Spying for Empire: The Great Game in Central and South Asia, 1757-1947'The Great Game' was the struggle between Russia and Britain for imperial influence over southern and central Asia, immortalized by Rudyard Kipling in his novel Kim. For the British, the threat to India's frontiers compelled them to dispatch diplomats, or more clandestine agents, to survey, map and monitor the approaches to the Indian subcontinent. Anxieties about Russian ambitions in central Asia were magnified by the discovery of military plans and the arrival of 'shooting parties' and 'scientific explorers' on the mountains adjacent to India's northern border. The British faced major problems compounded by the unresolved status of Afghanistan, the interception of agents, and the division of opinion in British military and political circles about the real or imagined nature of the Russian threat to India. The situation was further complicated by the instability of the Indian border area, a region through which British and Indian troops would need to operate in wartime, but which was inhabited by bellicose tribesmen who fought the imposition of British rule every step of the way. Spying for Empire gives a fascinating insight into how the British intelligence network worked in the 1800s. It also examines how the intractability of Afghanistan plagued imperial defense planners, and how the threat of conflict with Russia colored Britain's dealings with the peoples of south-west Asia. |
From inside the book
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Page 68
... newswriter collated the reports of subordinate newswriters at the courts of the most prominent subjects . The newswriters had a role akin to that of a diplomatic service in that they were expected to relay conversations of the subject ...
... newswriter collated the reports of subordinate newswriters at the courts of the most prominent subjects . The newswriters had a role akin to that of a diplomatic service in that they were expected to relay conversations of the subject ...
Page 69
... Newswriters remained an important conduit for negotiations and could bring conflicts between rival states to a speedy conclusion . They also enabled rulers to see which allies of the enemy might be turned to their own side . Daks and ...
... Newswriters remained an important conduit for negotiations and could bring conflicts between rival states to a speedy conclusion . They also enabled rulers to see which allies of the enemy might be turned to their own side . Daks and ...
Page 146
... news of the lavish reception given to the Russian envoy was greeted with dismay . Lytton was informed of what the Russian mission was doing by newswriters and he decided to send his own resident to Kabul to counteract the Russian ...
... news of the lavish reception given to the Russian envoy was greeted with dismay . Lytton was informed of what the Russian mission was doing by newswriters and he decided to send his own resident to Kabul to counteract the Russian ...
Common terms and phrases
Add Mss Afghan Afghanistan Amir Asian Asian agents Bokhara Bolsheviks border Brackenbury Britain British intelligence British officers Captain Caucasus central Asia Chinese Chitral Colonel Communist Connolly consul Curzon despatched diplomatic disguise Durand East Elias Empire envoy espionage exploration force Foreign Department Foreign Office Game German Gilgit Government of India Havildar Herat Hindu Kush Hopkirk Hunza Imperial India Office Indian Army Indian Intelligence Intelligence Branch Intelligence Department Intelligence Division intercepted Kabul Kandahar Kashgar Khan Khiva London Lord March Memorandum Merv Meshed Mirza mission Mohammed Moorcroft mountains Muslim Mutiny Nevertheless newswriters North-West Frontier northern OIOC operations Oxus Pamirs passes Penjdeh Persia Peshawar political Pottinger Pundits Punjab railway region reports revolutionaries Roberts route Royal Geographical Society Russian Russian troops Salisbury Secret Service sent shah Sikh Simla Singh Soviet St Petersburg subcontinent Survey of India Teheran territory threat Tibet travelled tribesmen tsar's Turkestan viceroy whilst Younghusband
References to this book
The Arabian Frontier of the British Raj: Merchants, Rulers, and the British ... James Onley No preview available - 2007 |