Charles Alfred Bell

Charles Alfred Bell
Bell in 1922
Born(1870-10-31)31 October 1870
Fort William, Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British Raj
Died8 March 1945(1945-03-08) (aged 74)
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
EducationNew College, Oxford (didn't graduate)
Occupationsdiplomat, writer, Tibetologist

Sir Charles Alfred Bell KCIE CMG (31 October 1870 – 8 March 1945) was the British Political Officer for Bhutan, Sikkim and Tibet. He was known as "British India's ambassador to Tibet" before retiring and becoming a noted tibetologist.

Biography

Bell was born on 31 October 1870 in Fort William, Calcutta (present-day Kolkata) to Henry Bell, a civil servant in the Indian Service (ICS), and Anne Bell (née Dumbell). Educated at Winchester College, Bell passed the ICS test in 1889. Subsequently studying at New College, Oxford, Bell joined the ICS in 1891. Settling in the Bengal Presidency, he served posts Bihar and Orissa (present-day Odisha).

Transferring to Darjeeling in 1900, Bell first came into contact with Tibetan culture and language. His English-Tibetan colloquial dictionary was first published in 1905 together with a grammar of colloquial Tibetan as Manual of Colloquial Tibetan.

In 1908, he was appointed Political Officer in Sikkim. He soon became very influential in Sikkimese and Bhutanese politics, and in 1910 he met the 13th Dalai Lama, who had been forced into temporary exile by the Chinese. He got to know him quite well, and later wrote his biography (Portrait of the Dalai Lama, published in 1946).

The 13th Dalai Lama (right), Sir Charles Bell (left), and Maharaj Kumar Sidkeong Tulku (centre) in Calcutta around March 1910.

In 1913 he participated in the Simla Convention, a treaty between Great Britain, China and Tibet concerning the status of Tibet. Before the summit, he met in Gyantse with Paljor Dorje Shatra, the Tibetan representative to the British Raj at Darjeeling and advised him to bring to Simla with him all documents concerning relations between China and Tibet, as well as Tibetan claims to land occupied by China. Bell was designated to assist the Tibetans in the negotiations, with Archibald Rose assigned to be his counterpart for the Chinese. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1915 New Year Honours for his services.

In 1919 he resigned as Britain's political officer in Sikkim to devote himself full-time to his research. However, London sent him to Lhasa in 1920 as a special ambassador. During this time, he was assisted by Rabden Lepcha who contributed to his photographic collection during over 18 years.

After travelling through Tibet and visiting Lhasa in 1920, he retired to Oxford, where he wrote a series of books on the history, culture and religion of Tibet. He was awarded a knighthood for his Lhasa Mission in 1922.

Palhese, Bell's Tibetan friend and confidant travelled to England in 1927–28 to assist him in editing several of these books.

He moved to Canada in his later years. The book Portrait of the Dalai Lama was completed only a few days before his death on 8 March 1945. Some of the photographs that he took in Tibet can be found in the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. Some of these were included in the 1997 book Tibet: Caught in Time.

References

  1. ↑ Dimeo, P.; Mills, J. (2013). Soccer in South Asia: Empire, Nation, Diaspora. Sport in the Global Society. Taylor & Francis. p. 91. ISBN 978-1-135-27650-8. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Prior, Katherine (23 September 2004). "Bell, Sir Charles Alfred (1870–1945), administrator in India and Tibetologist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30682. Retrieved 28 October 2026. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Freeman, Claire (2006). "Biography of Sir Charles Bell (1870–1945)". The Tibet Album. Oxford: Pitt Rivers Museum. Archived from the original on 17 April 2026. Retrieved 28 October 2026.
  4. ↑ "Exploring Everest: 100 years on". Winchester, Hampshire: Winchester College. 13 September 2021. Archived from the original on 21 December 2024. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  5. ↑ McKay, Alex (2001). "'Kicking the Buddha's Head': India, Tibet and Footballing Colonialism". In Dimeo, Paul; Mills, James (eds.). Soccer in South Asia: Empire, Nation, Diaspora. Psychology Press. p. 91. ISBN 9780714681702.
  6. 1 2 3 "Portrait of Sir Charles Bell CMG KCIE". National Museums Liverpool. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013.
  7. ↑ Ren, C.Y.; Noss, R.B.; Yamagiwa, J.K. (2019). Linguistics in East Asia and South East Asia. Current Trends in Linguistics. De Gruyter. p. 771. ISBN 978-3-11-081463-7. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  8. ↑ Bell, C.A. (2000). Portrait of a Dalai Lama: The Life and Times of the Great Thirteenth. Munshiram Manoharlal. ISBN 978-81-215-0944-2. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  9. 1 2 Harris, C.; Shakya, T. (2003). Seeing Lhasa: British Depictions of the Tibetan Capital 1936-1947. Serindia. p. 141. ISBN 978-1-932476-04-0. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  10. ↑ McKay, A. (1997). Tibet and the British Raj: The Frontier Cadre, 1904-1947. London studies on South Asia. Curzon. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-7007-0627-3. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  11. ↑ Dolma, T.; Lancaster, R. (2020). Reviews on Tibetan Political History: A Compilation of Tibet Journal Articles. Library of Tibetan Works & Archives. p. 171. ISBN 978-93-87023-97-0. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  12. ↑ Marshall, J.G. (2005). Britain and Tibet 1765-1947: A Select Annotated Bibliography of British Relations with Tibet and the Himalayan States Including Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan. RoutledgeCurzon. p. 443. ISBN 978-0-415-33647-5. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  13. ↑ Foster, Barbara M. (1987), Forbidden Journey: the life of Alexandra David-Neel, Harper & Row, ISBN 9780062503459
  14. ↑ "Yeshe".
  15. ↑ Michael J. Aminoff MD, D.S.F. (2016). Sir Charles Bell: His Life, Art, Neurological Concepts, and Controversial Legacy. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-061497-3. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  16. ↑ Clarke, J.; British Library (1997). Tibet: Caught in Time. Caught in Time: Great Photographic Archives Series. Garnet. ISBN 978-1-873938-96-6. Retrieved 11 May 2024.

Works