How did Charles Webster Leadbeater become involved with Jiddu Krishnamurti?

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Annie Besant and Jiddu Krishnamurti stand side by side in formal attire, Besant holding papers, in a black and white photograph from 1933. — theosophy Annie Besant and Jiddu Krishnamurti, 1926.

In 1909, the Theosophist and occult writer Charles Webster Leadbeater encountered Jiddu Krishnamurti on a beach near the Theosophical Society’s headquarters in Adyar, India.1

Leadbeater claimed that the young boy possessed a remarkable aura and perceived that he could become a great speaker and the physical vehicle for Maitreya, the expected World Teacher within the Theosophical tradition. Following this assessment, Annie Besant, then the international president of the society, concurred with Leadbeater’s view. Together, they and other members of the society undertook the responsibility of educating and preparing Krishnamurti for this envisioned role, eventually establishing the Order of the Star in the East to facilitate his mission.1