Tibetan Tanka (Thangka) or prayer banner, 1903 (c)

This hand-painted silk scroll, showing scenes from the life of the Buddah, was taken from a monastery in Gyangtse by Major M R E Ray DSO, Chief Intelligence Officer during the Tibet Expedition (1903-1904). Major Francis Younghusband's invasion of Tibet was aimed at preventing the Russian Empire from interfering in Tibetan affairs and thus gaining a foothold in one of the buffer states surrounding British India.

The 3,000-strong British Indian force marched on Lhasa, easily defeating Tibet's poorly armed army, and dictated an unenforceable and largely irrelevant treaty to the state's rulers. They also helped themselves to many of Tibet's religious treasures, including scrolls, banners and sculpture.