TIBET PAST AND PRESENT

SIR CHARLES BELL was born in Calcutta in 1870 and educated in England at Winchester and Oxford. He joined the Indian Civil Service in 1891 and was transferred to Kalimpong, Sikkim in 1901, where he began his lifelong relationship with Tibet. He twice acted as Political Officer for Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet and eventually held that post for ten years before retiring in 1919. He was recalled to duty, however, and in 1920 headed a successful diplomatic mission to Lhasa. He wrote several books about Tibet, her people and her language; few since, and certainly none before, have written so well about Tibet.