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Hugh Edward Richardson (22 December 1905 – 3 December 2000) was an
Indian Civil Service
The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947.
Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...
officer, British diplomat and
Tibetologist
Tibetology () refers to the study of things related to Tibet, including its history, religion, language, culture, politics and the collection of Tibetan articles of historical, cultural and religious significance. The last may mean a collection of ...
. His academic work focused on the history of the Tibetan empire, and in particular on
epigraphy. He was among the last Europeans to have known Tibet and its society before the Chinese invasions which began in 1950.
Biography and career
Born in
St. Andrews, Fife, the son of a
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
medical officer
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
, Richardson studied classics at
Keble College, Oxford. He entered the Indian Civil Service on 9 October 1930. Transferring to the Foreign and Political Service of the Government of India, Richardson was posted to
Baluchistan as an Assistant Political Agent. In July 1936, he was appointed as the British Trade Agent at Gyantse. He represented Britain in
Lhasa
Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhas ...
, capital of
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...
, from 1936 to 1940 and again from 1946 to 1950, in the final years having become the diplomatic representative of the recently independent
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.
Of the Tibetan government during his time in Lhasa, Richardson said:
"My counterparts were...experienced negotiators. . .and masters of procrastination and evasion, and might assume the cloak of simple people with no experience of the outside world. . .There could be no doubt I was dealing with ministers of a government that was completely independent in both its internal and external affairs."
Like many ICS officers, Richardson was an accomplished linguist who spoke
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
fluently, a skill he put to use when conversing with
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
, and his fluent
Tibetan
Tibetan may mean:
* of, from, or related to Tibet
* Tibetan people, an ethnic group
* Tibetan language:
** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard
** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...
was described by the Tibetan politician
Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa as "impeccable Lhasa Tibetan with a slight Oxford accent." As Secretary to the Agent-General for India at
Chungking
Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Coun ...
, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1944 New Year Honours list, and was further appointed a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) on 14 August 1947, in the last imperial honours list. After Indian independence, Richardson remained in the renamed
Indian Administrative Service
The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...
, serving in Lhasa until his retirement in September 1950. After his retirement from public service he taught in Seattle and Bonn. He subsequently returned to St. Andrews and spent the remainder of his life as an
independent scholar
A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...
.
He was an advocate of the right of
Tibetans
The Tibetan people (; ) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 6.7 million. In addition to the majority living in Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans liv ...
to a separate political existence, a case he made in two books, ''Tibet and Its History'' (1962) and ''A Cultural History of Tibet'' (1968), and at the United Nations when the issue of Chinese oppression of
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...
was raised by the
Irish Republic
The Irish Republic ( ga, Poblacht na hÉireann or ) was an unrecognised revolutionary state that declared its independence from the United Kingdom in January 1919. The Republic claimed jurisdiction over the whole island of Ireland, but by ...
, represented by
Frank Aiken
Francis Thomas Aiken (13 February 1898 – 18 May 1983) was an Irish revolutionary and politician. He was chief of staff of the Anti-Treaty IRA at the end of the Irish Civil War. Aiken later served as Tánaiste from 1965 to 1969 and Minister ...
, during the 1959 UN General Assembly debate on Tibet. There, in the words of one commentator, "he acted valiantly as a man of honour in a cause which has been largely lost because of the notions of political expediency, where sides are taken without regard to principle and in order not to risk aligning oneself with a potential loser, however deserving he may be" – a position which reportedly earned him the displeasure of both the British and Indian delegations to the UN Assembly. He remained a close personal friend of the 14th Dalai Lama and of the Tibetan government-in-exile until his death, with the latter describing Richardson as "very precious to us/"
He later wrote: "The British government, the only government among Western countries to have had treaty relations with Tibet, sold the Tibetans down the river and since then have constantly cold-shouldered the Tibetans so that in 1959 they could not even support a resolution in the UN condemning the violation of human rights in Tibet by the Chinese."
Richardson also said that he was "profoundly ashamed", not only at the British government's refusal to recognise that Tibet had a right to
self-determination, but also at the government's treatment of the
14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, known as Tenzin Gyatso (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: ''bsTan-'dzin rgya-mtsho''); né Lhamo Thondup), known as ...
.
Personal interests
"His hobbies were
ornithology
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
,
botany
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
and gardening and he was also an enthusiastic photographer. Another of Richardson's passions was
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...
, which he introduced to Tibet, although he noted that the ball tended to travel 'rather too far in the thin air'."
Works
*1949 “Three ancient inscriptions from Tibet” ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal'' 15, (1949): 45–64.
*1952. ''Ancient historical edicts at Lhasa and the Mu Tsung / Khri Gtsung Lde Brtsan treaty of A.D. 821–822 from the inscription at Lhasa.'' London: Royal Asiatic Society Prize Publication Fund 19, 1952.
*1952–3 “Tibetan inscriptions at Zva-hi Lha Khang” London: ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', (1952): 133–54 (1953): 1–12.
*1954 “A ninth-century inscription from Rkong-po.” ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.'' London, (1954): 157–73.
*1957 “A Tibetan Inscription from Rgyal Lha-khang” ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' London, (1957): 57–78.
*1964 “A new inscription of Khri Srong Lde Brtans.” ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' London. (1964): 1–13.
*1965a "How old was Srong-brtsan Sgam-po ?", ''Bulletin of Tibetology'', vol. 2, no. 1, 6–8. Repr. in Richardson 1998: 3–6.
*1965b "A fragment from Tun-huang", ''Bulletin of Tibetology'', vol. 2, no. 3, 33–38. Repr. in Richardson 1998: 7–11.
*1968 with
David Snellgrove
David Llewellyn Snellgrove, FBA (29 June 192025 March 2016) was a British Tibetologist noted for his pioneering work on Buddhism in Tibet as well as his many travelogues.
Biography
Snellgrove was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and educated ...
. ''A Cultural History of Tibet''. 1995 2nd Edition with changes. Shambhala. Boston & London. .
*1969 "The inscription at the Tomb of Khri Lde Srong Btsan", ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' (1969): 29–38
*1969b "Tibetan chis and tschis." ''Asia Major'' 14 (1969): 154–6.
*1972 "The rKong-po Inscription." ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' London. (1972): 30–39.
*1973 "The Skar-cung inscription." ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society''. (1973): 12–20.
*1974 ''Ch'ing Dynasty Inscriptions at Lhasa.'' (Serie Orientale Roma v. 47). Rome: Instituto italiano per l'africa e l'oriente. 1974.
*1978 “The Sino-Tibetan treaty inscription of A.D. 821/823 at Lhasa.” ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'': (1978): 137–62.
*1982 "Memories of Tshurphu", ''Bulletin of Tibetology'', Vol. 18, No.1, 1982: Karmapa Commemoration Volume, Repr. in Richardson 1998, pp: 730–733.
*1983 “Bal-po and Lho-bal” ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'' 46 (1983): 136–8.
*1985. ''A corpus of Early Tibetan Inscriptions.'' (James G. Forlong Series no. 29). Hertford: Royal Asiatic Society, 1985. .
*1987 "Early Tibetan Inscriptions: Some Recent Discoveries” ''The Tibet Journal'' 12.2.Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan works and archives, (1987): 3–15. (reprinted with 2 short notes added) ''Bulletin of Tibetology'' n.s. 3. Gangtok Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetology, (1987): 5–18. ''High Peaks, Pure Earth.'' London: Serindia, 1998: 261–275.
*1988 “More Early Inscriptions from Tibet” ''Bulletin of Tibetology''. New Series 2. Gangtok Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetology. (1988): 5–8. High Peaks, Pure Earth. London: Serindia, 1998: 276–278.
*1989 "Early Tibetan law concerning dog-bite", ''Bulletin of Tibetology'', new ser. 3, 5–10. Repr. in Richardson 1998: 135–139.
*1990 "Hunting accidents in early Tibet", ''Tibet Journal'', 15-4, 5–27. Repr. in Richardson 1998: 149–166.
*1995a “The Tibetan Inscription attributed to Ye shes ‘od” ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.'' 3rd Series 5.3. (1995): 403–404.
*1995b “The inscription at Ra-tshag Dgon-pa” ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'' 58 (1995): 534–9; ''High Peaks, Pure Earth''. London: Serindia, 1998: 286–291.
*1997 ''Adventures of Tibetan Fighting Monk'' with Khedrup Tashi, White Orchid Books; , Orchid Press, 2006,
*1998 ''High peaks, pure earth: collected writings on Tibetan history and culture'', Serindia publications, London.
Footnotes
References
* ''Tibetan Studies in Honour of Hugh Richardson''. Edited by
Michael Aris
Michael Vaillancourt Aris (27 March 1946 – 27 March 1999) was an English historian who wrote and lectured on Bhutanese, Tibetan and Himalayan culture and history. He was the husband of Aung San Suu Kyi, who would later become State Counsellor ...
and
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi (; ; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar (equivalent to a prime minister) and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2 ...
, p. 284. (1979). Vikas Publishing house, New Delhi.
*
French, Patrick. ''Tibet, Tibet: A Personal History of a Lost Land'' (2003) Knopf.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Hugh E.
1905 births
2000 deaths
People from St Andrews
Alumni of Keble College, Oxford
Tibetologists
Scottish orientalists
Tibet freedom activists
Independent scholars
Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Indian Civil Service (British India) officers
20th-century British historians
Honorary Fellows of the British Academy