Sarat Chandra Das worked as a spy for the British, going on expeditions into Tibet to gather information on the Tibetans, Russians and Chinese. After he left Tibet the reasons for his visit were discovered and many of the Tibetans who had befriended him suffered reprisals.

For the latter part of his life, Das settled in Darjeeling, where he became a headmaster at the Bhutia Boarding School. He named his house “Lhasa Villa” and played host to many notable guests including Sir Charles Bell, Kawaguchi and Evans-Wentz.

Das’s dictionary, published in 1902, includes more Sanskrit terms than Jäschke’s, and also more terms from Buddhist texts.

The work was revised by two Jesuit scholars, Rev. Graham Sandberg and Rev. A. William Heyde.

Further Reading

Hopkirk, Peter, Trespassers on the Roof of the World, Oxford University Press, 1982