The
Great Game - Britain and Russia rattle their Sabres
| Coincidental with the decline of Chinese power over Turkestan and
Dzungaria to the north, Great Britain had solidified her hold on the
Indian subcontinent by around 1830. The East India Company acted as a
surrogate government in the land, in many ways wielding more power than
Her Majesty's. Constructing occupation armies of primarily native troops
commanded by English officers, there were three main regions where
England held sway - the Calcutta area and northeast towards Burma,
southern India, and the area around Delhi south to Bombay on the western
coast. The only areas that resisted "pacification" were the
far western and northwestern territories of what is now Afghanistan,
Kashmir, and Pakistan - the Sind, the Punjab, and the NWFP (North West
Frontier Provinces). My favorite places... |
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Often ruled by despotic tribal chieftains, the natives of
this region were distrustful of any foreigners poking
around in their lands, and did not hesitate to shoot
first and ask questions never. Meanwhile, the expanding
Russian empire began pressing southwards from
Siberia and the southern Russian states, looking for
arable land and "human resources", to put it
mildly. Peasant stock in Russia, subject to the ever-present risk of famine, pestilence, and
tsarist
"employees", migrated or escaped southwards as well,
looking for a slightly safer and more pleasant place to live. Unfortunately,
Central Asia was not the place.
Aside
from the random Jesuit missionary or itinerate
traveler, probably less than two dozen Europeans had ever been
in Central Asia since the dawn of time, discounting Marco Polo and his gang. Dotted with khanates, tribal
areas, brackish oases and forbidding geography, it was simply not a vacation haven for
most. During the 1700's, the occasional Western explorer/soldier/adventurer would take hesitant steps into the
area. Most either disappeared, died of strange and virulent disease, or were
turned back early on.
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By the early 1800's, the British
East India company needed new outlets and new markets for the goods being
produced by the subcontinent of India. Much traveled over the sea to Britain and Europe,
but there were reports of marvelous silks and textiles, jewels and gems and
other "stuff that dreams are made of" available to the first
country/company to establish trading relations with Bukhara and some of the
other native states of the area. The khanate of Bukhara was among the
first targets. Long known for its silks, rugs and other goods, the area
had at various times Mongol, (Seljuk) Turkic, Persian, Samanid, Timurid, Greek,
and Russian masters, Bukhara was a center of Islamic culture and study.
Ruled by a succession of khans, caliphs and emirs, now part of Uzbekistan, Bukhara
was a major stop on the Silk Road.
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The
British of course, knew it was there, but didn't really have any firm idea
of how to get there, who to talk to, or how much money to bring. Or even
if they'd be listened to. Pretty much everyone they asked said "Don't
go there." Ignoring this sage advice, around 1841 or so the
Company's army sent a young Colonel, Charles Stoddart, to Bukhara to see
about trading and treaties and such. A deeply religious man, he was
described as "unimaginative", and a perfect soldier - used to
giving and taking orders. As a British soldier, he also held rather deep
seated views about the righteousness of his country's conquests. 
He
refused, for example, to bow before the Emir when introduced. So, about 30 minutes after his arrival,
Emir Nasrullah (left) tossed him in the infamous 'Bug Pit', a 30 foot deep hole
in the ground infested with all manner of creepy crawlies, vermin, snakes,
scorpions, rats, and human bones. Needless to say, the Emir was not
entranced by the Stoddart or his rude behavior. For the next year or so, repeated attempts to
either escape (by Stoddart), or rescue (by everyone else) were met with
failure. Every couple of weeks, the Emir would haul Stoddart up out of the
Pit, dust him off, feed him, and tell him he was being released. They'd
joke around a while, and then the Emir would toss him in the Pit again. It
could have been worse - most people who met with the Emir's disfavor were
simply tossed off the Kalyan minaret
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After a couple of years,
this got really bothersome. So a fresh-faced young Captain, flush with the
fervor of messianic Christianity, and certain he could convince the Emir
and his people to discard the religion they'd practiced for 700 years and
adopt Anglicanism, volunteered to go get the Colonel, and perhaps even
convert the Emir while he was there. Arthur Connelly was perhaps the worst
possible person the English could have sent to Bukhara - headstrong, brash
and just as unstable as Stoddart was bland. Within hours after his arrival
in Bokhara, he joined Stoddart
in the bug pit. For almost two years, they were held prisoner, finally
being hauled up and told they would be let go if they renounced
Christianity and swore to Islam. Connelly refused - few are more stubborn
in the face of overwhelming odds than missionaries. Stoddart wavered, and
then figured, what the hell, and said 'sure, why not'. The Emir laughed,
ordered them to dig their graves, and then beheaded them both in June of
1842.
So much for trade
delegations.
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Meanwhile, the Russians
also had nothing better to do than annoy their southern neighbors. Not greeted
with anymore equanimity than the British but usually having more guns, the
Russians did little else but get carried off into slavery, thereby
ensuring their long-lasting favor amongst the locals. On any given day, the
Khiva, Kokand and Bukhara slave markets were teeming with Russian, Herati
and Persian slaves, However, the British were
sure the Russians were up to no good, and soon there grew up two differing
points of view regarding the situation. Noted Parliamentary Russo-phobes like
Prime Minister Melbourne's Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, were sure the Russians were headed for
India, poised on the verge of a military invasion. Melbourne did little to
discourage him, as he was his brother-in-law. Palmerston found an willing
ally in John Hobhouse, president of the India Board of Control, the
governmental entity charged with overseeing the (for the most part,
private) East India Company. The other side was a bit less
wary, unwilling to risk British lives and (especially) money on thwarting a nonexistent
threat. London and St. Petersburg exchanged diplomats, angry letters, and other
such diplomatic niceties. |
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One particularly troubling spot,
though, was Afghanistan - parts of it were ruled by puppet princes from Persia
(now Iran), which had a decidedly Russian leaning. The town of Herat, in
western Afghanistan, had been under siege from a mixed Persian/Russian
force on an off for several years. Most of it though, was
lawless, untamed, unknown and unfriendly towards anyone not born within a 20
mile radius of that bearded chappie in a turban holding a rifle on you at the
moment. Herat, in the west, a major city and trading center, was primarily
Persian. Kabul ("Cabool", as it was spelled back then) was run
by various members of the Barakzai tribe, whose stewardships of the city were
limited only by how soon a brother/son/uncle could sneak a sword into the palace
and skewer you like so much shish-kebob.
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One person had a fairly bona-fide
claim to the throne, the aged but relatively powerful and impressive Dost
Mohammed. The British sent ambitious young officer adventurer, and
social butterfly Alexander Burnes to Kabul as an emissary/political agent in
1836, both to establish a presence there and to sniff out the Russian activity.
He was opposed byShah Suhjah, deposed 20 years earlier and living in
exile in in India after getting kicked out of the Punjabi court of Ranjit Singh
for being, basically, a pain in the butt. He carried with him a 600-woman harem
and the fabled Koh-i-noor diamond.
Maharajah Ranjit Singh, "The Lion of Lahore", crafty, one-eyed, yet
perhaps least despotic of the three Oriental monarchs, is the third of our
major players.. He hosted Shah
Shujah for almost 20 years before tiring of his scheming, rude behavior
and 'obnoxious, caterwauling women'.
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| Burnes
had became interested in
the geography of Afghanistan and central Asia while serving as an officer in the
northwestern Indian state of Kutch (1823-29). He traveled in 1831 up the Indus
River from Sind with presents from the English king to Ranjit Singh, four huge
draft horses and multiple kinds of Victorian bric-a-brac. His travels were
viewed with a mixture of animosity and caution by the native people, who
feared (rightly so) that the foreign traveler was there to see just how
far up the Indus a boat could navigate. Nevertheless, he managed to charm
most of the potentates he encountered. The better he came to know the
local rulers, customs, and way of life, the more highly distrusted he was
by his own superiors. |
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