Blog Entry XII - The Great Game

Not only the title of a book by our good and familiar friend Peter Hopkirk, "The Great Game" is a term that embodies the rivalry and conflict between the interests of the British Empire and interests of the Russian Empire for power in Central Asia. The so-called "classic" Great Game period is generally thought to range approximately from the Russo-Persian Treaty of 1813 to the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907. A second, less intensive phase, the so-called "renaissance," followed the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. The term "The Great Game" is usually associated with Arthur Conolly, who was an intelligence officer of the British East India Company's Sixth Bengal Light Cavalry. The Great Game was almost altogether unheard of in popular culture until it was introduced into the mainstream media by British novelist Rudyard Kipling in his novel "Kim".

It seems as though there is a lot of grey area when it comes to this period in history, and thus it's fitting that there is a book titled "Myth and Reality in the Great Game," by Gerald Morgan, that attempts to clarify the issues surrounding the period. Morgan researched and examined various departments of the British Raj to determine if there ever existed a British intelligence network in Central Asia, and, he concluded that such an organization did not exist. To Morgan, it appears that British efforts to obtain information on Russian movement in Central Asia was limited, and described as "rare", and in the least was not a priority in their Central Asian affairs. It's almost amusing to think that events resembling The Great Game adventures described in "Kim" were shaky rumors that were popular folk-tales in Central Asia, and were applied as much to Russia as to Britain.

The primary interest of the British Empire in India and in Central Asia was to have control of the native population, not prevent a Russian invasion. The latter was certainly just as eminent, however, the former seems to take precedence. According to Connelly himself, this is indeed true, and the proof is furthered by the display of British sympathies toward Christians in Central Asia, a sympathy that the British Empire also shared with the Russians. This pretext does seem like a suitable one, one to disguise the desire of a particular power to control a particular region. Historians don't deny this shared religious interest between the British and the Russians, but it has often been described as somewhat unrealistic, for the reason I've just previously described.

I was unaware that, recently there has been recognition of the idea that The Great Game continues as a conflict between the United States led NATO and the Russia-China led SCO over the Central Asian oil pipelines....

A charicature depicting the Amir of Afghanistan, Sher Ali Khan, between the British lion and the Russian bear, exclaiming "Save me from my friends!" The rule of the Amir Sher Ali Khan was hindered by pressure from both Britain and Russia, though the Amir attempted to keep his country neutral in their conflict.