Ladak: Physical, Statistical and Historical notices of the Surrounding Countries

About the Book :-The author has endeavoured in the following pages to give, to the best of his ability, and according to his means of information, a full and accurate account of Ladák. He has twice visited the country, in 1846 and again in 1847, and on each occasion by a different route. He has read every work that he could procure (and he neither spared pains nor expense) regarding Ladákh or Tibet. He, therefore, is willing to think that the information which he has collected may not prove altogether uninteresting, even to the general reader. It is a concise account of the religious belief and practice of the Tibetan Buddhists, and of the rise of the present grand Lamas; with a description of the different buildings, rites and ceremonies, and ritualistic instruments of their religion. It is a standard work of reference on Ladakh, published in 1854. It is divided into 17 chapters; it describes all aspects of Ladakh with each chapter taking up a different aspect. This work describes the geography, mountains, rivers, lakes and springs, roads passes and bridges, climate, productions, commerce, government, people, history, religion and language. It contains 31 fine illustrations which he preserves from oblivion to make it worth readable. About the Author :-Major General Sir Alexander Cunningham KCIE CSI was a British army engineer with the Bengal Engineer Group who later took an interest in the history and archaeology of India. In 1861, he was appointed to the newly created position of archaeological surveyor to the government of India; and he founded and organised what later became the Archaeological Survey of India. He wrote numerous books and monographs and made extensive collections of artifacts. Some of his collections were lost, but most of the gold and silver coins and a fine group of Buddhist sculptures and jeweler were bought by the British Museum in 1894. The Title ‘Ladak Physical, Statistical, And Historical With Notices Of The Surrounding Countries written/a