel’s note to Prime Minister, New Delhi, 7 November 1950.

  5.Ranjit Singh Kalha, India-China Boundary Issues, New Delhi: Pentagon Press, 2014, p. 48

  6.P. B. Sinha and A.A. Athale, History of The Conflict with China, 1962, New Delhi: History Division Ministry of Defence, 1992, p. 48.

  7.A. G. Noorani, India-China Boundary Issues Problem 1846-1947, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 221.