History of Simla Convention
There are so many historical documents concerning these disputes. Of these, historians believe the Simla treaty of 1914 as one of the most important and valid documents. Therefore, I am going to speak briefly about the history of 1914 Simla Treaty.
Tibet and British India before the Simla Treaty
In 1642, the Gaden Phodrang Government of Tibet was established. In 1644, the Manchus overtook the Chinese Empiral Government in China. In 1653, the Great Fifth Dalai Lama and Manchu Emperor met in Beijing as the sovereign heads of Tibet and China. Such accounts can be found in the biographies of Tibetan lamas, especially since the establishment of Choyon or priest-patron relationship between the two countries.
The Capuchin missionary from Italy might be the first westerner to set foot in Tibet. He visited the country in 1716. But the visit was a personal one and had nothing to do with politics and culture.
The first spy sent by British India to Tibet was Sarat Chandra Das. He visited Tashi Lhunpo in 1879, disguised as a monk wishing to study in the three monasteries of Tibet. He did reconnaissance work in, and drew the maps of, Utsang. He also sought information on Tibet’s diplomatic relations with other foreign countries. When there was a danger of thisfacts, coming to the notice of the Tibetan government, he left Tibet.
In 1885, British India and Qing China signed the Cheefoo convention. In the convention, an article was mentioned saying travel between India and China could be made through Tibet. Based on this, some British tried to enter Tibet, but they were denied entry by the Tibetan government. As a result, the British government realized that Manchu China had no influence in Tibet.
The border disputes between Tibet and British India began from the year 1886. A series of discussions were held between them. Finally, in 1904 the Young Husband military expedition reached Tibet. His Holiness the Thirteenth Dalai Lama fled to Inner Mongolia, appointing the Gaden Tripa, Lobsang Gyaltsen, as the Gyaltsab. A treaty was signed, led by Young Husband and Gaden Tripa Lobsang Gyalsten. The representatives of Nepal and Bhutan in Tibet were the witnesses. The treaty contained ten articles and was the first of its kind signed between Tibet and British India. The articles of the treaty make it clear that it was independently signed between British India and Tibet. Nothing was mentioned about referring [the treaty] to the Chinese government.
In 1905, Chao Er Feng led thousands of Chinese troops and invaded Kham. He unleashed a reign of terror in the monasteries and villages of Kham. He forced his way into Lhasa in 1910. During the Monlam teachings, Chao Er Feng and his troops bombarded the Potala and massacred many Tibetans. His Holiness the thirteenth Dalai Lama once again fled Tibet and sought refuge in India. The Qing troops ruled Tibet by military force and tried to “depose” His Holiness the Dalai Lama from his position. A new system was also introduced to ‘appoint’ the officials [of Tibetan government].
The year 1911 saw a revolution in China. A year later, 1912, Chinese and Manchu troops stationed in Lhasa were involved in civil war. Tibetan people bravely fought and expelled the Chinese troops from Tibet. In 1913, Chinese in Utsang were also expelled, up to the west of Drichu. For the time being east and west of Drichu became the border between Tibet and China. There was a temporary halt in the fighting between these two countries.
In that year, a treaty was signed between Tibet and Monglia in the latter’s capital, Urga. This was a treaty that recognized Tibet and Mongolia as equal and independent countries.
During that time, Tibet didn’t have sufficient military capability. But the people of Tibet had deep hatred towards its enemy and enjoyed enormous internal unity among themselves.
In China, there was much upheaval due to constant revolts and revolutions. Chinese government and people were in deep crisis. After the 1911 revolution, there were so many conflicts between Sun Yat Sen and Yuan Shikhai. It was a political struggle of life and death between these two revolutionaries. In short China was plunged in civil war and people had to undergo so much suffering. It was like the proverbial hell on earth in China. Under such circumstances, the Chinese government was willing to sign a peace treaty with the Tibetan government. The Chinese government indeed welcomed the treaty. Before the Simla treaty, Tibet, China and British India were sovereign countries, resolving the border disputes on the basis of equality.
How the Treaty was Signed
The purpose of the Simla treaty was to resolve the border disputes between British India and Tibet, and also between Tibet and China. The best way to resolve the disputes was to sign a treaty between the plenipotentiaries of these three countries, on the basis of mutual respect and equality.
McMahon, the British plenipotentiary, was the first to broach this idea. The Tibetan government had two objectives. The first was to drive out the Chinese soldiers from Amdo and Kham areas. The other was to secure peace with the Chinese in future. A clear boundary demarcation was needed. The Tibetan government requested British India to mediate the Sino-Tibetan negotiations. The Chinese government was undergoing a lot of crisis, so they welcomed the opportunity for the peaceful negotiations. The Chinese government in the past tried to act as if Tibet was part of China. Therefore, the Chinese feared that a British mediation could expose those lies. Despite fully knowing this, the Chinese government had no choice but to sign the treaty.
Thus, it was decided to sign the treaty, with British India serving as mediator. It was also decided to send three representatives from British India, Tibet and China, all having equal powers. Simla, the summer capital of the British Raj, was selected as the venue of the treaty. The plenipotentiaries of British India, China and Tibet met on 13 October 1913 in Simla. The actual treaty was signed on 3 July 1914.
About the plenipotentiaries
The participants of the Treaty are Henry Arthur McMahon of British India, Secretary of the Indian Government, Ivan Chen of the Chinese republican government, and Shatra Paljor Dorje of the Tibetan government. All the representatives enjoyed equal powers. The representatives were appointed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet and the President of the Chinese republican government. The plenipotentiaries showed their original documents, proving that they had full powers. Following this, the plenipotentiaries reached the decision to sign and seal the treaty.
Text of the Tripartite Simla Convention
His Majesty the King of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, His Excellency the President of the Republic of China, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet, being sincerely desirous to settle by mutual agreement various questions concerning the interests of their several States on the Continent of Asia, and further to regulate the relations of their several Governments, have resolved to conclude a Convention on this subject and have nominated for this purpose their respective plenipotentiaries, that is to say:
His Majesty the King of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, the Hon’ble Sir Arthur Henry McMahon, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, Knight Commander of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, Companion of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India, Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign and Political Department;
His Excellency the President of the Republic of China, Monsieur Ivan Chen, Officer of the Order of the Chia Ho;
His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet, Lönchen Ga-den Shatra Pal-jor Dorje; who having communicated to each other their respective full powers and finding them to be in good and due form have agreed upon and concluded the following Convention in eleven Articles:
Article I
The Conventions specified in the Schedule to the present Convention shall, except in so far as they may have been modified by, or may be inconsistent with or repugnant to, any of the provisions of the present Convention, continue to be binding upon the High Contracting Parties.
Article II
The Governments of Great Britain and China recognizing that Tibet is under the suzerainty of China, and recognizing also the autonomy of Outer Tibet, engage to respect the territorial integrity of the country, and to abstain from all interference in the administration of Outer Tibet (including the selection and installation of the Dalai Lama), which shall remain in the hands of the Tibetan Government at Lhasa.
The Government of China engages not to convert Tibet into a Chinese province. The Government of Great Britain engages not to annex Tibet or any portion of it.
Article III
Recognizing the special interest of Great Britain, in virtue of the geographical position of Tibet, in the existence of an effective Tibetan Government, and in the maintenance of peace and order in the neighbourhood of the frontiers of India and adjoining States, the Government of China engages, except as provided in Article 4 of this Convention, not to send troops into Outer Tibet, nor to station civil or military officers, nor to establish Chinese colonies in the country. Should any such troops or officials remain in Outer Tibet at the date of the signature of this Convention, they shall be withdrawn within a period not exceeding three months.
The Government of Great Britain engages not to station military or civil officers in Tibet (except as provided in the Convention of September 7, 1904, between Great Britain and Tibet) nor troops (except the Agents’ escorts), nor to establish colonies in that country.
Article IV
The foregoing Article shall not be held to preclude the continuance of the arrangement by which, in the past, a Chinese high official with suitable escort has been maintained at Lhasa, but it is hereby provided that the said escort shall in no circumstances exceed 300 men.
Article V
The Governments of China and Tibet engage that they will not enter into any negotiations of agreements regarding Tibet with one another, or with any other Power, excepting such negotiations and agreements between Great Britain and Tibet as are provided for by the Convention of September 7, 1904, between Great Britain and Tibet and the Convention of April 27, 1906, between Great Britain and China.
Article VI
Article III of the Convention of April 27, 1906, between Great Britain and China is hereby cancelled, and it is understood that in Article IX(d) of the Convention of September 7, 1904, between Great Britain and Tibet the term ‘Foreign Power’ does not include China.
No less favourable treatment shall be accorded to British commerce than to the commerce of China or the most favoured nation.
Article VII
a. The Tibet Trade Regulations of 1893 and 1908 are hereby cancelled.
b. The Tibetan Government engages to negotiate with the British Government new Trade Regulations for Outer Tibet to give effect to Articles II, IV and V of the Convention of September 7, 1904, between Great Britain and Tibet without delay; provided always that such Regulations shall in no way modify the present Convention except with the consent of the Chinese Government.
Article VIII
The British Agent who resides at Gyantse may visit Lhasa with his escort whenever it is necessary to consult with the Tibetan Government regarding matters arising out of the Convention of September 7, 1904, between Great Britain and Tibet, which it has been found impossible to settle at Gyantse by correspondence or otherwise.
Article IX
For the purpose of the present Convention the borders of Tibet, and the boundary between Outer and Inner Tibet, shall be shown in red and blue respectively on the map attached hereto.
Nothing in the present Convention shall be held to prejudice the existing rights of the Tibetan Government in Inner Tibet, which include the power to select and appoint the high priests of monasteries and to retain full control in all matters affecting religious institutions.
Article X
In case of differences between the Governments of China and Tibet in regard to questions arising out of this Convention the aforesaid Governments engage to refer them to the British Government for equitable adjustment.
Article XI
The present Convention will take effect from the date of signature. The English, Chinese and Tibetan texts of the present Convention have been carefully examined and found to correspond, but in the event of there being any difference of meaning between them the English text shall be authoritative.
In token whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed and sealed this Convention, three copies in English, three in Chinese and three in Tibetan.
Done at Simla this 27th day of April, A.D. one thousand nine hundred and fourteen. (Singed and sealed by the Indian representative and the Tibetan representative on the 3rd day of July, A. D. one thousand nine hundred and Fourteen.)
Initials and seals of Sir H. McMahon , Chen I-fan, The Lönchen Shatra.
Schedule
1. Convention between Great Britain and China relating to Sikkim and Tibet, signed at Calcutta the 17th March 1890.
2. Convention between Great Britain and Tibet, signed at Lhasa the 7th September 1904.
3. Convention between Great Britain and China respecting Tibet, signed at Peking the 27th April 1906.
The notes exchanged are to the following effect:
1. It is understood by the High Contracting Parties that Tibet forms part of Chinese territory.
2. After the selection and installation of the Dalai Lama by the Tibetan Government, the latter will notify the installation to the Chinese Government, whose representative at Lhasa will then formally communicate to His Holiness the titles consistent with his dignity, which have been conferred by the Chinese Government.
3. It is also understood that the selection and appointment of all officers in Outer Tibet will rest with the Tibetan Government.
4. Outer Tibet shall not be represented in the Chinese Parliament or in any other similar body.
5. It is understood that the escorts attached to the British Trade Agencies in Tibet shall not exceed seventy-five per centum of the escort of the Chinese Representative at Lhasa.
6. The Government of China is hereby released from its engagements under Article III of the Convention of March 17, 1890, between Great Britain and China, to prevent acts of aggression from the Tibetan side of the Tibet-Sikkim frontier.
7. The Chinese high official referred to in Article IV will be free to enter Tibet as soon as the terms of Article III have been fulfilled to the satisfaction of representatives of the three signatories to this Convention, who will investigate and report without delay.
The above treaty and the articles thereof, having been to the full knowledge of Ivan Chen, the Chinese plenipotentiary had initialed but did not ratify the same. The plenipotentiaries of India and Tibet on equal status , signed and sealed the agreement.
Anglo-Tibetan Declaration
3 July 1914
We, the plenipotentiaries of Great Britain and Thibet hereby record the following declaration to the effect that we acknowledge the annexed convention as initialled to be binding on the Government of Great Britain and Thibet, and hereby agree that so long as the Government of China withhold signature to the aforesaid convention, she will be debarred for the enjoyment of all privileges accuring therefrom.
In token whereof we have signed and sealed the declaration – two copies in English and two in Thibetan.
Done at Shimla this 3rd day of July, A.D. 1914, corresponding with the Thibetan date of the 10th day of the fifth month of Wood-Tiger year.
A. Henry Mcmohan
British Plenipotentiary
(Seal of the British Plenipotentiary)
(Seal of the Dalai Lama)
(Sign of the Lonchen Shetra)
(Seal of the Lonchen Shetra)
(Seal of the Drepung Monastery)
(Seal of the Sera Monastery)
(Seal of the Gaden Monastery)
(Seal of the National Assembly)
On the virtue of the above bilateral declaration, China ceases to benefit from the Tripartite treaty. Therefore, the Tibet-China border as demarcated in article 9 stands automatically nullified.
Tibet and China after the Treaty
After the Simla treaty, Mcmahon line was drawn, demarcating the international boundary between Tibet and India. This Mcmahon line still is a bone of contention between China and India. A month after signing the treaty, the First World War broke out. During that time, Germany and Britain waged war against each other. The Tibetan government considered itself as an ally of Britain, and sent a letter to the British government, saying if necessary Tibet was ready to send one thousand soldiers [to help the British in the war]. The letter was sent in the name of Kalon Sholkhang on 2 of the 7 th Tibetan month 1914. The letter reached Basil Gould, British India’s representative in Sikkim, on 14 of Tibetan month in 1914. In its response sent on 27 of Tibetan month 1914, [the British government] heartily thanked the [Tibetan government] and said that they would seek help when necessary.
Lonchen Shatra and others who signed the Simla treaty returned to Tibet on 17 September 1914. In 1914, British India gave military training to soldiers of Tibet in Kota and Shillong. The soldiers were trained in shooting rifles, artillery and so on. Thus Tibet’s military was modernized considerably. British India also offered medical and health assistance. Tibet’s judicial system was reformed based on that of British India.
In short, after signing the treaty, the boundary between Tibet and India was clearly demarcated. Tibet was recognized as an independent nation and not under the occupation of any other foreign country. Independent historians and experts bear witness to this.
ཆེད་རྩོམ་འདི་བཞིན་ཧི་མ་ལ་ཡ་པ་རི་ཝས་གོ་སྒྲིག་བྱས་ནས་ཧི་མ་ཅལ་མངའ་སྡེ་རྒྱལ་ས་ནིམ་ལ་ལ་བོད་རྒྱ་དབྱིན་གསུམ་འདྲ་མཉམ་སིམ་ལའི་ཆིངས་ཡིག་བཞག་ནས་མི་ལོ་གོ་བཞི་འཁོར་བའི་ཚོགས་ཆེན་ཐོག ཧི་ལ་མ་ཡ་པ་རི་ཝ་རས་བཀྲམས་པའི་ཡིག་ཆ་གལ་ཆེ་ཞིག་ཡིན། འདི་ཉིད་བོད་དབྱིན་ཧིན་གསུམ་གྱི་ཡིག་ཐོག་ནས་ཚོགས་ཆེན་དེའི་ཐོག་འགྲེམས་སྤེལ་བྱས།
(Signed between British India and Tibet at Simla, Himachal Pradesh, on 3 July 1914)
94th Year of The 1914 Simla Convention 3rd July 2008, shimla H.P
Ven Geshe Beri Jigme (M.P) Tibetan Parliament in-exile, dharamshala,(H.P)
Event organised by the Trans Himalaya Parliamenty from & Himalaya liamentary from Himalaya Parivar Himachal Pradesh, INDIA