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THE GREAT GAME

The confrontation between Russia and Britain in Central Asia during the nineteenth

century became known as the Great Game. The term was later popularized by novelist

Rudyard Kipling, and described the covert efforts by both sides to influence local

rulers and discover more of each other’s activities.

CHAPTER 3  NINETEENTHCENTURY INTELLIGENCE

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As Russia expanded its territories eastward in the 1830s, it dispatched secret agents to sow

division among the warring peoples of Central Asia and exploit any ensuing differences to its

advantage. Among these agents was the charismatic multi-linguist Captain Jan Prosper

Witkiewicz, a Polish-Lithuanian adventurer and explorer in Russian service. Witkiewicz and

his Cossack guard advanced to Bukhara in Turkestan in 1836 and persuaded its Emir to

remain neutral while Russia attacked the nearby khanate of Khiva. A year later, Witkiewicz

was in the Afghan capital of Kabul in an attempt to win over the Afghan ruler.

MUTUAL MISTRUST AND RESPECT

Britain viewed developments in Turkestan with mistrust, anxious that the Russians had

designs on India, the “jewel in the crown” of Britain’s empire. As a result, the British

authorities in India tried to create a buffer zone in the areas to the north of India

that included Persia, Afghanistan, Tibet, and southern parts of Turkestan.

The Russians, for their part, were irritated by British expeditions into Turkestan

and feared the prospect of British control of Afghanistan acting as a staging

post for further advances into Central Asia.

The fears of both sides were unfounded. Russia had no interest in India,

while British expeditions into Central Asia were without intent to acquire

territory. But this did not stop them from conducting

reconnaissance to map this uncharted region

and check out each other’s activities.

When Russian and British explorer-

agents encountered one another,

relations were generally cordial. Captain

Francis Younghusband was advancing

along the Yarkand valley in Chinese

Turkestan in 1889, with his escort of

Gurkha soldiers, when he encountered

Captain Bronislav Grombchevsky,

accompanied by a troop of Cossacks.

The two men dined together.

Younghusband congratulated Bronislav

on the horsemanship of his Cossacks,

while Bronislav praised the shooting

skills of the Gurkhas.

Above: This political cartoon from 1878, by British humorist

John Tenniel, shows Emir Sher Ali of Afghanistan trapped by his

“friends,” a Russian bear and a British lion.