Editing Nain Singh

{{short description|Pundit who explored the Himalayas for the British}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Nain Singh
| image              = NainSingh.gif
| caption            = Nain Singh
| birth_date         = 21 October 1830
| birth_place        = [[Pithoragarh district|Pithoragarh]], [[Kumaon Division]], [[British India]]
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1882|2|1|1830|10|21|df=y}}
| death_place        = [[Moradabad]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], British India
| nationality        = 
| other_names        = 
| occupation         = [[List of explorers|Asian explorer]]
| spouse             = 
| partner            = 
| children           = 
| relatives          = 
| signature          = 
}}
'''Nain Singh''' '''Rawat''' (21 October 1830{{snd}}1 February 1882),{{efn|The dates are tentative. The date of birth is based on the Google Doodle issued in 2017. The date of death is based on an obituary ''letter'' where Col. Edmund Smyth notes in April 1882 that Nain Singh died of cholera at Moradabad around the "1st of February last". He mentions an obituary in "the Times" dated 15 March.}} was one of the first Indian explorers (dubbed "[[Pundit (explorer)|pundits]]") employed by the [[British India|British]] to explore the [[Himalayas]] and [[Central Asia]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dean|first=Riaz|title=Mapping The Great Game: Explorers, Spies & Maps in Nineteenth-century Asia|publisher=Casemate (UK)|year=2019|isbn=978-1-61200-814-1|location=Oxford|pages=173–199}}</ref> He came from the [[Johar Valley]] in [[Kumaon division|Kumaon]]. He surveyed the trade route through Ladakh to Tibet, determined the location and altitude of [[Lhasa]] in [[Tibet]], and surveyed a large section of [[Brahmaputra River|Brahmaputra]]. His reports were initially made under the code name '''Number 9'''. He walked "1,580 miles, or 3,160,000 paces, each counted."<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Wade.|first=Davis|title=Into the Silence : The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest|date=2012|publisher=Vintage Books|isbn=9780375708152|location=New York|pages=49|oclc=773021726|quote=The pundit Nain Singh, the first surveyor to fix the location of the Tibetan capital, traveled on foot from Sikkim to Lhasa and then all over central Tibet, walking 1,580 miles, or 3,160,000 paces, each counted.}}</ref>

==Early life==
Pundit Nain Singh Rawat was born to Lata Burha in 1830 in [[Milam, India|Milam]] village, a [[Bhotiyas of Uttarakhand|Bhotia]] village at the foot of the [[Milam Glacier|Milam glacier]] on the [[Line of Actual Control|India-China border]] in present day [[Uttarakhand]] state of India. Milam is in the [[Johar Valley]], one of the Bhotia abodes in the [[Kumaon division]], where the river [[Gori Ganga|Goriganga]] originates. The Rawats ruled over the Johar Valley, during the reign of [[Chand kings|Chand]] dynasty in [[Kumaon Kingdom|Kumaon]]; this was followed by the [[Kingdom of Nepal|Gorkha]] rule. In 1816 the British defeated the Gorkhas but maintained a policy of non-interference and friendship towards the Johar Bhotias. The famous Bhotia explorers mostly belong to the villages of Johar.

After leaving school, Nain Singh helped his father. He visited different centres in Tibet with him, learned the [[Standard Tibetan|Tibetan language]], customs and manners and became familiar with the Tibetan people. This knowledge of the Tibetan language, local customs, and protocol came in handy in Nain Singh's work as a "spy explorer". Due to the extreme cold conditions, Milam and other villages of the upper Johar valley are inhabited only for a few months from June to October. During this time the men used to visit [[Gya'nyima]], [[Gartok]] and other markets in Western Tibet.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

== Schlagintweit expedition ==
Singh traveled to [[Ladakh]] in 1856 along with family members Mani and Dolpha Singh, accompanying an expedition by [[Hermann Schlagintweit|Hermann]], [[Adolf Schlagintweit|Adolf]], and [[Robert Schlagintweit]]. He learned the use of survey instruments during this expedition. The Schlagintweit brothers planned to send Nain and Mani Singh to Lhasa as well, but in the end, that expedition did not take place. They also wanted to take Singh with them back to Europe, but he declined. Adolf Schlagintweit wrote a letter of recommendation for Nain and Mani which they later presented to British survey officials.{{r|waller|page=40}}

== British Tibetan expeditions ==
=== Context ===
The [[East India Company]], and later the [[British Empire]], sought to form trade relations with Tibet. Additionally, exploration of Central Asia and Tibet were of particular interest during the [[Great Trigonometric Survey]] of India because their geography was largely unknown to the British. However, [[Qing China]] closed Tibet's borders after gaining significant control over Tibet's internal politics following the 1791 [[Sino-Nepalese War]]. A number of Europeans tried to reach Lhasa from India over the next hundred years; however, few successfully reached it, and local officials turned back most attempts at entry.{{r|waller|pages=9-10,12,25}} A British attempt to reach Tibet from the east by travelling up the [[Yangtse River]] failed in 1861, and [[Edmund Smyth]]'s attempts to enter Tibet from the west between 1861 and 1863 all failed as well.{{r|waller|pages=30-31}} Because of the Great Trigonometrical Survey's past success with native surveyors, [[Thomas Montgomerie]] (the astronomical assistant of the survey), proposed that native explorers be recruited to explore Central Asia and Tibet. Montgomerie's plan was approved in 1862, and his first recruits were [[Abdul Hamid (surveyor)|Abdul Hamid]] for an expedition to [[Yarkand County#Qing dynasty|Yarkand]], followed by Nain Singh and his cousin Mani Singh for an expedition to Lhasa.{{r|waller|pages=29,33,38}}

=== Recruitment and training ===
In an 1861 letter, Smyth recommended Singh as a possible surveyor to Walker. Walker travelled to meet with Singh and recruit him and his cousin Mani. The two were sent to [[Dehradun]], the Survey's headquarters, and placed under Montgomerie's command. The two would spend two years training for their expeditions, learning a number of surveying techniques. Because the survey needed to be clandestine, a number of techniques were developed to hide the surveying. Mercury for thermometers was hidden in the bottom of a bowl, notes were stored inside a [[Tibetan prayer wheel|prayer wheel]], and survey gear was hidden inside the luggage. A [[Japamala|string of prayer beads]], which usually had 108 beads, was modified to only have 100 beads; the pundits were trained to move one bead every hundred paces to count their steps. They were also trained to have a precise stride length of 33 inches across varying terrain.{{r|stewart}}

=== First expedition ===
Singh's first expedition began in 1865. He and Mani separated during the survey, with Mani travelling through western Tibet and Nain walking to Lhasa. Nain Singh reached Lhasa on 10 January 1866. He spent some time in Lhasa as a teacher of accounts before returning to India.{{r|mason|pages=431}} During this expedition, Nain Singh estimated the altitude of Lhasa as 3,420 meters by boiling water; this was close to the actual value of 3,540 meters. He also estimated the position of Lhasa with celestial observations.{{r|denny|pages=195}}

=== Second expedition ===
Singh's second expedition explored western Tibet in 1867.{{r|denny|pages=195-196}} Nain and Mani were accompanied by Kalian Singh, Nain's brother, and the three disguised themselves as [[Bushahr|Bashahri]] traders. The expedition reached the goldfield at [[Thok Jalung]], mapped the [[Sutlej]] river, performed an 850-mile-long route survey, and verified the position of [[Gartok]]. {{r|mason|pages=432-433}}

=== Third expedition ===
Singh's third and final expedition returned to Lhasa via a more northern route than his first expedition and ran from 1873 to 1875.{{r|denny|pages=196}}

=== Surveys ===
During his secret survey of Tibet, Nain Singh was the first non-Tibetan to visit many legendary areas of Tibet, including the [[Thok Jalung]] goldfields on 26 August 1867.<ref name="doodle">{{Cite web |url=https://doodles.google/doodle/nain-singh-rawats-187th-birthday/ |title=Nain Singh Rawat's 187th birthday |website=Google |publisher=Alphabet |access-date=24 April 2019}}</ref> He would later say that Thok Jalung was the coldest place he had ever visited.<ref name="HopkirkTrespassers">{{cite book|last=Hopkirk|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Hopkirk|title=Trespassers on the Roof of the World: The Race for Lhasa|year=2006|publisher=John Murray|location=London|isbn=0719564492|page=39|chapter=Panning for Gold on the Roof of the World}}</ref>

Nain Singh was a cousin of [[Kishen Singh (explorer)|Kishen Singh]], another famous pundit explorer.<ref name="study1">BALASUNDARAM, M., DUBE, A. Ramgarh, 1973, "Structure, India", [[Nature (journal)]], 242, 40 [[Digital object identifier|doi]]:10.1038/242040a0.</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Map illustrating the journey of the Pundit Nain Singh through Great Tibet from Ladákh to Assam.tif|thumb|Map of Nain Singh's exploration of Tibet]]
In May 1877, Singh was awarded the [[Royal Geographical Society]]'s [[Patron's Medal]] "for his great journeys and Surveys in Tibet and along the Upper Brahmaputra, he has determined the position of Lhasa, and positive knowledge of the map of Asia." [[Henry Yule]] received the award on Singh's behalf and in his acceptance speech said that "[Singh's] observations have added a larger amount of important knowledge to the map of Asia than those of any other living man."<ref name="rgs-award-proceedings">{{cite journal |title=Presentation of the Royal and Other Awards |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London |date=23 July 1877 |volume=21 |issue=5 |pages=397–403 |jstor=1799720}}</ref>

[[File:Nain Singh Rawat 2004 stamp of India.jpg|thumb| Nain Singh Rawat, 2004 stamp of India.]]
On 27 June 2004, an Indian postage stamp featuring Nain Singh<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050208163057/http://sio.midco.net/mapstamps/trigsurv.htm Trigonometrical Survey]. midco.net</ref> was issued commemorating his role in the [[Great Trigonometric Survey]] of India. In 2006, [[Shekhar Pathak]] and [[Uma Bhatt]] brought out a biography of Nain Singh with three of his diaries and the [[Royal Geographical Society|RGS]] articles about his travels in three volumes titled ''Asia ki Peeth Par'' published by Pahar, Naini Tal.

The mountains south of [[Lake Pangong]] are named Nain Singh Range in his memory and honour.{{r|waller|p=121}}

On 21 October 2017, [[Google]] celebrated Nain Singh Rawat's 187th birthday with a [[Google Doodle]].<ref name="doodle"/>

==See also==
* [[Shauka - Johar]]
* [[Krishna Singh Rawat]]
* [[Mani Singh Rawat]]
* [[Cartography of India]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="waller">{{cite book |last1=Waller |first1=Derek |title=The Pundits: British Exploration of Tibet and Central Asia |date=1990 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |location=Lexington, KY |isbn=978-0-8131-4904-2}}</ref>
<ref name="stewart">{{cite book|last=Stewart|first=Jules|title=Spying for the Raj: The Pundits and the Mapping of the Himalaya|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=COITDQAAQBAJ|year=2006|publisher=History Press|isbn=978-0-7524-9586-6}}</ref>
<ref name="denny">{{cite book |last1=Denny |first1=Mark |title=The Science of Navigation: From Dead Reckoning to GPS |date=29 June 2012 |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=978-1-4214-0511-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=88smdocoApUC |access-date=29 September 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
<ref name="mason">{{Cite journal |last=Mason |first=Kenneth |date=1923 |title=Kishen Singh and the Indian Explorers |journal=The Geographical Journal |volume=62 |issue=6 |pages=429–440 |doi=10.2307/1781169 |jstor=1781169}}</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
{{Commons category|Nain Singh Rawat}}
; Secondary sources
*{{cite book|last=Johnson|first=Robert|title=Spying for Empire: The Great Game in Central and South Asia, 1757-1947|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SvVtAAAAMAAJ|year=2006|publisher=Greenhill Books|isbn=978-1-85367-670-3}}
*{{cite book|last=Dean|first=Riaz|title=Mapping the Great Game: Explorers, Spies and Maps in 19th-century Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WF3JDwAAQBAJ|year=2020|publisher=Casemate|isbn=978-1-61200-815-8}}
*{{cite book|last=Hopkirk|first=Peter|title=Trespassers on the Roof of the World: The Race for Lhasa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ooc5AgAAQBAJ|year=2012|publisher=John Murray Press|isbn=978-1-84854-726-1}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Smyth |first=Edmund |date=1882 |title=Obituary: The Pundit Nain Singh |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography |volume=4 |issue=5 |pages=315–317 |jstor=1800228}}
; Primary sources
* {{Cite journal |last=Montgomerie |first=T. G. |date=1868a |title=Report of a Route-Survey Made by Pundit, from Nepal to Lhasa, and Thence Through the Upper Valley of the Brahmaputra to Its Source |journal=The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London |volume=38 |pages=129–219 |doi=10.2307/1798572 |jstor=1798572}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Montgomerie |first=T. G. |date=1868b |title=Report of the Trans-Himalayan Explorations during 1867 |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=183–198 |doi=10.2307/1798932 |jstor=1798932}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Montgomerie |first=T. G. |date=1869 |title=Report of the Trans-Himalayan Explorations during 1867 |journal=The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London |volume=39 |pages=146–187 |doi=10.2307/1798550 |jstor=1798550}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Trotter |first=H. |date=1876 |title=Account of the Pundit's Journey in Great Tibet from Leh in Ladákh to Lhása, and of His Return to India viâ Assam |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London |volume=21 |issue=4 |pages=325–350 |doi=10.2307/1799962 |jstor=1799962|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1449388 }}

==External links==
{{commonscat|Nain Singh Rawat}}
*[http://mappa.mundi.net/cartography/Wheel/ A Nain Singh anecdote]
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tibet/ascend/singh.html Chapter from The Pundits: British exploration of Tibet and Central Asia] by Derek Waller

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Nain}}
[[Category:Explorers from British India]]
[[Category:People from Uttarakhand]]
[[Category:Kumaon division]]
[[Category:Explorers of the Himalayas]]
[[Category:1830 births]]
[[Category:1882 deaths]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Royal Geographical Society Patron's Medal]]
[[Category:Explorers of Tibet]]
[[Category:Indian surveyors]]