A Mountain in Tibet

Mount Kailas rises in western Tibet near the headwaters of several of Asia's great river systems and has long been sacred to Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Bon traditions. Charles Allen traces the changing geographical ideas that surrounded the mountain and the attempts by pilgrims, explorers, surveyors and scholars to establish the courses and sources of the Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra and Ganges.

The story moves from early travellers and missionaries to the surveyors and adventurers of the nineteenth century, when Tibet became entangled in imperial rivalry and scientific exploration. Allen combines travel history with accounts of endurance in the Himalayas, showing how religious geography, incomplete maps and political barriers shaped European understanding of one of Asia's most inaccessible regions.