Hamilton Bower
Encyclopedia
Hamilton Bower was a British
military officer who traveled through Chinese Turkestan and Tibet
.
he purchased a Sanskrit
-language manuscript
written in the Brahmi
alphabet. The manuscript, which became known as the Bower Manuscript
, sent a shock-wave through the world of Indian scholarship, pointing to the existence of a forgotten Buddhist
civilization in Chinese Turkestan..
During his time in Turkestan Bower attempted to track down the killer of Andrew Dalgleish
, a Scottish trader murdered on the road from Leh to Yarkand
in 1888.
In the 1890s Bower traveled to Tibet and wrote a memoir of his experience entitled Diary of a journey across Tibet. In 1894 Bower received the Royal Geographical Society Gold Medal
for ""For his remarkable journey across Tibet, from west to east."
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
military officer who traveled through Chinese Turkestan and Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
.
Life
In 1889-90 Bower traveled through Chinese Turkestan, where in the city KuchaKucha
Kuchaor Kuche Uyghur , Chinese Simplified: 库车; Traditional: 庫車; pinyin Kùchē; also romanized as Qiuzi, Qiuci, Chiu-tzu, Kiu-che, Kuei-tzu from the traditional Chinese forms 屈支 屈茨; 龜玆; 龟兹, 丘玆, also Po ; Sanskrit: Kueina, Standard Tibetan: Kutsahiyui was an ancient Buddhist kingdom...
he purchased a Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
-language manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
written in the Brahmi
Brāhmī script
Brāhmī is the modern name given to the oldest members of the Brahmic family of scripts. The best-known Brāhmī inscriptions are the rock-cut edicts of Ashoka in north-central India, dated to the 3rd century BCE. These are traditionally considered to be early known examples of Brāhmī writing...
alphabet. The manuscript, which became known as the Bower Manuscript
Bower Manuscript
The Bower Manuscript is a medical manuscript written predominantly in the Sanskrit language,made up of 51 birch-bark leaves, written in an early Indian script.It is today preserved as part of the collections of the Bodleian Library in Oxford...
, sent a shock-wave through the world of Indian scholarship, pointing to the existence of a forgotten Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
civilization in Chinese Turkestan..
During his time in Turkestan Bower attempted to track down the killer of Andrew Dalgleish
Andrew Dalgleish
Andrew Dalgleish on Karakoram Pass, between Ladakh, India and East Turkestan was a Scottish trader, traveller and possibly Great Game spy.-Life and murder:...
, a Scottish trader murdered on the road from Leh to Yarkand
Yarkand
Yarkant County , is a county in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, located on the southern rim of the Taklamakan desert in the Tarim Basin. It is one of 11 counties administered under Kashgar Prefecture...
in 1888.
In the 1890s Bower traveled to Tibet and wrote a memoir of his experience entitled Diary of a journey across Tibet. In 1894 Bower received the Royal Geographical Society Gold Medal
Gold Medal (RGS)
The Gold Medal are the most prestigious of the awards presented by the Royal Geographical Society. The Gold Medal is not one award but consists of two separate awards; the Founder's Medal 1830 and the Patron's Medal 1838. The award is given for "the encouragement and promotion of geographical...
for ""For his remarkable journey across Tibet, from west to east."
List of Publications
- Some notes on Tibetan affairs. Calcutta : Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India, 1893.
- Diary of a journey across Tibet. LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
: Rivington, Percival and co., 1894. - The Bower Manuscript : facsimile leaves, Nagari transcript, romanised transliteration and English trans. with notes. Calcutta : Off. of the Superintendent of Govt. Printing, 1894. co-authored with A. F. Rudolf Hoernle
- A trip to Turkistan. Geographical Journal. 1895. 241-257
- The Abor Expedition: Geographical Results: Discussion. Geographical Journal, Feb., 1913, vol. 41, no. 2, p. 109-114. co-authored with L A Bethell and Thomas HoldichThomas HoldichColonel Sir Thomas Hungerford Holdich, KCMG, KCIE, CB was an English geographer and president of the Royal Geographical Society. He is best known as Superintendent of Frontier Surveys in British India and author of numerous books, including The Gates of India, The Countries of the King's Award and...