Causes of the British Younghusband Expedition (1903-1904)

" In 1898, Lord George Curzon had been appointed as Viceroy of British India. By December 1903 Curzon had dispatched a British force of three thousand soldiers, heavily made up of Afghans and Gurkhas from British India, in order to deal with the harsh Himalayan terrain, along with seven thousand support troops into Tibet. The military contingent was led by Brigadier General J.R. Macdonald and Major Francis Younghusband under the public pretext of solving “trading difficulties” through a “peaceful mission”."

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