The Chaksam ferry, 1904 (b/w photo)

The Chaksam ferry, 1904. Photograph by Major M R E Ray, Tibet (1903-1904), 1904. Major Francis Younghusband’s invasion of Tibet was aimed at preventing the Russian Empire from interfering in Tibetan affairs and thus gaining a foothold in one of the buffer states surrounding British India. The 3500-strong British Indian force reached Chaksam in late July 1904. Two lighters, measuring 40 feet by 12 feet, had been abandoned there by the Tibetans and were used to transport the men, alongside 3500 pack animals and 350 tons of supplies in five and a half days across the Tsangpo River. One of 157 photographs taken by Major M R E Ray in Tibet, 1904.