Joseph-Fernand Grenard (4 July 1866 – 1 April 1945) was a French explorer, author, and diplomat. He took part in the French government-sponsored expedition led by
Jules-Léon Dutreuil de Rhins
Jules Léon Dutreuil de Rhins (2 January 1846 – 5 June 1894) was a French geographer and explorer, born at Saint-Étienne.
He took part as a midshipman of naval volunteers in the expedition to Mexico and was an ensign during the Franco-Prussi ...
in 1891 to Eastern Turkestan (now
Xinjiang
Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...
) which sought to visit Lhasa, which at that time foreigners were not allowed to visit.
In 1893, Dutreuil de Rhins and Grenard, left Xinjiang in order to cross Tibet and reach
Xining
Xining is the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. As of the 2020 census, it had 2,467,965 inhabitants (2,208,708 as of 2010), of whom 1,954,795 l ...
in
Qinghai
Qinghai is an inland Provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. It is the largest provinces of China, province of China (excluding autonomous regions) by area and has the third smallest population. Its capital and largest city is Xin ...
. In December, they reached
Lake Namtso, the men and animals exhausted and their supplies run out after a journey that had taken them three months longer than anticipated. The authorities refused them permission to enter Lhasa and ordered them to turn back, in spite of the bitter cold and lack of supplies.
The following summer, Dutreuil de Rhins was wounded in a skirmish with a group of
Golok
A golok is a cutting tool, similar to a machete, that comes in many variations and is found throughout the Malay Archipelago. It is used as an agricultural tool as well as a weapon. The word ''golok'' (sometimes misspelled in English as "gollock" ...
bandits in lawless country near Tom-Boumdo (province of Qinghai). Grenard tried to save him but in the end was forced to leave him to his death. All the expedition's papers were stolen but eventually Grenard persuaded the Chinese authorities to take action against the criminals and the papers were recovered.
Grenard published a report on the expedition under the title "''Mission scientifique dans la Haute-Asie''" ("A scientific mission to upper Asia") (1897–1898). He went on to write various books about the history of Central Asia, including lives of
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...
and the
Mughal
Mughal or Moghul may refer to:
Related to the Mughal Empire
* Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries
* Mughal dynasty
* Mughal emperors
* Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia
* Mughal architecture
* Mug ...
ruler
Babur/Baber.
Bibliography
* "''Mission scientifique dans la Haute-Asie 1890-1895''", in three volumes, E. Leroux, Paris, 1897-1898
vol. 1
* "Tibet. The country and its inhabitants", tr. A. Teixeira de Mattos. (London, Hutchinson & co., 1904; republished 2007, Kessinger Publishing, LLC) , (described as a partial reprint of 'A scientific mission to upper Asia')
References
Other sources
Mission scientifique dans la Haute-Asie 1890-1895
Archives nationales : Mission Dutreuil de Rhins en Haute Asie
1866 births
1942 deaths
French explorers
French non-fiction writers
{{Explorer-stub