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The ‘Great Game’ in the Pamirs and the Hindu-Kush: The British Conquest of Hunza and Nagar
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 November 2008
Extract
The motivations for imperial advance have, over the years, caused considerable debate among historians. It has been thought by some that a law of the turbulent frontier forced the expansion of empire, for a region of order surrounded by an area of disorder had eventually, for its own protection, to conquer the area of turbulence. Thus, empires would inexorably advance their borders until they reached some great natural barrier or the frontiers of another stable power.
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References
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90 Ibid., encl. 2, Macartney to for. dept., Govt. of India, 23 November 1891.
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94 Ibid.
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96 Ibid., encl. 4, Manners-Smith to resident, 4 April 1892.
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98 Ibid., encl. 2, 133F, sec. to the for. dept., Govt. of India, to resident, 16 January 1893.
99 Ibid., sec./front. letter 120, 5 July 1892, memo. regarding affairs beyond the NW frontier of India, June 1892.
100 Ibid., encl. 6, Macartney to H. M. Durand, 16 Feburary 1892.
101 Ibid., encl. 2, Taotai of Kashgar to A. G. Durand, c. Feburary 1892.
102 Ibid., encl., Safdar Ali to A. G. Durand, no date.
103 IOL, sec./front. letter 96, 31 May 1892, encl. 17, for. dept., Govt. of India, to resident, 16 May 1892.Google Scholar
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105 IOL, Lansdowne paps., Kimberley, to Landsdowne, 24 November 1892. The extent to which the Russian threat south of the Hindu Kush was real is open to speculation. The writings of individual Russian officers and the frequent polemics in the Russian military press led many British officials to feel the danger was imminent. But the evidence was at best limited, and British statesmen were all too prone to cluck self-approvingly when they read words such as those ascribed to Prince Galitzine when he heard of the successful Hunza campaign of 1892: ‘Vous nous avez fermé la porte au nez.’ Alder, Northern Frontier, p. 307.Google Scholar
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