Moravian Missionaries in Western Trans-Himalaya: Lahul Ladakh and Kinnaur

by Tobdan and C. Dorje

Moravian missionaries entered the Himalayan states in the middle of the nineteenth century with the objective to propagate the Christian faith and remained there under very tough climatic conditions for nearly a century.

The whole period of their stay is the story of their struggle and adventure. They were highly educated and some of them like Jaeschke and Francke were scholars of international repute. While there was general acceptance among the people for their projects of the nature of general welfare, the missionaries, despite their earnest efforts, could not make much impact on the masses in gathering followers to accept their teachings and adopt their faith. But they were successful in carrying out in study of the Tibetan language and local dialects and the script. They produced several scholarly publications on the topics including dictionaries and grammars, besides translating the sacred literatures into their languages. Their studies on the local languages and their history and culture were of immense value.

The duo authors, who belong to an area benefited by the works of the Moravian missionaries, have exerted to trace their past and present, their deeds succinctly in the present work. This also carries forward their previous work.