Nexus - 1305 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page Content (OCR)

Rudyard Kipling's Kim Tsarist Russian Empire for supremacy in Central Asia. In the The term "The Great Game" was popularised by Rudyard Eastern Bloc, this conflict was known as "The Tournament of Kipling in his 1901 spy novel Kim (first published in serial form Shadows". in 1900-1901). It tells the story of a Lahore street urchin called Though some say that The Great Game commenced in the Kim (Kimball O'Hara), the orphaned son of a British soldier. 1600s, it began in earnest at the start of the 19th century when Kim incidentally makes contact with the British Secret Service Imperial Russian expansion threatened to collide with the and becomes the disciple of a Tibetan lama, who also ends up increasing British dominance of the occupied lands of the Indian working for the British agent. Kim accidentally learns about sub-continent. The original centre of activity was in "The Great Game"—the political power conflict in Central Asia, Afghanistan, Russia's near neighbour, as the British feared that particularly over Tibet and Afghanistan—and is recruited by the Afghanistan would become a staging post for a Russian invasion British. Kim's father's regimental chaplain recognises a Masonic of India. symbol worn by Kim, and soon Kim is sent away to a top Though Afghanistan has been the scene of many modern English school. He is trained in espionage—one technique conflicts, its first war with the West was in 1838 with the First involving studying a tray full of mixed objects and then noting Anglo-Afghan War. Four years later, in 1842, the British which ones have been periodically added or taken away. This retreated to India. After the Indian rebellion of 1857, successive method is still used for training spies and is called "Kim's British governments saw Afghanistan as a buffer state in much Game". Later, Kim rejoins the lama and the same way that Tibet is viewed as a together they travel to the Himalayas, this buffer between China and the West today. time with Kim capturing papers from During 1865 to 1868 and again in 1878, the Russian spies while the lama is ona Russians tried to annex parts of Afghanistan spiritual quest. At the end of the novel, formerly controlled by the British. Tensions Kim sees no need to decide between the again renewed, resulting in the Second spiritual and the espionage at which he . — ' Anglo-Afghan War of 1878-1880. The excels. The Issue of Tibet i) British pulled out again in 1881, leaving ; In this 1901 book, Tibetan lamas were independence" did not Abdur Rahman Khan on the throne. He already being implicated as players in The . . . agreed to let the British maintain Great Game. (By the way, the British arise until the Opium Afghanistan's foreign policy while he double agent Harold "Kim" Philby took his H consolidated his position. He managed t nickname from the novel's hero.) It is War of 1840, which suppress internal rebellions with ruthless interesting that over 100 years later, these began the foreign efficiency and brought much of the country under central control. The Russians seized the Oasis of Merv in 1884 and again began to fight Afghan troops. On the brink of war between the two great powers, the British decided to accept the Russian possession. In 1907, the Joint Anglo-Russian Boundary Commission delineated a permanent northern Afghanistan frontier, without any Afghan say in the matter. The Russians accepted that the politics of Afghanistan were solely under British memorisation technique; control, as long as the British ¢ John Masters, whose The Lotus guaranteed not to change the regime. and the Wind, which is also set in The Great Game, has as one of | Russia agreed to conduct all political relations with Afghanistan its main protagonists a character seeking some form of spiritual through the British. The British agreed that they would maintain same players are still at work and arguing over the same pieces of dirt, still using the same methods, each trying to convince the rest of the world that it is right. In more than a century, things have not really changed. Though often overlooked, the novel Kim is a significant work, recognised as influencing the writings of other famous authors including, but not limited, to: ¢ Robert A. Heinlein, whose novel Citizen of the Galaxy details the invasion of China by the West, after which the British tried to separate Tibet from China. enlightenment; the current borders and actively discourage any attempt by * Laurie R. King, a popular contemporary author who wrote a Afghanistan to encroach on Russian territory. novel called The Game which quotes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 nullified existing treaties work and in which their respective famous characters Mary and a second phase of The Great Game began. The Third Russell and the detective Sherlock Holmes go to Tibet to rescue a Anglo—Afghan War erupted in 1919 when Afghanistan attacked now mature Kim; British India's northern frontier. Afghanistan was granted self- ¢ Peter Hopkirk, whose Quest for Kim: In Search of Kipling's determination in foreign affairs and, in May 1921, signed a Great Game discusses the real-life personages who may have Treaty of Friendship with the Soviet republic. Great Britain inspired its characte: imposed minor sanctions and diplomatic slights as a response to Let's shed a little light on the truth behind the fictional stories the treaty. In 1923, Afghanistan responded by offering refuge for surrounding this long-running Great Game. Muslims who had fled the Soviet Union and Indian nationals in exile from the British Empire. In 1928, the Afghan king The Great Game in Afghanistan abdicated under pressure, and both the Soviets and the British "The Great Game" is a term, originally attributed to British played the circumstances to their advantage and re-established a intelligence officer Arthur Conolly (1807-1842), to describe the military interest in the area. rivalry and strategic conflict between the British Empire and the World War II saw the temporary alignment of British and The Great Game in Afghanistan "The Great Game" is a term, originally attributed to British intelligence officer Arthur Conolly (1807-1842), to describe the rivalry and strategic conflict between the British Empire and the NEXUS = 51 I The issue of "Tibet's AUGUST — SEPTEMBER 2006 www.nexusmagazine.com