>Feriautan: Importing Wikidata short description: "British surveyor, Governor of Ladakh" (Shortdesc helper)

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Importing Wikidata short description: "British surveyor, Governor of Ladakh" (Shortdesc helper)

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{{Short description|British surveyor, Governor of Ladakh}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
'''William H. Johnson''' (died 3 March 1883<ref name="Obit">{{citation |first=H. H. |last=Godwin-Austen |author-link=Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen |title=Obituary: Mr. W. H. Johnson |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography |volume=5 |pages=291–293 |number=5 |date=May 1883 |jstor=1800115}}</ref>) was a British surveyor in the [[Great Trigonometric Survey]] of India. He is noted for the first definition of the eastern boundary of [[Ladakh]] along [[Aksai Chin]] in the princely state of [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|Jammu and Kashmir]], which has come to be called the '[[Johnson Line (boundary)|Johnson Line]]'. After retiring from the Survey of India, Johnson was appointed as the Governor of [[Ladakh]], in which position he served until his death.

==Early life==
Johnson was born in India to an Ordinance officer of the [[East India Company]], who lived in "Deyrah". He was educated at [[Mussorie]] and joined the Civil Branch of the [[Great Trigonometric Survey]] (the precursor of the [[Survey of India]]), where he was trained by [[Andrew Scott Waugh]].<ref name=Obit/><ref name=Rawlinson>{{citation |first=H. C. |last=Rawlinson |title=On the Recent Journey of Mr. W. H. Johnson from Leh, in Ladakh, to Ilchi in Chinese Turkistan |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London |volume=11 |pages=6–15 |number=1 |year=1866–1867 |jstor=1799154 |url=https://archive.org/stream/proceedings13keltgoog#page/n18/mode/2up|doi=10.2307/1799154 }}</ref>

==Career==
Johnson began his career as a surveyor in 1848 under Captain du Vernet in the North-West Himalayan Survey. After du Vernet moved to Assam in 1852, he worked for some time doing route surveys in [[Punjab]], then the survey of the [[Chenab River]], and the survey of [[Bhagirathi River|Bhagirathi]] and [[Kanwar Sanctuary|Kanawar]]. In 1854, he ascended the snowy peak near the Néla pass, which was regarded as a considerable accomplishment.<ref name=Obit/>

In 1855, he joined the newly formed Kashmir Survey party to survey the princely state of [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] (created in 1846 under British suzerainty). He was second-in-command to [[Thomas George Montgomerie]] but in fact took a leading role on account of Montgomerie being busy in Srinagar. He led the survey of the [[Pir Panjal range]], [[Kishenganga]] valley, [[Chandrabhaga River|Chandrabhaga]] valley, and later the [[Indus River|Indus]] and [[Shyok River|Shyok]] river valleys. He ascended some of the tallest peaks in the line of this work. He also connected the Kashmir triangulation with that of the North-West Himalaya.<ref name=Obit/><ref>{{citation |last=Ward |first=Michael |url=https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/55/10/the-survey-of-india-and-the-pundits/ |title=The Survey of India and the Pundits |journal=The Himalayan Journal |volume=55 |year=1999}}</ref>

Starting in 1862, Johnson worked from [[Leh]] in [[Ladakh]], surveying all the way to the Chinese frontier. He surveyed the [[Chang Chenmo River|Chang Chenmo valley]] and the plateau to the north of it. In 1865, he undertook his famous journey to [[Khotan]], which garnered him notability as well as controversy.<ref name=Obit/>

===Expedition to Khotan and the Johnson Line===
[[File:Johnson-journey-ilchi1865-mapa.jpg|thumb|The "Johnson Line" marking the boundary of Kashmir. Johnson's 1865 journey to Khotan marked in red.]]
After the Chinese rule collapsed in [[Chinese Turkestan|Turkestan]] in 1863, the governor of Ladakh, Mehta Mangal, sent a small force to [[Shahidullah, Xinjiang|Shahidullah]], a strategic point between the [[Karakoram range]] and [[Kunlun mountains]], and constructed a ''chauki'' (police post). These developments were likely known to Johnson.{{sfn|Lall, Maps and Traditional Boundaries of Ladakh|1989|p=3}}

In May 1865, Johnson was commissioned to survey the Kashmir series "beyond and to the north of the Chang Chenmo valley". He set out on his expedition two months later, with a party consisting of fifty coolies (porters), an attendant, five mules, six horses and a state trooper. Governor Mehta Mangal is said to have made all the arrangements for his expedition. Johnson quickly went over to the heretofore unexplored territory of [[Aksai Chin]]. According to scholar John Lall, Johnson maintained an average speed of 19.2 miles a day through "barren country at heights between 15,000 to 19,500 feet". He spent twenty days at the source of the [[Karakash River]] doing surveys and recording his findings.{{sfn|Lall, Maps and Traditional Boundaries of Ladakh|1989|pp=3–4}}

From this location, Johnson made a journey to [[Khotan]] (referred to as "Ilchi" in British records), spent 18 days there and returned via the [[Karakoram Pass]]. Why he went to Khotan remains controversial. Johnson's own statement was that he received an invitation from the Khan of Khotan via a messenger. However, John Lall states that there was not enough time for a messenger to come from Khotan and return within the time frame given by Johnson. He believes that Johnson must have sent a message to the Khan of Khotan and invited himself. He also states that Johnson was censured by the British government for crossing the frontier without permission and that he later changed his story to say that he was forcibly taken to Khotan.{{sfn|Lall, Maps and Traditional Boundaries of Ladakh|1989|pp=3–4}}<ref>{{cite book |author=Peter Hopkirk |author-link = Peter Hopkirk |title=Foreign Devils on the Silk Road |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DoxsQDBQHYEC&pg=PT42 |date=2011 |publisher=John Murray |isbn=978-1-84854-632-5 |pages=42–3}}</ref>

The journey made Johnson's reputation as a traveller. He reported on it to the [[British Association for the Advancement of Science]] in 1866, and was elected a Fellow of the [[Royal Geographical Society]] in the same year.<ref>{{cite book |author1=British Association for the Advancement of Science. Meeting |author2=British Association for the Advancement of Science |title=Report of the annual meeting |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oO84AAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA111 |access-date=25 October 2012 |year=1867 |publisher=J. Murray |page=111}}</ref><ref>''Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London'', Vol. 10, No. 5 (1865 - 1866), pp. 175-177. Published by: Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers). Article Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1799593</ref> But the unauthorised journey met with official disapproval; and he resigned from the Survey of India the following year.{{sfn|Waller, The Pundits|2004|page=22}} Nevertheless Johnson's results were highly prized among the British surveyors, and Johnson was reemployed in 1869 on an even higher salary.{{sfn|Mehra, John Lall (Book review)|1991|p=149}}

Part of Johnson's legacy was the "[[Ardagh–Johnson Line|Johnson Line]]", or "Ardagh–Johnson Line", the boundary of Ladakh in the north and the northeast, including the entire [[Aksai Chin]] plateau and going up to the [[Kunlun Mountains]]. It was later endorsed by the Chief of British Military Intelligence [[John Charles Ardagh|Sir John Ardagh]] as the suitable northern boundary of the British Indian Empire. It assumed later importance in the [[Sino-Indian border dispute]], after China had occupied [[Tibet]].<ref name="Hoffmann1990">{{cite book |author=Steven A. Hoffmann |title=India and the China Crisis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BpSRwC5_EPUC&pg=PA12 |date=1990 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-06537-6 |pages=11–12}}</ref>

===Jammu and Kashmir===
Johnson took up a position for the [[Maharajah of Kashmir and Jammu]] in 1871, as the governor (''Wazir-e-wazarat'') of Ladakh.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ravina Aggarwal|title=Beyond Lines of Control: Performance and Politics on the Disputed Borders of Ladakh, India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2k3mgWCitj0C&pg=PA34|access-date=25 October 2012|date=9 November 2004|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0-8223-3414-9|page=34}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=Proceedings of the Tenth Seminar of the IATS, 2003. Volume 11: Tibetan Modernities: Notes from the Field on Cultural and Social Change |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ma5UOFq1GDEC&pg=PA171 |year=2008 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-15522-0 |at=p. 171, note 25}}: "For example, with a view to improving the availability of fuel and fodder, the planting of trees was initiated an encouraged by Wazir Mehta Mangal Singh, and further promoted by W. H. Johnson, who served as Wazir of Ladakh for ten years ending in 1881."</ref> R. H. Phillimore states that the position earned him three times the salary he had formerly received as a surveyor.<ref name="Phillimore">{{citation |title=Survey of Kashmir and Jammu, 1855 to 1865 |first=Colonel R. H. |last=Phillimore |journal=The Himalayan Journal |volume=22 |year=1960 |url=https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/22/11/survey-of-kashmir-and-jammu-1855-to-1865/}}</ref>

During his tenure as the Wazir, Johnson facilitated the third covert journey of the native explorer [[Nain Singh Rawat]] into Tibet.{{sfn|Waller, The Pundits|2004|page=119}}

==Death==
Johnson died in [[Jammu (city)|Jammu]], believing he had been poisoned.<ref name="Obit"/>

His daughter, Teresa Johnson, married [[Rowland Allanson-Winn, 5th Baron Headley]], Irish peer.<ref>The Age (Melbourne), 14 Feb. 1921:5 "About People", accessed through Trove, 28 Apr. 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201698943</ref>

==Works==
*[https://archive.org/details/jstor-1798517 Report on His Journey to Ilchí, the Capital of Khotan, in Chinese Tartary ]

===Reception===
[[H. H. Godwin-Austen]], a distinguished surveyor, has said, "there were few men living who had greater experience of mountain work, and none who had ascended to greater heights, and the work he did was of considerable value and magnitude". He cites Johnson's expedition to Khotan as an example of valuable knowledge that would have been gained had the (British) Government of India encouraged such work. He states that the views of the officers of the Survey of India were disregarded by the government.<ref name=Obit/> The official report of the Great Trigonometrical Survey (1865–65) called his explorations "most valuable and important". Johnson was commended for his "great energy and perseverance". The Royal Geographical Society honoured him in 1875 and presented a gold watch for his survey journey of 1865. [[Frederick Drew]], another surveyor and geologist in Jammu and Kashmir called him a "bold and enduring traveller".{{sfn|Mehra, John Lall (Book review)|1991}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{citation |last=Lall |first=John |title=Maps and Traditional Boundaries of Ladakh |journal=China Report |volume=25 |pages=1–10 |number=1 |year=1989 |doi=10.1177/000944558902500101 |s2cid=154641762 |ref={{sfnref|Lall, Maps and Traditional Boundaries of Ladakh|1989}}}}
* {{citation |last=Mehra |first=Parshotham |title="John Lall, Aksai Chin and Sino-Indian Conflict" (Book review) |journal=China Report |volume=27 |pages=147–154 |number=2 |year=1991 |doi=10.1177/000944559102700206 |s2cid=153622885 |ref={{sfnref|Mehra, John Lall (Book review)|1991}}}}
* {{citation |first=Derek |last=Waller |title=The Pundits: British Exploration of Tibet and Central Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PYqWhpyoQsoC&pg=PA119 |date=2004 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-9100-3 |ref={{sfnref|Waller, The Pundits|2004}}}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, William}}
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
[[Category:1883 deaths]]
[[Category:British surveyors]]
[[Category:British explorers]]
[[Category:Governors of Ladakh]]

William Johnson (surveyor) - Revision history

>Feriautan: Importing Wikidata short description: "British surveyor, Governor of Ladakh" (Shortdesc helper)