Mountain artillery shelling a position outside Niani Monastery, 26 June 1904 (b/w photo)

Mountain artillery shelling a position outside Niani Monastery, 26 June 1904. Photograph by Major M R E Ray, Tibet (1903-1904), 1904. Major Francis Younghusband’s invasion of Tibet was aimed at preventing the Russian Empire from interfering in Tibetan affairs and thus gaining a foothold in one of the buffer states surrounding British India. The fortified monastery of Niani was captured after a four-hour fight on 26 June 1904. The taking of the monastery opened up the way to Gyantse for the British. One of 157 photographs taken by Major MacCarthy Reagh Emmet Ray in Tibet, showing views, groups, artillery in action, camp at Gyantse and portraits, 1904.