The discovery of some hitherto unpublished photographs of Younghusband`s mission to Tibet where the inspiration for General Sood’s writings. This expedition to Tibet was the first of its’ kind to be undertaken in modern times and lead to an historic treaty with the Forbidden Kingdom. Commander of the First Battalion of The Eighth Gorkha Rifles (1/8 GR), General Sood came across these historically important and beautiful photographs of various stages of the expedition taken by an officer of the Battalion. Fascinated by the album and its’ contents he undertook a study of “The Tibet Missionâ€. This narrative is backed up by extensive and fascinating documents from the National Archives and the “War Diaries†of the Battalion of that period . Rather than the interpersonal or interdepartmental rivalries that existed at that time, the writer looks at matters military with particular reference to his own Battalion – which played a key role in bringing the treaty with Tibet to its natural conclusion. The narrative is narrowed down to the point of view of military man and military etiquette. The evocative, atmospheric photographs speak for themselves.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Shubhi Sood
Major General Shubhi Sood born and brought up in Simla, was commissioned into the 4th Battalion of The 8th Gorkha Rifles, with whom he saw action in J&K in 1965 and later in Manipur and Nagaland. In September 1968 he was posted as ADC to Sam Manekshaw, then GOC-in-C Eastern Command at Calcutta and on his promotion as Chief of Army Staff, moved to Delhi. As ADC the author had a number of opportunities to accompany his boss during his visits to Bhutan. He left to attend the Staff College Course at Camberley in the UK in the end of September 1972 and as Brigade Major of a newly raised Brigade in the East, had the opportunity of being in touch with Bhutan. He commanded the 1st Battalion of the 8th Gorkha Rifles, and raised 19th Battalion of the Mechanized Regiment. Having attended important courses like the 'Higher Command’ and 'National Defence College Course' where he was also an instructor, he went on to command the 26 Infantry Division in Jammu and Kashmir. On 31st March 1998, he took retirement from the Army when he was Chief of Staff at 12 Corps. On retirement, Gen. Sood worked as 'Chief Executive Officer’ for "AVIS Rent a Car" in India, from where he retired in 2003. Post retirement, he has written two books. The first, 'Younghusband, Troubled Campaign' published in December 2004, is about the “Tibet Mission†led by Colonel, Sir FE Younghusband into Lhasa in 1904. The second book called, "Leadership: Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw," is purported to be a biography of the great military icon and was published in 2006.
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