Mapping the Himalayas

£45.00 BUY

In Stock

  • Publisher: Meridian Books
  • Catalogue: 191715
  • Scale: Various
  • Size Folded: 25x19x19cm
“Mapping the Himalayas” is a very special collection including a paperback edition of Richard Sale and Michael Ward’s book and 44 maps of all of the Pundit journeys, the first time they have ever been collected together, all presented in a purpose-made slipcase.

The Pundits were a group of men who, from the 1860s through to the 1890s, were sent to map remote areas north of British India and so help frustrate the expected southward advance of the Russian Empire. The heroic stories of what was done, and the sheer perseverance and skill of these men is recounted in this book.

Begun by Michael Ward (of the 1951 and 1953 Everest expeditions), the book was completed by Richard Sale following Michael Ward’s death. The book has a preface written by Michael Ward, intended to begin the work he had planned on the Pundits. The book keeps to Michael Ward's plan: it begins with details of early journeys made by Europeans to the Himalayan kingdoms of Afghanistan and its neighbouring emirates, Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan, before moving on to the work of the Survey of India and the Great Game, these being precursors to the work of the Pundits. The Pundits are then covered individually, with such biographical information as is known and details of their journeys. Michael Ward was interested in both the work of the Pundits and their techniques; during his involvement with the 1951 Everest Reconnaissance expedition, while he did not use Pundit techniques, he did carry out some survey work, the results of which were incorporated into maps of the region.

Later, on two trips to Bhutan as a medical advisor to the king, he was given permission to trek in the remote Lunana district and used Pundit techniques to prepare the first accurate map of the area. The two chapters on Michael Ward's time on Everest in 1951 and Bhutan in 1964 & 1965 draw extensively on his diaries for these trips, making available information for the 1951 Everest expedition not published before, and reproducing survey maps that Ward produced on these occasions. With some colour photographs included, the book also has entries from Pundit diaries and pages from Michael Ward’s diaries of his 1951 Everest reconnaissance expedition, and his 1964 and 1965 Bhutan expeditions.

As well as the 44 maps already mentioned, there are maps illustrating the debate over whether the Tibet Tsangpo river became India’s Brahmaputra or Burma’s Irawaddy (a debate which led to several Pundit journeys); maps of the Everest region and northern Bhutan based on Michael Ward’s survey work are also included.

This is a wonderful tribute to a staggering work of mapping at a time when exploration of this kind was not only necessary, but potentially deadly too.