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After conquering and occupying India and making it the “Jewel in the Crown” of their great Empire in the 16th and 17th centuries, the British colonialists, utilizing the subterfuge of a nominal trading company, the notorious East India Company, to plan aggressive incursions into neighboring Tibet. During the period from the late 18th to the early 19th century, the British colonialists gained control of vast areas to the south of the Himalayas including Nepal, Bhutan, Dremojong (Sikkim) and Ladakh. Dremojong (Sikkim), Ladakh and Bhutan had been previously a part of the Tibet kingdom and thus a part of China. However, the British colonialists cared nothing for such facts. After bringing Nepal and Bhutan under their control, they tried to invade Tibet. In 1904 a British expeditionary army crossed the Himalayas and invaded Tibet for the second time. The Tibetan people, led by the 13th Dalai Lama Tabdain Gyamco, who was then aged only 28, bravely beat back the British invaders. In conditions of extreme hardship, the Tibetan people conducted a guerilla struggle against with the British colonialists which lasted over a year. They fought to maintain the unity of the nation and the territorial integrity of the motherland. The stirring story of the Battle of Zongshan Hill in Gyangze is enough to move any proud Tibetan to tears.