The Lockhart Mission was an exploratory mission sanctioned in 1885 by the

Secretary of State for India His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...

and headed by Sir William Alexander Lockhart to survey the

Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Provinc ...

ranges and endeavor to cultivate friendly relations between the Mehtar of

Chitral Chitral ( khw, , lit=field, translit=ćhitrār; ur, , translit=ćitrāl) is situated on the Chitral River in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Chitral District and before that as the capital of Chitral ...

and the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

. The mission (1885–1886) yielded much success and set the course for the region for many decades to come.

Background

The 1880s had seen a remarkable increase in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

activity in

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

; this fact, coupled with the unsettled state of

Anglo-Russian The Anglo-Russians were an English expatriate business community centred in St Petersburg, then also Moscow, from the 1730s till the 1920s. This community was established against the background of Peter I's recruitment of foreign engineers for his ...

relations, necessitated assessment of the geography of the

region. The

Gilgit Agency The Gilgit Agency ( ur, ) was an agency of the British Indian Empire consisting of the subsidiary states of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir at its northern periphery, mainly with the objective of strengthening these territories agains ...

had been withdrawn by the liberal Lord Lytton in 1881, but with the coming to office of

Lord Dufferin Frederick Temple Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava (21 June 182612 February 1902) was a British public servant and prominent member of Victorian society. In his youth he was a popular figure in the court of Queen Vict ...

and the changing political atmosphere, interest in its revival surged. In 1885,

, with the sanction of the

, assembled a team under Sir William Lockhart (then a Colonel) for exploration and strategic assessment of the

region. One of the principal tasks of the mission was to enter into more definite and complete relations with Mehtar

Aman ul-Mulk Aman ul-Mulk (; 1 January 1821 – 30 August 1892) was the Mehtar of Chitral (princely state), Chitral, Ghizer, Yasen and Ishkoman Valley, Ishkoman and Suzerain of Kafiristan. He ruled the State of Chitral from 1857 to 1892. His rule saw Chitral r ...

and to report on the defences of the state.

The Mission

Though Sir William Lockhart had no experience of hill tribes he was chosen to lead the mission, consisting of an Army Intelligence Officer, 2 competent officers from the Survey Department, 300 men and over 300 animals carrying goods and items of all kind including a load of 200 Snider–Enfield Rifles along with ammunition as present for the Mehtar of

. On the 25 June 1885 the mission started from

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

, and on 13 June 1885 it crossed the Kamri Pass. For many miles the road ran through

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

. On 29 July 1885 the mission reached

Gilgit Gilgit (; Shina: ; ur, ) is the capital city of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. The city is located in a broad valley near the confluence of the Gilgit River and the Hunza River. It is a major tourist destination in Pakistan, serving as a h ...

. Here it was deemed expedient to halt for some time, in order that the streams on the Chitral route, swollen by the melting snow, might subside. During the missions stay at Gilgit the officers acquired a good deal of useful knowledge regarding the area and the surrounding country.

References

{{reflist 1880s in British India Diplomatic missions of the United Kingdom