William Johnson (surveyor)

William H. Johnson (died 3 March 1883) in Jummoo [1] was a British surveyor active in the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia, who became Governor of Ladakh.

Life

Johnson was born and educated in India, and joined the Great Trigonometric Survey, where he was trained by Andrew Scott Waugh.[2] From 1851 he was second-in-command to Thomas George Montgomerie in the Kashmir Survey.[3]

Johnson's 1865 journey.

At Leh in Ladakh in 1865, Johnson received an invitation from the Khan of Khotan to journey there; and on his own initiative went.[4] This journey made his reputation as a traveller. He reported on it to the BAAS in 1866, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in the same year.[5][6] But the unauthorized journey met with official disapproval; and he resigned from the Survey the following year.[7] Part of his legacy was the "Johnson line", or "Ardagh–Johnson line", a proposed northern boundary for Ladakh and Kashmir running through the Aksai Chin. It was later endorsed by Sir John Ardagh. It assumed later importance in the Sino-Indian border dispute, after China had occupied Tibet.[8]

Johnson took up a position for the Maharajah of Kashmir and Jammu, properly that of Wazir-wazirat in Ladakh. It had been held previously by the British geologist Frederick Drew; the title is also given as vizier or governor.[9][10] He used it to facilitate the third covert journey of Nain Singh Rawat into Tibet.[11]

Johnson died in Jammu, believing he had been poisoned.[1]

Works

References

  1. 1 2 Obituary: Mr. W. H. Johnson, Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography New Monthly Series, Vol. 5, No. 5 (May, 1883), pp. 291-293. Published by: The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers). Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1800115.
  2. ↑ Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society vol. 11 (1867) pp. 6–7;archive.org.
  3. ↑ Michael Ward, The Survey of India and the Pundits Himalayan Journal 55.(1999)
  4. ↑ Peter Hopkirk (15 September 2011). Foreign Devils on the Silk Road. John Murray. pp. 42–3. ISBN 978-1-84854-632-5. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  5. ↑ British Association for the Advancement of Science. Meeting; British Association for the Advancement of Science (1867). Report of the annual meeting. J. Murray. p. 111. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  6. ↑ Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol. 10, No. 5 (1865 - 1866), pp. 175-177. Published by: Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers). Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1799593
  7. ↑ Derek Waller (19 November 2004). The Pundits: British Exploration of Tibet and Central Asia. University Press of Kentucky. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-8131-9100-3. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  8. ↑ Steven A. Hoffmann (18 January 1990). India and the China Crisis. University of California Press. pp. 11–12. ISBN 978-0-520-06537-6. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  9. ↑ Ravina Aggarwal (9 November 2004). Beyond Lines of Control: Performance and Politics on the Disputed Borders of Ladakh, India. Duke University Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-8223-3414-9. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  10. ↑ Grout, Andrew. "Drew, Frederick". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/8048. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  11. ↑ Derek Waller (19 November 2004). The Pundits: British Exploration of Tibet and Central Asia. University Press of Kentucky. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-8131-9100-3. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
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