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This year, we are celebrating the 60-year anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and the United Kingdom. As part of the anniversary celebration, we present to you this captivating compilation “Our Man in Mongolia: Charles Binsteed, an Agent of the British Empire, in Mongolia as Qing rule ended.” by Sue Byrne.
A decade ago, on the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between two countries, the two-volume book “Trans-Continental Neighbours” was published. This was a collaboration between researchers and scholars in the Institute of International Studies, the Mongolian Academy of Sciences and the Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit, University of Cambridge. Even to this day, the significance of this work remains unparalleled as it includes most primary sources documenting the historical relationship between Mongolia and the UK. Since then, further studies have been conducted and the research has become deeper. We are grateful that we were given the opportunity to present this unique compilation of reports and photographs relating to a first-hand account of Mongolia in the early XX century by the “Would-be Mongolist” G. C. Binsteed, which was not available before now.
Lieutenant G. C. Binsteed holds a unique and significant place among the travellers who ventured into Mongolia in the early 20th century. His historical handwritten legacy provides us with invaluable insights into the rich history and culture of Mongolia and its people at this time.
Binsteed came to Niislel Khuree through the territories of Khiata, Barga, Khailaar, Mugden and Setsen Khan provinces in February 1912 and in August to September of 1913. He was in Mongolia during the crucial period of political transformation, marked by the declaration of Mongolia's independence.
Throughout his travels in Mongolia, Lieut. G. C. Binsteed studied Mongolia's geography, politics, economy, political situation, temples, and the thinking of Mongolians. At the end of his 1913 visit, he wrote a detailed report and sent it to the British Legation in Beijing. This report contains interesting facts and information about the Mongolian political situation at that time. He had personally become acquainted with the political situation in Mongolia by meeting and talking with influential Mongolian politicians in Niislel Khuree during this historical period when Mongolia was actively trying to expand its foreign relations.
The compilation in this book, presented for the first time in Mongolia, includes almost all the reports written by G. C. Binsteed for the British Legation in Beijing in the years 1912-1913 and some of the photographs he took to illustrate them. These documents offer new insights into Mongolia and its people at that time, and provide an opportunity to get acquainted with the actual observations as well as the values and attitudes of one foreign traveller who visited Mongolia during this period.
The compilation also publishes the original letters from Sain Noyon Khan T. Namnansuren, official envoy by the decree of Mongolian Emperor, of 21st December, 1913, and from Mongolian Government on the 24th April, 1914, to British ambassadors in St Petersburg, Russian Empire, and Beijing, China, respectively, which are currently stored in British National Archives. The presence of these communications in the British archives prove that these official approaches from Mongolian Government to foreign states did reach their intended recipients.
The compilation is available at the library of Institute of International Studies, MAS.
News prepared by: Anudari.T, Researcher, Department of Third Neighbor Studies