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xxii Chronology 1612–1616 Thomas Coryat walks to Agra and visits the court of Great Mogul. He subsequently travels on foot from Aleppo, across Persia and into Afghanistan. 1624 Andrade and Marques travel to Tibet and become the first Europeans to visit Tsaparang. 1625–1635 Andrade and de Sousa establish a Catholic mission in Tsaparang, Tibet. 1628–1632 A Catholic mission opens in Shigatse, Tibet, established by Cacella and Cabral. 1631 Azevedo crosses the Himalayas to reach Leh through the Mani Pass. He returns to India by way of the Baralacha and Rohtang passes. 1637 Construction of the Potala Palace by Songzan Ganbu begins. 1642 The fourth Dalai Lama solidifies ties between Central Asia and Gelugpa and consolidates religious and political power over the Tibetan plateau. 1642–1950 The Dalai Lamas officially assume power over Tibetan government. 1645 The fifth Dalai Lama begins construction on the Winter Palace, between the Drepung and Sera monasteries and Lhasa. 1658 François Bernier (1620–1688) debarks at Surat in the Gujarat state of India. He becomes a physician at the court of the Mughal emperor Aurang- zeb (1618–1707), the last of the great Mughal emperors. 1661 Charles II receives Bombay from Catherine of Braganza as part of her dowry the East India Company establishes its first factory there. 1661–1662 Grueber and d’Orville travel through Tibet, overland from Beijing to Agra. In doing so, they become the first undisputed Europeans to reach Lhasa. 1670 Bernier pens his Travels in the Mughal Empire, combining his own extensive journeys and observations with those from Mughal courtiers from the period. 1684 Bernier releases his paper “Nouvelle division de la terre par les différentes espèces ou races qui l’habitent,” in which he posits a systematic notion of racial difference that will come to dominate European thought for the next several centuries. 1702 Catholic missions in Nepal and Tibet are assigned to Capuchins under papal decree. 1707–1711 The first Capuchin mission is established in Lhasa. 1712–1727 Desideri and Freyre travel through Tibet, Delhi, Srinagar, Leh, Lhasa, Kutti, and Agra. 1716 Signing of the “farman” lays the foundation for British rights and territorial occupation of India Ippolito Desideri, the Jesuit missionary, observes the presence of Mongol, Chinese, Muscovite, Armenian, Kashmiri, Nepalese, and Northern Indian traders in Lhasa. 1716–1733 The second Capuchin mission is established in Lhasa. 1717 The Bekovich Expedition travels to Khiva but ends in disaster. 1729–1730 Samuel Van de Putte travels through Lhasa, overland from India to Beijing. His records, other than a single sketch map, are destroyed.