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In the spring of 1821, Csoma decided to continue his journey eastwards, leaving his passport and papers behind. But his plan failed because the war raging in the Afghan mountains blocked his route. Therefore he headed south and let for Panjab province in India across present-day Pakistan, but, finding the journey extremely expensive and life-threatening, he turned back on the border of the Ladakh Kingdom. On his journey back he met William Moorcroft, who played a crucial role in Csoma’ research, because it was Moorcroft who encouraged him in his Tibetian studies. The appearance of the Hungarian scholar just fit the British expansion plans, and Csoma was probably hoping for finding some information about the prehistory of Hungarians in Tibetan sources even if he could not make it to Central Asia.
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