Henry Strachey (explorer)

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Henry Strachey (1816–1912) was a British officer of the Bengal Army. Despite a longstanding prohibition by the Tibetan authorities on the entry of Europeans into Tibet, Strachey surveyed parts of western Tibet during the late 1840s.

He was the second son of Edward Strachey, second son of Sir Henry Strachey, 1st Baronet. His brothers included Sir Richard Strachey, Sir John Strachey and Sir Edward Strachey, 3rd Baronet.

In 1846, while a lieutenant of the 66th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry, Strachey surveyed the Tibetan regions surrounding Lakes Manasarovar and Rakshastal. He found a channel between the lakes, suggesting that Manasarovar, and not Rakshastal, was the source of the Sutlej River. Strachey's brother Richard, with J. E. Winterbottom, continued the exploration of the lakes in 1848.

In 1847 Strachey was appointed to a boundary commission led by Alexander Cunningham. The third member was Thomas Thomson. The commission was set up to fix the boundary between Tibet and Ladakh. By the Treaty of Amritsar, 1846, the British had granted Ladakh to Gulab Singh, and wished to prevent further territorial conflict. However, the Tibetan authorities did not participate, or give permission to enter Tibet. The commission based itself at Leh, Ladakh. It eventually drafted a boundary, but this was not diplomatically agreed. However, in 1848 Strachey was the first European to find the Siachen Glacier, and ascended it for 2 miles.

In 1849, Strachey and his brother Richard briefly entered Tibet by following the Niti Pass out of Garhwal. Their route included Tholing Monastery and Hanle.

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