Great Game
The Great Game was a strong rivalry between the British and Russian Empires over influence in Central Asia in the 19th Century. This rivalry mainly focused on Afghanistan, Persia, and later Tibet. Both empires used a mix of military force and diplomatic talks to gain both influence and control in Central and South Asia.[1] The Russian Empire took control of Turkestan, while Britain grew its influence in the Region and set the borders of Britsh Colonial India.[2] As the 20th century approached, a number of independent nations, tribes and monarchies from the Caspian Sea to the Eastern Himalayas became protectorates or came under direct control by the two empires.
Great Game Media
1885 British map of Western Asia during the Great Game, with the Russian and Turkish Empires, Qajar Persia, the southern fringes of Russian Turkestan, Afghanistan and western British India
Silk and spice festival in modern-day Bukhara, Uzbekistan
1909 map of the British Indian Empire, showing British India in two shades of pink and the princely states in yellow
Map of Qajar Iran losses to Russian Empire in 1813 and 1828
Map of the Indus River basin today. Britain's intended strategy was to use its steam power and the river as a trade route into Central Asia.
Charles Thomas Marvin (1854-1890), Constructing the Transcaspian Railway across the dessert (See 'The Russians at Merv and Herat.')
General Mikhaïl Annenkov in Paris, 1891, supervisor of Russo-Indian railway operation
Siberian Cossack c. 1890s
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References
- ↑ Hopkirk, Peter (1994). The great game: the struggle for empire in Central Asia. New York: Kodansha. ISBN 978-1-56836-022-5.
- ↑ Becker, Seymour (2004). Russia's protectorates in Central Asia: Bukhara and Khiva, 1865 - 1924. Central Asian studies series (Re-issue ed.). London: RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN 978-0-415-32803-6.