Eleven years later, in consequence of the refusal of the Tibetan authorities to allow Europeans to enter their country, a system was organized by Major Mont gomerie, of the Indian government, in the interest of science, by which pundits or educated Indians were sent as explorers into Tibet. By this means the old maps were corrected and much valuable geo graphical knowledge was obtained. Preje valski and other Russian explorers have done for northern Tibet what the pundits have done for the south. Among other explorers and travelers may be men tioned Marco Polo, who made Tibet known to Europe in the 13th century; Bogle and Turner sent out by Warren Hastings in the 18th century; and in the 19th, Manning, Captain Strachey, the Jesuits Huc and Gabet, Bower, the broth ers Schlagintweit, Miss Taylor, Dr. Sven Hedin and A. H. Savage Landor.
Sikkim, a frontier State through which passes an important route from India into Tibet, became a British dependency in 1850. In 1888 it was attacked by a Tibetan force, and, as the Chinese gov ernment declined and probably was un able to interfere, the invaders were pun ished by the Anglo-Indian troops. The
question was finally settled in March, 1890. The Chinese disavowed the war and recalled their Ambah from Lhassa. Britain retained her possessions. In 1889-1890 the journey of M. Bonvalot and Prince Henri d'Orleans across central Asia from Kuldja to Tonking attracted the attention of French politicians and English merchants; but the practical ef forts of the French to open a route to the Mekong river signally failed. In 1899 a Russian envoy paid a visit to the Dalai Lama in Lhassa, and the latter in turn sent a mission to St. Petersburg in 1900. In 1904-1905 Lhassa was reached by a small English armed force by fighting, and this force was withdrawn after Brit ish terms were complied with. A pro test made by China led to an Anglo Chinese conference in 1906, which result td in China's suzerainty over Tibet. In 1911, during the Chinese Revolution, the Tibetans expelled the Chinese govern ment. In 1912 the Anglo-Indian govern ment protested against China's assumed sovereignty over Tibet, which led to a tripartite conference ut Suila in 1913, but nothing satisfactory resulted and the question involved is still unsettled.