Four Years in Tibet

It was by sheer accident that the author Rev. Ahmad Shah came across an advertisement in the local paper in Bandon: 'Wanted, a medical man of experience for Leh in Ladakh'. This book follows the travels of Ahmad Shah in Kashmir and Ladakh, also known as lower Tibet, from 1890 1894, making his way to Leh from Srinagar, via the Zoji La and Kargil through Tibet and Ladakh.

A Christian missionary, Shah went to investigate over there claims made in the book, The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ by the Crimean journalist, spy and traveller Nikolai Notovich, that there is a lost Gospel on Jesus's life in India and Tibet. Apart from his investigation into Notovich's claims, Shah makes observations on the Tibetan culture of the time, including their peculiar customs, habits, religion, funerary customs and marriage ceremonies, and among other topics, including the history of Tibetan Buddhism, and why foreigners are forbidden to enter Tibet.