William Moorcroft (explorer)
Encyclopedia
William Moorcroft English explorer, was born in Ormskirk
, Lancashire
, the illegitimate son of Ann Moorcroft, daughter of a local farmer. While employed by the East India Company
Moorcroft traveled extensively throughout the Himalayas
, Tibet
and Central Asia
, eventually reaching Bukhara
, in present day Uzbekistan
.
in Liverpool
but during this time an unknown disease decimated cattle herds in Lancashire and young William was recruited to treat stricken animals. His proficiency so impressed the county landowners they offered to underwrite his education if he would abandon surgery to attend a veterinarian
college in Lyon, France. He arrived in France in the revolutionary year of 1789 and became the first Englishman to qualify as a veterinary surgeon. On completing his course he began practice in London
, established a "hospital for horses" on Oxford Street, helped found the first British veterinary college, proposed new surgical methods for curing lameness in horses, and acquired four patents on machines to manufacture horseshoes. In 1795, Moorcroft published a pamphlet of directions for the medical treatment of horse
s, with special reference to India
, and in 1800 a Cursory Account of the Methods of Shoeing Horses.
. Parry recruited Moorcroft to manage the Company stud in Bengal. In 1808
Moorcroft left the comforts of his home and the security of his thriving practice for Calcutta, India, the seat of British rule.
Everywhere the new Superintendent of Stud looked upon his arrival he found depressing signs of laxness, neglect and ignorance. Often undersized mares were bred with local stallions, the best colts were kept back and stud books falsified. Nevertheless under his care the stud rapidly improved. He took brisk charge of his staff and weeded out deficient horses. Moorcroft became the first to cultivate oats on a large scale in India and set aside 3000 acres (12.1 km²) at Pusa for its production.
In 1811 Moorcroft traveled extensively among the northern sub-continent in search of better breeding stock. To Lucknow
, the capital of Oudh, and to Benares (then still part of Maratha
territory), but Moorcorft failed to acquire the ideal breeding horses that he sought. In Benares he learned that Bukhara was rumored to have "the greatest horse market in the world." Moorcroft recruited a Persian
named Mir Izzat-Allah to make a scouting trip to Bukhara and map out the route. He also learned that fine breeding horses might be found in Tibet.
Proceeding along the valley of the Dauli
, a tributary of the Ganges river. They reached the summit of the frontier pass of Niti on 1 July. Here they were met by Rawats with strict orders from Tibet to repel the foreigners. With his charm, the promise of gain, and proficient use of his medical kit, Moorcroft gained the friendship of two influential Rawats, Deb Singh and his brother Bir Singh. The orders from Tibet were ignored and Amer Singh, the son of Bir Singh was recruited to serve as a guide through the Niti pass and over the Tibetan plateau. Arriving at the town of Daba
they awaited permission to proceed to Gartok
seat of the Garpon
, (Governor of western Tibet). The Garpon agreed to sell them cashmir
shawl wool and granted them permission to travel to the sacred lake of Manasarowar
. Moorcroft struck the main upper branch of the Indus near its source, and on 5 August arrived at lake Manasarovar which they explored extensively. Returning by the Sutlej
valley he was detained for some time by the Gurkha
s in Nepal
, but eventually reached Calcutta in November, only to be chastised severely by the Company for his failure to find horses. They were not interested in shawl wool or Tibetan lakes.
." What Moorcroft coveted most were the Turkoman horse
s, with their pale golden coats, narrow chests, long necks and sturdy legs. The "good Turcoman horses" that Marco Polo
had described some 500 years earlier could travel a hundred miles a day for weeks on end. Their descendants, the Akhal-Teke
are bred to this day in Turkmenistan
and Russia
. Moorcroft persisted in his quest and his seven year campaign was finally rewarded in May 1819 when Charles Metcalfe, head of the Company's Political and Secret Department, granted him leave to proceed. Metcalfe's goal was to use his friend as an intelligence scout on his epic journey.
Moorcroft's preparations took nearly a year. His roster of recruits included the Persian, Mir Izzat Khan, who had already made the trip alone some years before and an Afghan
, Gulam Hyder Khan from his previous expedition to Tibet. Nineteen year old George Trebeck
, a recent arrival to Calcutta was selected as second in command. The total expedition totaled 300 persons, including an escort of 12 Gurkas, sixteen horses and mules, £4,000 of trading goods, and medical supplies and equipment.
Leaving the main caravan at the border to the Punjab
on the Sutlej, Moorcroft traveled separately to Lahore
to obtain permission from Ranjit Singh
to traverse his territory. This was finally granted in mid May 1820. He met up with Trebeck and the rest of his party at Sultanpur
in the Kulu valley in August. From there the caravan trekked up the Beas River
, crossed the 13300 feet (4,053.8 m) Rohtang Pass
and descended into the Lahul valley and the city of Leh, capital of the Buddhist kingdom of Ladakh
. Leh was reached on 24 September, and here several months were spent in exploring the surrounding country. A commercial treaty was concluded with the government of Ladakh, by which the whole of Central Asia was virtually opened to British trade in exchange for British protection. Unfortunately, this treaty would have required the Ladakhi's to break relations with Ranjit Singh, the Maharajah of the Sikh Empire. The East India Company placed a high value on its alliance with Ranjit Singh. Once again Moorcroft had over stepped his authority. His engagement with Ladakh was repudiated and his salary suspended. In all nearly two years were spent in Ladakh, awaiting permission from the Chinese in Yarkand to proceed.
While exploring Ladakh he had a chance encounter with another European, Alexander Csoma de Kőrös
a penniless Hungarian philologist from Transylvania
. Csoma was searching for the ancient Asian roots of the Hungarian language in the Tibetan tongue. Moorcroft shared his own Tibetan dictionary with the traveler. Csoma failed to prove his thesis but is now widely seen as the founder of Tibetology. It was Moorcroft who steered Kőrösi towards the compilation of the first Tibetan-English dictionary and grammar book for the East India Company.
Moorcroft continued his journeys; Kashmir
was reached on 3 November 1822, Jalalabad
on 4 June 1824, Kabul
on 20 June, and Bokhara on 25 February 1825.
At Andkhoy, in Afghan Turkestan
, Moorcroft was seized with fever
, of which he died on the 27 August 1825, with Trebeck
surviving him only a few days. But according to the Abbé Huc
, Moorcroft reached Lhasa
in 1826, and lived there twelve years, being assassinated on his way back to India in 1838.
In 1841 Moorcroft's papers were obtained by the Asiatic Society
, and published, under the editorship of H. H. Wilson, under the title of Travels in the Himalayan Provinces of Hinduslan and the Punjab, in Ladakh and Kashnair, in Peshawur, Kabul, Kunduz and Bokhara, from 1819 to 1825.
Ormskirk
Ormskirk is a market town in West Lancashire, England. It is situated north of Liverpool city centre, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston.-Geography and administration:...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, the illegitimate son of Ann Moorcroft, daughter of a local farmer. While employed by the East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
Moorcroft traveled extensively throughout the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
, 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...
and Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
, eventually reaching Bukhara
Bukhara
Bukhara , from the Soghdian βuxārak , is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 263,400 . The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time...
, in present day Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
.
Early life and education
Moorcroft's family had sufficient means to secure an apprenticeship with a surgeonSurgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
but during this time an unknown disease decimated cattle herds in Lancashire and young William was recruited to treat stricken animals. His proficiency so impressed the county landowners they offered to underwrite his education if he would abandon surgery to attend a veterinarian
Veterinarian
A veterinary physician, colloquially called a vet, shortened from veterinarian or veterinary surgeon , is a professional who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals....
college in Lyon, France. He arrived in France in the revolutionary year of 1789 and became the first Englishman to qualify as a veterinary surgeon. On completing his course he began practice in London
London
London 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...
, established a "hospital for horses" on Oxford Street, helped found the first British veterinary college, proposed new surgical methods for curing lameness in horses, and acquired four patents on machines to manufacture horseshoes. In 1795, Moorcroft published a pamphlet of directions for the medical treatment of horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s, with special reference to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, and in 1800 a Cursory Account of the Methods of Shoeing Horses.
Superintendent of stud
In 1803 a citizen army was mobilized to defend Britain against a threatened Napoleonic invasion. Moorcroft joined the Westminster Volunteer Cavalry. His activities with the volunteers brought him to the attention of Edward Parry, a director of the East India CompanyEast India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
. Parry recruited Moorcroft to manage the Company stud in Bengal. In 1808
Moorcroft left the comforts of his home and the security of his thriving practice for Calcutta, India, the seat of British rule.
Everywhere the new Superintendent of Stud looked upon his arrival he found depressing signs of laxness, neglect and ignorance. Often undersized mares were bred with local stallions, the best colts were kept back and stud books falsified. Nevertheless under his care the stud rapidly improved. He took brisk charge of his staff and weeded out deficient horses. Moorcroft became the first to cultivate oats on a large scale in India and set aside 3000 acres (12.1 km²) at Pusa for its production.
In 1811 Moorcroft traveled extensively among the northern sub-continent in search of better breeding stock. To Lucknow
Lucknow
Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....
, the capital of Oudh, and to Benares (then still part of Maratha
Maratha
The Maratha are an Indian caste, predominantly in the state of Maharashtra. The term Marāthā has three related usages: within the Marathi speaking region it describes the dominant Maratha caste; outside Maharashtra it can refer to the entire regional population of Marathi-speaking people;...
territory), but Moorcorft failed to acquire the ideal breeding horses that he sought. In Benares he learned that Bukhara was rumored to have "the greatest horse market in the world." Moorcroft recruited a Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
named Mir Izzat-Allah to make a scouting trip to Bukhara and map out the route. He also learned that fine breeding horses might be found in Tibet.
Expedition to Tibet
In company with Captain William Hearsey and disguised as gosains, (Hindu trading pilgrims), and encumbered with a stock of merchandise for the purpose of establishing trade relations between India and Central Asia, Moorcroft traveled the upper Ganges through the foothills of the Himalayans. They left Joshimath, well within the mountains, on the 26 May 1812.Proceeding along the valley of the Dauli
Dhauliganga River
The Dhauliganga is one of the six source streams of the Ganges river. It meets the Alaknanda River at Vishnuprayag in Uttarakhand.-Path:The -long Dhauliganga rises at an altitude of in the Niti Pass in Chamoli District of Uttarakhand, and subsequently flows through Darma valley. At Raini, from...
, a tributary of the Ganges river. They reached the summit of the frontier pass of Niti on 1 July. Here they were met by Rawats with strict orders from Tibet to repel the foreigners. With his charm, the promise of gain, and proficient use of his medical kit, Moorcroft gained the friendship of two influential Rawats, Deb Singh and his brother Bir Singh. The orders from Tibet were ignored and Amer Singh, the son of Bir Singh was recruited to serve as a guide through the Niti pass and over the Tibetan plateau. Arriving at the town of Daba
Daba (village)
Daba is a village in Daba Township, Zanda County, in the west of the Tibet Autonomous Region of far Western China. It lies at an altitude of . The village has a population of about 33....
they awaited permission to proceed to Gartok
Gartok
Gartok is a trade-market of Tibet, situated on the bank of the Indus on the road between Shigatse and Leh, to the east of Simla. At an elevation of 14,630 ft , it is located at the base of the Kailash Range. In accordance with the Tibet treaty of 1904, Gartok, together with Yatung and Gyantse, was...
seat of the Garpon
Garpon
A garpon is historically a local or regional leader in Tibet and parts of Ladakh who has command and prominence over a district or area. He is highly regarded by the people and respected as a governor although his power and authority is informal in a given area. Ultimate leadership and spiritual...
, (Governor of western Tibet). The Garpon agreed to sell them cashmir
Cashmere wool
Cashmere wool, usually simply known as cashmere, is a fiber obtained from Cashmere and other types of goats. The word cashmere derives from an old spelling of Kashmir. Cashmere is fine in texture, and strong, light, and soft. Garments made from it provide excellent...
shawl wool and granted them permission to travel to the sacred lake of Manasarowar
Lake Manasarovar
Lake Manasarovar, Mapam Yumco , or Manasa Sarovar/Lake Manas , is a fresh-water lake in Tibet Autonomous Region of China approximately from Lhasa. To the west of Lake Manasa Sarovar is Lake Rakshastal and towards the north is Mount Kailash...
. Moorcroft struck the main upper branch of the Indus near its source, and on 5 August arrived at lake Manasarovar which they explored extensively. Returning by the Sutlej
Sutlej
The Sutlej River is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroad region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. It is located north of the Vindhya Range, south of the Hindu Kush segment of the Himalayas, and east of the Central Sulaiman Range in Pakistan.The Sutlej...
valley he was detained for some time by the Gurkha
Gurkha
Gurkha are people from Nepal who take their name from the Gorkha District. Gurkhas are best known for their history in the Indian Army's Gorkha regiments, the British Army's Brigade of Gurkhas and the Nepalese Army. Gurkha units are closely associated with the kukri, a forward-curving Nepalese knife...
s in Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, but eventually reached Calcutta in November, only to be chastised severely by the Company for his failure to find horses. They were not interested in shawl wool or Tibetan lakes.
Bukhara, the noble city
The journey to Tibet only served to whet Moorcroft's appetite for more extensive travel. But when he broached the idea of a new horse buying expedition to Bukhara in 1816, a searing reply from the Company Board of Managers warned Moorcroft to keep "steady" at his stud duties and not "waste his time" on "wild and romantick (sic) excursions to the banks of the Amoo (Amur) and the plains of Chinese TartaryTartary
Tartary or Great Tartary was a name used by Europeans from the Middle Ages until the twentieth century to designate the Great Steppe, that is the great tract of northern and central Asia stretching from the Caspian Sea and the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean inhabited mostly by Turkic, Mongol...
." What Moorcroft coveted most were the Turkoman horse
Turkoman Horse
The Turkoman horse, or Turkmene, was an Oriental horse breed from the steppes of Central Asia, now extinct. Modern descendants include the Akhal-Teke and the Yamud horse breeds. Horses bred in Turkmenistan are still referred to as Turkoman, and have similar characteristics...
s, with their pale golden coats, narrow chests, long necks and sturdy legs. The "good Turcoman horses" that Marco Polo
Marco Polo
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...
had described some 500 years earlier could travel a hundred miles a day for weeks on end. Their descendants, the Akhal-Teke
Akhal-Teke
The Akhal-Teke is a horse breed from Turkmenistan, where they are a national emblem. They are noted for their speed and for endurance on long marches. These "golden-horses" are adapted to severe climatic conditions and are thought to be one of the oldest surviving horse breeds...
are bred to this day in Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. Moorcroft persisted in his quest and his seven year campaign was finally rewarded in May 1819 when Charles Metcalfe, head of the Company's Political and Secret Department, granted him leave to proceed. Metcalfe's goal was to use his friend as an intelligence scout on his epic journey.
Moorcroft's preparations took nearly a year. His roster of recruits included the Persian, Mir Izzat Khan, who had already made the trip alone some years before and an Afghan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Gulam Hyder Khan from his previous expedition to Tibet. Nineteen year old George Trebeck
George Trebeck
George Trebeck was born in Middlesex, England in the year 1800. He moved to Calcutta, West Bengal circa 1815 with his father Charles Trebeck and brother of the same name...
, a recent arrival to Calcutta was selected as second in command. The total expedition totaled 300 persons, including an escort of 12 Gurkas, sixteen horses and mules, £4,000 of trading goods, and medical supplies and equipment.
Leaving the main caravan at the border to the Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
on the Sutlej, Moorcroft traveled separately to Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
to obtain permission from Ranjit Singh
Ranjit Singh
Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire.-Early life:...
to traverse his territory. This was finally granted in mid May 1820. He met up with Trebeck and the rest of his party at Sultanpur
Sultanpur, Uttarakhand
Sultanpur is a town and a nagar panchayat in Udham Singh Nagar district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand.-Demographics: India census, Sultanpur had a population of 7713. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Sultanpur has an average literacy rate of 52%, lower than the national...
in the Kulu valley in August. From there the caravan trekked up the Beas River
Beas River
The Beas River is a river in the northern part of India. The river rises in the Himalayas in central Himachal Pradesh, India, and flows for some 470 km to the Sutlej River in the Indian state of Punjab....
, crossed the 13300 feet (4,053.8 m) Rohtang Pass
Rohtang Pass
Rohtang Pass , is a high mountain pass on the eastern Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayas some from Manali...
and descended into the Lahul valley and the city of Leh, capital of the Buddhist kingdom of Ladakh
Ladakh
Ladakh is a region of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of the Republic of India. It lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent...
. Leh was reached on 24 September, and here several months were spent in exploring the surrounding country. A commercial treaty was concluded with the government of Ladakh, by which the whole of Central Asia was virtually opened to British trade in exchange for British protection. Unfortunately, this treaty would have required the Ladakhi's to break relations with Ranjit Singh, the Maharajah of the Sikh Empire. The East India Company placed a high value on its alliance with Ranjit Singh. Once again Moorcroft had over stepped his authority. His engagement with Ladakh was repudiated and his salary suspended. In all nearly two years were spent in Ladakh, awaiting permission from the Chinese in Yarkand to proceed.
While exploring Ladakh he had a chance encounter with another European, Alexander Csoma de Kőrös
Sándor Korösi Csoma
Sándor Kőrösi Csoma , born Csoma Sándor, also known as Alexander Csoma de Kőrös, was a Hungarian philologist and orientalist, author of the first Tibetan-English dictionary and grammar book. He was born in Kőrös, Grand Principality of Transylvania...
a penniless Hungarian philologist from Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
. Csoma was searching for the ancient Asian roots of the Hungarian language in the Tibetan tongue. Moorcroft shared his own Tibetan dictionary with the traveler. Csoma failed to prove his thesis but is now widely seen as the founder of Tibetology. It was Moorcroft who steered Kőrösi towards the compilation of the first Tibetan-English dictionary and grammar book for the East India Company.
Moorcroft continued his journeys; Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
was reached on 3 November 1822, Jalalabad
Jalalabad
Jalalabad , formerly called Adinapour, as documented by the 7th century Hsüan-tsang, is a city in eastern Afghanistan. Located at the junction of the Kabul River and Kunar River near the Laghman valley, Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar province. It is linked by approximately of highway with...
on 4 June 1824, Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
on 20 June, and Bokhara on 25 February 1825.
At Andkhoy, in Afghan Turkestan
Turkestan
Turkestan, spelled also as Turkistan, literally means "Land of the Turks".The term Turkestan is of Persian origin and has never been in use to denote a single nation. It was first used by Persian geographers to describe the place of Turkish peoples...
, Moorcroft was seized with fever
Fever
Fever is a common medical sign characterized by an elevation of temperature above the normal range of due to an increase in the body temperature regulatory set-point. This increase in set-point triggers increased muscle tone and shivering.As a person's temperature increases, there is, in...
, of which he died on the 27 August 1825, with Trebeck
George Trebeck
George Trebeck was born in Middlesex, England in the year 1800. He moved to Calcutta, West Bengal circa 1815 with his father Charles Trebeck and brother of the same name...
surviving him only a few days. But according to the Abbé Huc
Évariste Régis Huc
Évariste Régis Huc, or Abbé Huc, was a French missionary traveller, famous for his accounts of China, Tartary and Tibet. Since the travels of the Englishman, Thomas Manning, in Tibet , no European had visited Lhasa...
, Moorcroft reached Lhasa
Lhasa
Lhasa is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China and the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau, after Xining. At an altitude of , Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world...
in 1826, and lived there twelve years, being assassinated on his way back to India in 1838.
In 1841 Moorcroft's papers were obtained by the Asiatic Society
Asiatic Society
The Asiatic Society was founded by Sir William Jones on January 15, 1784 in a meeting presided over by Sir Robert Chambers, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at the Fort William in Calcutta, then capital of the British Raj, to enhance and further the cause of Oriental research. At the time of...
, and published, under the editorship of H. H. Wilson, under the title of Travels in the Himalayan Provinces of Hinduslan and the Punjab, in Ladakh and Kashnair, in Peshawur, Kabul, Kunduz and Bokhara, from 1819 to 1825.