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33-508: According to Vitali, the fortress was constructed in 1390 and guarded the southern approaches to the Tsangpo Valley and Lhasa. The town was surrounded by a wall 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) long. The entrance is on the eastern side. The original fortress, known as Gyel-khar-tse was attributed to Pelkhor-tsen, son of the anti-Buddhist king Langdharma , who probably reigned from 838 to 841 CE. The present walls were supposedly built in 1268, after

66-627: A major effort using prisoners of war to move all the bodies away for burial. For several days the sappers were kept busy demolishing what remained of the fortifications at Gyantse, Tsechen and other places, often coming across hidden stores in the process. Between Gyantse and Tsechen: "Our way was strewn with corpses. The warriors from the Kham country, who formed a large part of the Tibetan army, were glorious in death, long-haired giants, lying as they fell with their crude weapons lying beside them, and usually with

99-636: A mixture of all three types of missiles: surface-to-air, surface-to-surface, and surface-to-underwater. In aircraft carriers , the magazines are required to store not only the aircraft carrier's own defensive weapons, but all of the weapons for her warplanes , including rapid-fire gun ammunition, air-to-air missiles such as the Sidewinder missile , air-to-surface missiles such as the Maverick missile , Mk 46 ASW torpedoes , Joint Direct Attack Munitions , "dumb bombs", HARM missiles , and anti-ship missiles such as

132-643: A peaceful, patient look on their faces." The way was now open to Lhasa . The British began the march to the capital on 14 July. Gyantse is often referred to by Chinese government as the "Hero City" because of the determined resistance displayed by the Tibetans defenders against a far superior force. The walls were dynamited again by the Chinese in 1967 during the Cultural Revolution , but little more seems to have been recorded about this turbulent period. However,

165-449: A weapons malfunction. Therefore, as part of setting up an artillery battery , a designated place would be used to shelter the ready ammunition. In the case of batteries of towed artillery the temporary magazine would be placed, if possible, in a pit, or natural declivity, or surrounded by sandbags or earthworks . Circumstances might require the establishment of multiple field magazines so that one lucky hit or accident would not disable

198-402: Is also used for an ammunition dump , a place where large quantities of ammunition are stored for later distribution. This usage is less common. In the early history of tube artillery drawn by horses (and later by mechanized vehicles), ammunition was carried in separate unarmored wagons or vehicles. These soft-skinned vehicles were extremely vulnerable to enemy fire and to explosions caused by

231-613: Is approximately at 3,200 metres (10,500 ft). Sedimentary sandstone rocks found near the Tibetan capital of Lhasa contain grains of magnetic minerals that record the Earth's alternating magnetic field current. The basin of the Yarlung River, bounded by the Himalayas in the south and Kang Rinpoche and Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains in the north, has less severe climate than the adjacent northern (and higher-altitude) parts of Tibet, and

264-529: Is home to most of the population of the Tibetan Autonomous Region . The Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon , formed by a horse-shoe bend in the river where it leaves the Tibetan Plateau and flows around Namcha Barwa , is the deepest, and possibly longest canyon in the world. The Yarlung Tsangpo River has three major waterfalls in its course. The largest waterfall of the river, the "Hidden Falls",

297-645: Is located in the Tibet Autonomous Region , China . It is the longest river of Tibet and the fifth longest in China. The upper section is also called Dangque Zangbu meaning "Horse River." Originating at Angsi Glacier in western Tibet, southeast of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar , it later forms the South Tibet Valley and Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon before passing into the state of Arunachal Pradesh , India . Downstream from Arunachal Pradesh,

330-550: The Chumbi Valley to secure supply lines, leaving Younghusband with about 500 men to secure the region. Before dawn on 5 May hundreds of Tibetans attacked the camp at Changlo and, for a while, looked close to routing the British before eventually being repulsed by the superior weaponry, suffering at least two hundred casualties. On 7 May a small detachment of infantry arrived from General Macdonald who had been ambushed by

363-624: The Ganges , which in Bangladesh is called the Padma . When leaving the Tibetan Plateau , the river forms the world's largest and deepest canyon, Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon . The Yarlung Tsangpo River is the highest major river in the world. Its longest tributary is the Nyang River . Major tributaries of Yarlung Tsangpo include Nyangchu River, Lhasa River , Nyang River , and Parlung Tsangpo . In Tibet

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396-498: The Harpoon missile and the Exocet missile . Naval magazines face considerable risk of detonation , especially in cases of attack, accident, or fire. Such detonations have sunk many warships and caused many other incidents. Battleships were highly armored to protect from external attack, but the strength of the construction aids to constrict and worsen the impact of internal explosions, as

429-552: The Mark 46 torpedo for antisubmarine warfare ), have had torpedo magazines for carrying these dangerous antiship and antisubmarine weapons in well-defended compartments. With the advent of missile-equipped warships , the term missile "magazine" has also been applied to the storage area for guided missiles on the ship, usually carried below the main decks of the warships. For ships with both forward and aft surface-to-air missile launchers, there are at least two missile magazines. Sometimes

462-422: The 28th of June and lifted the siege of Changlo. Attempts to negotiate a settlement failed, with the Tibetans ignoring threats from Younghusband. Also on 28 June, the nearby "seemingly impregnable" Tsechen Monastery and Dzong was stormed shortly before sunset, after a heavy bombardment by a ten-pound artillery gun. Brigadier-General Macdonald, who had just arrived that day, concluded that Tsechen, which guarded

495-639: The Tibetans at the Karo Pass, nearly 80 kilometres (50 mi) east of Gyantse, where four of the men had been killed and thirteen badly wounded. A few days later the camp at Changlo came under siege as the Tibetan "troops had gained control of surrounding villages, and taken to firing miniature lead and copper cannon-balls into the camp from Gyantse Dzong." There were even rumours that the Khory Buryat Gelug priest Agvan Dorzhiev , born not far from Ulan-Ude , east of Lake Baikal , then under Russian control ,

528-415: The aim of reaching Lhasa . During the battle of Chumik Shenko, a large Tibetan force equipped with antiquated " matchlock guns, swords, spears and slingshots" were routed at the crude fortifications they had built below the village of Guru and at nearby Chumik Shenko (or Chumi Shengo). The Tibetans were facing a force equipped with modern weaponry, including Maxim guns and BL 10-pounder mountain guns , for

561-548: The dzong has gradually been restored, and "still dominates the town and surrounding plains as it always did." There is now a small museum there outlining the excesses of the Younghusband expedition from the Chinese perspective. Yarlung Zangbo River The Yarlung Tsangpo , also called Yarlung Zangbo ( Tibetan : ཡར་ཀླུངས་གཙང་པོ་ , Wylie : yar kLungs gTsang po , ZYPY : Yarlung Zangbo ) and Yalu Zangbu River ( Chinese : 雅鲁藏布江 ; pinyin : Yǎlǔzàngbù Jiāng )

594-413: The entire battery. The ammunition storage area aboard a warship is referred to as a magazine or the "ship's magazine" by sailors. Historically, when artillery was fired with gunpowder , a warship's magazines were built below the water line—especially since the magazines could then be readily flooded in case of fire or other dangerous emergencies on board the ship. An open flame was never allowed inside

627-602: The first descent of the upper Tsangpo gorge section. In November 2020, the chairman of PowerChina announced the construction of a "super" dam on the Yarlung Zangbo which would be the world's largest hydroelectric project. Magazine (artillery) A magazine is an item or place within which ammunition or other explosive material is stored. The word is taken originally from the Arabic word makhāzin (مخازن), meaning "storehouses", via Italian and Middle French. The term

660-545: The first time. The British then pushed on to Gyantse which they reached, after a few more skirmishes with Tibetan forces, on 12 April 1904. As most of the defenders had fled, the British bloodlessly captured the Dzong, raised the Union Jack , but considering it difficult to defend, they retired to an aristocrat's compound about a mile south near the Nyang River at Changlo. About a week later General James Macdonald withdrew down

693-487: The gorge from 1973 on, had already taken pictures of the falls in 1987 from a helicopter. Since the 1990s the Yarlung Tsangpo River has been the destination of a number of teams that engage in exploration and whitewater kayaking . The river has been called the "Everest of Rivers" because of the extreme conditions of the river. The first attempt to run was made in 1993 by a Japanese group who lost one member on

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726-502: The magazine. More modern warships use semi-automated or automated ammunition hoists . The path through which the naval artillery 's ammunition passed typically has blast-resistant airlocks and other safety devices, including provisions to flood the compartment with seawater in an emergency. The separation of shell and propellant gave the storage of the former the name "shell room" and the latter "powder room". Surface warships that have carried torpedoes , and ones that still do (such as

759-535: The magazines of guided-missile frigates and guided-missile destroyers have carried or do carry a mixture of various types of missiles: surface-to-air missiles , antisubmarine missiles such as the ASROC missile , and anti-ship missiles such as the Harpoon missile . See especially the Oliver Hazard Perry -class frigates , owned by several different navies around the world, in which one 40-missile magazine carries

792-561: The rear of the Gyantse Dzong, would have to be cleared before the assault could begin. An assault was therefore made on the Gyantse fortress on 5 July and, the following day, after a spirited defence by the Tibetans which lasted until sometime after 2 pm, a heavy artillery bombardment blew a hole in the wall followed by a direct hit on the powder magazine , causing a large explosion after which some Gurkha and British troops manage to climb

825-498: The rigid steel does not allow blast waves to dissipate. The USS Iowa turret explosion was such an example: in 1989 a loading incident caused a gun turret explosion, which spread to further powder stores in the turret, which eventually killed all 47 men in the turret. The turret served to contain the blast, protecting the rest of the ship, but amplified the blast inside the turret ensuring deadly conditions. During World War II, many ships met their end via magazine detonations. During

858-507: The rise in power of the Sakyapa sect. A large palace was built in 1365 by a local prince, Phakpa Pelzangpo (1318–1370), who had found favour campaigning for the Sakyapas in the south. He also brought a famous Buddhist teacher, Buton Rinchendrub of Zhalu, to live in a temple there. Later in the 14th century Phakpa Pelzangpo's son, Kungpa Phakpa (1357–1412), he expanded the Gyantse complex and moved

891-585: The river becomes far wider and is called the Siang. After reaching Assam , the river is known as the Brahmaputra . From Assam, the river enters Bangladesh at Ramnabazar. From there until about 200 years ago it used to flow eastward and joined the Meghna River near Bhairab Upazila . This old channel has been gradually dying. At present the main channel of the river is called Jamuna River , which flows southward to meet

924-448: The river flows through the South Tibet Valley, which is approximately 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) long and 300 kilometres (190 mi) wide. The valley descends from 4,500 metres (14,800 ft) above sea level to 3,000 metres (9,800 ft). As it descends, the surrounding vegetation changes from cold desert to arid steppe to deciduous scrub vegetation. It ultimately changes into conifer and rhododendron forest. The tree line

957-646: The river. In October 1998, a kayaking expedition sponsored by the National Geographic Society attempted to navigate the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon . Troubled by unanticipated high water levels, the expedition ended in tragedy with the death of expert kayaker Doug Gordon . In January–February 2002, an international group consisting of Scott Lindgren, Steve Fisher, Mike Abbott, Allan Ellard, Dustin Knapp, and Johnnie and Willie Kern, completed

990-559: The rock face, scramble inside, and capture the fort in spite of a heavy hail of boulders and stones thrown down upon them by the few defenders left on what remained of the walls. John Duncan Grant was awarded the Victoria Cross and Havildar Karbir Pun was awarded the Indian Order of Merit for their joint actions along with other members of the 8th Gurkha Rifles on July 6. The dead Tibetan defenders were "lying in heaps," and it took

1023-527: The royal residence here from the palace and fort his father had built at the entrance to the Gyantse valley. he also built Samphel Rinchenling, the first hilltop temple, beside the castle. Although the walls are mostly ruined, they still contain some 14th-century murals in Newari style as well as in the Gyantse style which grew from it. During the British expedition to Tibet , the force slowly advanced from Sikkim with

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1056-709: Was in charge of the Lhasa arsenal or even directing operations at Gyantse. He had become one of the 13th Dalai Lama 's teachers and was suspected by the British of being a Russian spy . After a flurry of communications between Younghusband and the British authorities in India , Younghusband was temporarily recalled to the Chumbi Valley. Younghusband then returned with more than a hundred mounted soldiers , more than two thousand regular infantry, eight artillery pieces, two thousand laborers and four thousand yaks and mules . They arrived on

1089-481: Was not publicized in the West until 1998, when its sighting by Westerners was briefly hailed as a "discovery." They were even portrayed as the discovery of the great falls which had been the topic of stories told to early westerners by Tibetan hunters and Buddhist monks , but which had never been found by Western explorers at the time. The Chinese authorities contradicted, however, saying that Chinese geographers, who explored

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