Travels between the Oxus & Indus rivers in the old Afghan – Indian borderlands

Schomberg, Colonel R C F: Between the Oxus and the Indus. Hopkinson [London] 1935 1st edition 8vo.

Folding map, 16 photo illustrations, 275pp. Original blue cloth gilt, the spine very dirty and worn at the head and tail, some browning and very minor damage to half title and a small brown mark to friontis caused by a rusting paper clip, internally quite clean, ownership signature in pencil to front pastedown and inscribed on front free endpaper  With the best wishes of Reginald Schomberg, a newspaper obituary of Schomberg and two other cuttings loosely inserted. It is unusual to find signed copies of Schomberg’s books. Schomberg writes of the Gilgit Agency, Hunza and its people, the Yasin valley, etc. Some five chapters deal with the habits, customs, etc of the Hunza people and there is a chapter on the Hunza-Nagir War of 1891. Yakushi S 82.    jan13/2

Colonel Reginald Charles Francis Schomberg, D.S.O., C.I.E. [1880-1958] was commissioned into the Seaforth Highlanders. He served in India from 1902, in the Malay States Guides 1910, Mesopotamia 1915, Palestine 1919, India 1922, Ladakh 1923, retiring from the Army in 1927. British Consul General for the French Indian possessions at Pondicherry between 1936=38 , then for the Portuguese possessions 1939, consular liaison officer on the Indo-Persian border, 1943-44, in Force 136 of SOE in Chinese Turkestan 1944-45. A fascinating but somewhat mysterious figure, Schomberg’s books reflect his travels, explorations, and photography in Central Asia. His complicated military career, seldom with his regiment, has led some to suspect he was a spy or at least a late participant in the Great Game. He later trained for the Roman Catholic priesthood.