Boundaries and Borderlands: A Century after the 1914 Simla Convention

327 Pages·2022·29.642 MB·English

by  Alka Acharya

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BOUNDARIES AND BORDERLANDS
The Simla Convention of 1914, held between Great Britain, China, and Tibet,
demarcated the border between India and Tibet and gave birth to the McMahon Line.
This volume critically examines the legacy of the 1914 Convention and explores its
relevance in scholarly discourse about the status of Tibet and Sino-I ndian relations
more than a hundred years later.
The book discusses the significance of the Simla Convention, both in terms of
the geopolitics of boundaries as well as the people and the liminal borderlands they
occupy, encapsulating the culture and diversity of the trans- Himalayan regions. The
book explicates how colonial legacies, namely, the 1914 Simla Convention, have
become virtual straitjackets, hardening the positions on the boundaries between
India and China. It also looks at the debilitating consequences of the nation-s tate
framework on more substantial investigations of the borderlands. Rich in archival
material and drawing from the authors’ fieldwork in the Himalayan regions, this
book analyses the muted voices of the inhabitants of the region to bring into focus
the larger question of the political, economic, religious, ecological, and social life of
the Himalayan peoples, which has enormous implications for both India and China.
This volume will be of interest to students of history, international relations, soci-
ology, strategic studies, Asian studies, and anthropology.
Alka Acharya is Professor and former Chairperson at the Centre for East Asian
Studies (Chinese Studies) School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru
University (JNU), Delhi, India. She has been teaching courses on Chinese Foreign
Policy and Political Economy to the Masters and MPhil students and guiding doc-
toral research since 1993. She was on deputation as Director and Senior Fellow of the
Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS), New Delhi, from 2012 to 2017 and was editor of
the quarterly journal China Report (New Delhi), 2005– 2013. She is the joint editor
of the book Crossing a Bridge of Dreams: 50 years of India-C hina and author of the
book China & India: Politics of Incremental Engagement, published in 2008, and
she has contributed chapters to many books and journals. She was nominated by the
Indian government as a member of the India-C hina Eminent Persons Group (2006–
2008) and a member of the National Security Advisory Board of the Government of
India for two terms (2006– 2008 and 2011– 2012). Her current research focuses on
India- China- Russia Trilateral Cooperation and the Chinese strategic response to the
post– cold war Asian regional architecture.
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BOUNDARIES AND
BORDERLANDS
A Century after the 1914 Simla Convention
Edited by Alka Acharya
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First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 selection and editorial matter, Indian Institute of Advanced Studies;
individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Alka Acharya to be identified as the author of the editorial material,
and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance
with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-1-03-218198-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-03-222529-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-00-327293-9 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/ 9781003272939
Typeset in Sabon
by Newgen Publishing UK
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CONTENTS
List of Figures viii
List of Maps ix
List of Contributors x
Foreword by Professor Patricia Uberoi xvi
Introduction 1
ALKA ACHARYA
PART 1
Simla Convention: Historical Perspectives 25
1 The Simla Convention: Almost Aborted, Never Signed
but Still Relevant 27
WILLEM F. VAN EEKELEN
2 The 1914 Simla Convention: British Diplomacy and
Strategy 53
ATUL BHARDWAJ
3 Toward Simla: Proposing Provinces and Claiming
Territory on the Tibetan Plateau 74
SCOTT RELYEA
4 The Nationalist Government’s Reactions to Sino-
Indian War and the Border Issue: An Analysis of ROC
Diplomatic Archives 1962– 1964 106
MUMIN CHEN
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CONTENTS
PART 2
Boundaries 125
5 What Happened to the McMahon Line? British Handling
of the Boundary, 1914– 1947 127
V.C. BHUTANI
6 The Abors of NEFA: A Historical Perspective 147
DHARITRI NARZARY CHAKRAVARTTY
7 The McMahon Line: View from the Ground 163
SONIA TRIKHA SHUKLA
8 Simla, McMahon Line, and South Tibet: Debates in
China on Losing Territory to India 181
HEMANT ADLAKHA
PART 3
Borderlands 199
9 Zhemengxiong as Depicted in Qing Official Documents:
Exploring Sikkim’s Cultural and Commercial Ties with
Tibet in Light of Qing China’s Perception of the
Sub- Himalayan Region 201
DHRITI ROY
10 Reimagining the Himalayan Borderland: A Case Study of
the Himachal Sector 226
UTTAM LAL
11 Minorities in India and China: Conceptual and Historical
Considerations 242
SAMIR SHARMA
PART 4
Postscript 261
12 A Brief Historical Account of the Delimitation of the
Sino- Tibet Boundary and the Demand for ‘Greater’ Tibet 263
VIRENDRA SAHAI VERMA
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CONTENTS
13 Could Confucius Resolve the ‘Tibet Question’? 279
RAVI BHOOTHALINGAM
TRIBUTE 297
14 Professor Parshotam Lal Mehra (15 July 1920– 16
December 2013): A Personal Tribute 299
V.C. BHUTANI
Index 301
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FIGURES
3.1 Cartoon of Send- off of Yin Changheng by Chengdu
Elementary Students 87
4.1 MOFA Statement on 29 October 1962 110
4.2 Map of Force Deployments along India- China border
from MND Report, December 1962 115
4.3 Department of East Asia and Pacific Affairs, MOFA,
Report on Taiwan- India Relations, April 1964 117
4.4 Liu Tsung- han’s letter to Patel, MP, dated 12
December 1964 120
10.1 Space- relation: Sacred- scape 232
12.1 States under Chinese Protection 269
12.2 States under the Protection of Lhasa 270
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MAPS
3.1 Kham with major polities, mountain range, 1727 stele
inset in Qing Empire 76
3.2 Tibetan and Chinese territorial claims; extent of ZEF
bureaucratisation; Ngül River stalemate; territory of
eight election district 95
3.3 SAR with McMahon Line 96
10.1 Districts of Himachal Pradesh 227
10.2 Buddhist circuit of Himachal Pradesh 233
10.3 & 10.4 Approximate international border near Shipkila
pass in Kinnaur 238
12.1 Chol- Kha- Sum (Ethnic Tibet) and administrative
divisions of Tibet under People’s Republic of China 263
12.2 Frontier Line of 1727– 1910 and Batang La as a historical
Tibet- China boundary 267
12.3 Principal states of Kham (Kam) and frontier between
China and Tibet as laid down in 1727 268
12.4 Outer Tibet (west portion of the map) and Inner Tibet
(area in the centre of the map within the two bold lines) as
determined at Simla Convention 1913– 1914 272
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