About the Researchers of Tibet of the end of the 19th – beginning 20th Centuries and their Diaries

Introduction. Tibet at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries was an object of the geopolitical interests of Britain and Russia in relation to Tibet and China. This period is known in history as the “Big Game” period. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Tibet has been closed by the Chinese government and Tibetan authorities to foreigners, except for limited visits by Buddhist pilgrims. It has become the object of active study by all interested countries, and has been visited by Indian pilgrim travelers, including scientist Sarath Chandra Das, several Japanese pilgrim researchers, the most famous of whom was Ekai Kawaguchi (1866–1945), a Japanese Buddhist monk, as well as Russian researchers and travelers G. Ts. Tsybikov and O. M. Norzunov. The goal of the article is to provide a brief description of their lives and activities, as well as their diaries and travel notes as sources on the history of Tibet and for characterizing their contribution to the study of Tibet, Tibetan society and Buddhism during the period under review. Materials and methods. The materials for the research were the diaries of travelers who visited Tibet for research purposes in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The work used a comparative method to identify the uniqueness of the materials of the diaries, methods of source analysis of sources, such as chronological and retrospective, which made it possible to identify and consider the information given in the diaries in sequence and to identify the changes that have occurred since their narration, and their significance for the study, restoration and reconstruction of lost phenomena and monuments of architecture and culture., which makes relevant the special study of the written heritage of G. Ts. Tsybikov, O. M. Norzunova, Sarat Chandra Dasa and Ekai Kawaguchi and their content analysis/ Results and conclusions. Though their statuses, social and financial status of the researchers were different: from the privileged position of Das, the position of O. M. Norzunov and G. Ts. Tsybikov, who were backed by the Russian state, to the adventurous journey of the Buddhist monk Ekai Kawaguchi, who was repeatedly on the verge of death, they all were outstanding people, scientists, researchers. Their diaries, regardless of their goals and tasks, contain, to varying degrees of completeness, valuable information about the socio-cultural and economic life of Tibet and Tibetans along with extensive factual information.

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