Title: Full Map of Tibet

Description

This map, dated July 1904, shows Tibet and surrounding regions. It was originally published in Russian and was translated into Chinese by the cartographic establishment of A. Ilyin, a prominent St. Petersburg-based map-production company founded in 1859 by Alexey Afinogenovich Ilyin. The firm published numerous geographical materials, including detailed atlases of the Russian Empire, as well as maps of various regions of Europe and Asia. The legend and summary in the bottom left corner explain that the green bands on the map mark the borders of districts, provinces, and neighboring countries; the blue lines indicate rivers and other waterways, including the Manasarovar and the Dangra Yum lakes; and the red lines mark major roads. The map also shows provincial capitals and outlines mountain ranges in black. The inset at the top traces the route from Tibet to India. At the time the map was made, Tibet was the subject of intense rivalry between the Russian and British empires. In 1904, the British explorer Sir Francis Edward Younghusband led a military expedition from India into Tibet, where he forced a treaty upon the Tibetans that granted Britain trade concessions, and that was intended to forestall the advance of Russian influence in the country.