Mission and Revolution in Central Asia - Svenska Missionskyrkan

explanation, “I cannot allow you to travel with this letter.” 3 How interesting and valuable
these destroyed documents would have been for the understanding of the mission and the
conditions of the missionaries is shown by a number of letters that were saved for posterity.
They were written in Eastern Turkestan by various missionaries to Raquette, their colleague,
and when he returned to his own country, in the beginning of the 1920s, he took these letters
home with him. These letters contain a lot of details explaining the situation in the field.
The source material may seem one-sided, since in most cases it was written by the
missionaries themselves. As to the religious life of the people – in which area the mission
came to play its main role - not much other material is however available. Literature about
Islam in general is immense. But when it comes to Islam in Eastern Turkestan, this Muslim
region inside China's western borderline, the general history of religion has very little to offer.
And when it comes to the Swedish Mission and the evaluation of its work, there were only a
few westerners, apart from the missionaries themselves who actually saw and experienced
what was done. An American couple, the Asian expert Owen Lattimore and his wife Eleanor,
visited the mission stations and in their books there are some brief passages about what they
observed. The British Consul-Generals in Kashgar continually met the missionaries. A
friendly, trusting relationship prevailed between the missionaries and the British officials.
Worthy of being particularly mentioned is Sir George Macartney who served as a Consul-
General up to the year 1918. In one of her books, his wife, Lady Catherine Macartney,
recounts several interesting episodes from their time together. Several other Consuls also
comment favourably and with appreciation on the mission work.
Journalists and scholars from England, America, Germany and Switzerland and other
countries, travelling in the country, also came into contact with the Mission and wrote about it
in their books. Gustaf Mannerheim who later on became president of Finland, travelled
through the area in the beginning of the 20th century in his capacity as a Russian officer. He,
too, mentions the missionaries and the impression they made on him. The English missionary,
Rachel Wingate, came to work for the Swedish Mission on a voluntary basis from 1924 to
1928. Through her articles in British periodicals she made the work of the Swedish Mission
well-known far beyond the bounds where the missionaries reached. In the year 1927 she
wrote the following in a Swedish newspaper, “It is impossible to grasp the spiritual darkness
in this country unless you have been there yourself.” 4
Only four Swedish people “from outside” saw the Swedish Mission on the spot. They were
the three explorers Sven Hedin, Nils Ambolt and Erik Nordin. Hedin and Ambolt have both
described, verbally and in writing, their meeting and relations with the missionaries. They
became true friends of the Mission. This is also true of the fourth Swede, the Ambassador
Gunnar Jarring, who accompanied a group of missionaries to Eastern Turkestan in 1929. He
remained there for some time for linguistic research, staying at the mission station in Kashgar.
He made a second attempt at getting into the country in 1935, that time too in the company of
travelling missionaries. He was however prevented from entering and parted from his
companions in Srinagar. 5 Jarring has never tired of writing and speaking with appreciation
about the Mission.
There are several ways of spelling geographical names. The province for instance is called
“Eastern Turkestan” or “East Turkestan”. Referring to the linguist and missionary G.
Raquette, I will use the term “Eastern Turkestan” 6 . The older German spelling of “Kaschgar”
3 Interview with Moen, September 23rd, 1972.
4 Wingate in Friska Vindar, 1927, p 291.
5 Jarring, 1972, p. 264.
6 Raquette, 1928.