Editing Great Game (section)

==Name==

The phrase "the Great Game" was used well before the 19th century and was associated with games of risk, such as cards and dice. The French equivalent {{lang|fr|Le grand jeu}} dates back to at least 1585 and is associated with meanings of risk, chance and deception.{{sfn|Yapp|2000|pages=183}}

The term ''Great Game'' was coined in 1840 by a British intelligence officer Captain [[Arthur Conolly]] (1807–1842).  [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s 1901 novel [[Kim (novel)|''Kim'']] popularized the term, increasing its association with great power rivalry.<ref>{{Cite web |title= Anglo-Russian Entente 1907 - History of government |url= https://history.blog.gov.uk/2017/08/31/anglo-russian-entente-1907/ |access-date=2022-12-15 |website= history.blog.gov.uk |date=31 August 2017 |language=en |archive-date=30 November 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221130105659/https://history.blog.gov.uk/2017/08/31/anglo-russian-entente-1907/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It became even more popular after the 1979 advent of the [[Soviet–Afghan War]].<ref name= "Seymour Becker 20123">{{cite journal | first =Seymour | last=Becker | title=The 'great game': The history of an evocative phrase| journal = Asian Affairs| volume = 43| number= 1 | year= 2012| pages= 61–80| doi=10.1080/03068374.2012.646404 | s2cid=162344504 }}</ref>

In the historical sense, the term dates from the mid-19th century.<ref name= "Seymour Becker 20123" /> Captain Conolly had been appointed as a political officer.{{sfn|Yapp|2000|pages=181}} A similar term, the "Tournament of Shadows" was reportedly used by Russian diplomat [[Karl Nesselrode]].<ref>{{Cite web| url= https://www.encyclopedia.com/politics/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/great-game|title=Great Game |website= Encyclopedia.com}}</ref> In July 1840, in correspondence to Major [[Sir Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baronet|Henry Rawlinson]] who had been recently appointed as the new political agent in [[Kandahar]], Conolly wrote, "You've a great game, a noble game, before you." Conolly believed that Rawlinson's new post gave him the opportunity to advance humanitarianism in Afghanistan, and summed up his hopes:{{sfn|Yapp|2000|pages=181}}<blockquote>If the British Government would only play the grand game – help Russia cordially to all that she has a right to expect – shake hands with Persia – get her all possible amends from [[Uzbeks|Oosbegs]] – force the Bukhara Amir to be just to us, the Afghans, and other Oosbeg states, and his own kingdom – but why go on; you know my, at any rate in ''one'' sense, ''enlarged'' views. The expediency, nay the necessity of them will be seen, and we shall play the noble part that the first Christian nation of the world ought to fill.</blockquote> It was introduced into the mainstream by the British novelist Rudyard Kipling in his novel ''[[Kim (novel)|Kim]]'' (1901).{{sfn|Morgan|1973|pp=55–65}} It was first used academically by Professor [[H.W.C. Davis]] in a presentation titled ''The Great Game in Asia (1800–1844)'' on 10 November 1926.{{sfn|Yapp|2000|pages=180}} The use of the term "The Great Game" to describe Anglo-Russian rivalry in Central Asia became common only after the [[Second World War]].
[[File:Boukhara_4696a.jpg|thumb|Silk and spice festival in modern-day [[Bukhara]], [[Uzbekistan]]]]