It was in Darjeeling that Charles Alfred Bell had his first contact with Tibetans and became fascinated with the people and their culture.
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1) Bell at once applied himself to learning the Tibetan language. This led to the publication, in 1905, of his first book, A Manual of Colloquial Tibetan , a two-part grammar-phrase book and dictionary.

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2) The most significant event during Bell’s time as Political Officer was meeting the Thirteenth Dalai Lama in 1910. His Holiness had been forced to flee Tibet under pressure from the Chinese and had sought refuge in Sikkim.
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3) The two formed an intimate and lasting friendship, which was to prove critical to the British in their future negotiations and dealings with Tibet after the Dalai Lama’s return to Lhasa in June 1912. (in photo: Chinese soldiers leaving Lhasa)
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4) Bell’s diplomatic acumen was put to use during the treaty negotiations with the Tibetans in 1913-14, when he played an important role as advisor on Tibetan affairs to the British plenipotentiary, Sir Henry McMahon.
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5) A treaty was signed which set out new Anglo-Tibetan trade regulations. The fact that the Tibetans agreed to this was very much a reflection of the confidence that the 13th Dalai Lama and his representative, Prime Minister (Lonchen) Shatra, had in Bell.
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6) The British government awarded Bell a C.M.G. (knighthood) for his part in the process. After 1918 Bell took leave from the Civil Service and devoted himself to the study of Tibet, spending the next two years in Darjeeling.

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7) For many years he had an open invitation from the 13th Dalai Lama to visit Lhasa, In 1920 Bell was finally given #Government permission to visit the Tibetan capital as part of a diplomatic mission, arriving in Lhasa on 17 November.

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