From simple Indian village headmaster to sophisticated spy-explorer of Tibet: The odyssey of Nain Singh Rawat

A copy of 'Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society' published in February 1885, with a map that wouldn't exist without the courage, skill and perseverance of one of history's greatest explorers.

The British in India knew nothing of Tibet, it was forbidden to foreigners. If they entered and were discovered, they'd be executed. So, they had to find someone who would blend in, would master navigation, would meticulously record terrain. They finally found their man in Nain Singh Rawat. A headmaster of the English language Milam Government Vernacular School. His mission as spy-explorer was so secret that he would only be referred to as 'Pundit A–k' to protect his identity. Disguised as a Tibetan he was provided with a nine-inch sextant for taking latitude observations, a Tibetan tea-bowl for a mercury trough, a prismatic compass for taking bearings to distant hill peaks, a pocket compass for taking his route bearings, a rosary for counting his paces, a Buddhist prayer barrel for secreting his field books, an aneroid barometer and some boiling point thermometers. Thus equipped, the most famous of the Pundit Explorers set out on foot to open up Tibet to the world, and walk into history.