Life
In 1865, with his cousin Mani Singh, Nain Singh left Dehra Dun, the Geometrical Survey of India's northern India headquarters, for Nepal. From there Mani returned to India by way of western Tibet, but Nain went on to Tashilhunpo, where he met the Panchen Lama, and Lhasa, where he met the Dalai Lama. During his stay in Lhasa, his true identity was discovered by two Kashmiri Muslim merchants residing at Lhasa, but not only did they not report him to the authorities, they lent him a small sum of money against the pledge of his watch. Nain Singh returned to India by way of Mansarowar Lake in western Tibet.
On a second voyage, in 1867, Singh explored western Tibet and visited the legendary Thok-Jalung gold mines. He noticed that the workers only dug for gold near the surface, because they believed digging deeper was a crime against the Earth and would deprive it of its fertility.
In 1873-75, he traveled from Leh in Kashmir to Lhasa, by a route more northerly than the one along the Tsangpo that he had taken on his first journey.
In recognition of his prodigious feats of exploration, regarding which Colonel Henry Yule commented that "his explorations have added a larger amount of important knowledge to the map of Asia than any other living man", Nain Singh was presented with an inscribed gold chronometer by the Royal Geographic Society (RGS) in 1868. This was followed by the award of the Victoria or Patron's Medal of the RGS in 1877. The Society of Geographers of Paris also awarded Nain Singh an inscribed watch. The Government of India bestowed two villages as a land-grant to him.
Read more about this topic: Nain Singh Rawat
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