Editing Great Game (section)

==Diplomacy==

===Agreement Between Great Britain and Russia 1873===
On 21 January 1873, Great Britain and [[Russian Empire|Russia]] signed an agreement that stipulated that the eastern [[Badakhshan]] area as well as the [[Wakhan Corridor]] to [[Zorkul|Lake Sariqol]] were Afghan territory, the northern Afghan boundary was the [[Amu Darya]] (Oxus River) as far west as Khwaja Salar (near [[Khamyab, Afghanistan|Khamyab]]), and a joint Russian-British commission would define the boundary from the Amu Darya to the Persian border on the [[Hari (Afghanistan)|Hari (Harirud) River]]. However, no boundary west of the Amu Darya was defined until 1885.<ref name=geographer1983/> The agreement was regarded as having defined the British and Russian spheres of influence in Afghanistan and Central Asia, gave the two sides the legitimacy to advance within their designated zones, created cordial relations between the two rival European powers, and raised the new problem of defining what were the frontiers of Afghanistan, Russia and China in the upper Oxus region in the [[Pamir mountains]].<ref name=warikoo2009/> The agreement was negotiated by Russian diplomat Prince [[Alexander Gorchakov]], the lands of Badakhshan and Wakhan were accepted by Russia as part of Afghanistan,{{sfn|Ewans|2012|p=158}} Russia accepted all of Britain's proposals on Afghanistan's northern borders and expected that Britain would keep Afghanistan from committing any aggression.{{sfn|Ewans|2012|p=150}} However, this set in motion Russia's annexation of the [[Khanate of Khiva]] in the same year.{{sfn|Ewans|2012|p=158}}{{sfn|Mahajan|2001|p=13}} Badakhshan would later be divided between Afghanistan and Russian-controlled [[Bukhara]] by the Pamir Boundary Commission in 1895.

=== Treaty of Gandamak, 1879 ===
After the British Siege of Kabul, warfare was settled diplomatically by the [[Treaty of Gandamak]] of 1879. The British sent an envoy and mission to Kabul, but on 3 September this mission was massacred and the conflict was reignited. The second phase ended in September 1880 when the British [[Battle of Kandahar (1880)|defeated]] Ayub Khan outside [[Kandahar]]. A new Emir, Abdul Rahman Khan who was known to be a Russian ally and an opponent of the British, ratified and confirmed the Gandamak treaty once more. When the British and Indian soldiers had withdrawn, the Afghans agreed to let the British attain most of their geopolitical objectives, as well as create a buffer between the [[British Raj]] and the Russian Empire. The British were aware that Amir [[Abdur Rahman Khan]] had the support of the Afghans to continue fighting and he did not allow a British resident to stay in Kabul which was a British objective that caused the start of the conflict. In return, he accepted British control of Afghanistan's foreign policies while maintaining internal sovereignty and to cede to the British a number of its southern frontier areas, including the districts of [[Pishin, Pakistan|Pishin]], [[Sibi]], [[Harnai]], and [[Thal Chotiali]].<ref name="blood1995" />

In 1881, Russian forces however took [[Battle of Geok Tepe|Geok Tepe]] and in 1884 they occupied [[Merv]].{{sfn|Mahajan|2001|p=13}} As the Russian forces were close to [[Herat]], the British and Russian governments formed a joint Anglo-Russian diplomatic [[Afghan Boundary Commission]] in the same year to define the borders between the Russian Empire and northern Afghanistan.<ref name="yate1887" /><ref name="yate1888" />

In 1885, a Russian force annexed the [[Panjdeh]] district north of Herat province and its fort in what has been called the [[Panjdeh incident]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Johnson|first=Robert|date=2003|title="Russians at the Gates of India"? Planning the Defense of India, 1885–1900|url=http://muse.jhu.edu/content/crossref/journals/journal_of_military_history/v067/67.3johnson.html|journal=The Journal of Military History|language=en|volume=67|issue=3|pages=697–743|doi=10.1353/jmh.2003.0230|s2cid=159703966|issn=1543-7795}}</ref> The Afghans claimed that the people of the district had always paid tribute to Afghanistan, and the Russians argued that this district was part of the [[Khanate of Khiva|Khanates of Khiva]] and Merv which they had annexed earlier. The [[Afghan Boundary Commission]] was supposed to have settled the dispute, however the battle occurred before its arrival. The Afghan force of 500 was overwhelmed by superior Russian numbers. Britain did not aid Afghanistan as was required by the Treaty of Gandamak, leading the Amir to conclude that he could not rely on the British in the face of Russian aggression.<ref name="clements2003" />

German Chancellor [[Otto von Bismarck]] saw how important the Great Game had become for Russia and Britain. Germany had no direct stakes, however its dominance of Europe was enhanced when Russian troops were based as far away from Germany as possible. Over two decades, 1871–1890, he maneuvered to help the British, hoping to force the Russians to commit more soldiers to Asia.<ref name=":18">James Stone, "Bismarck and the Great Game: Germany and Anglo-Russian Rivalry in Central Asia, 1871–1890." ''Central European History'' 48.2 (2015): 151–175.</ref> However, Bismarck through the [[League of the Three Emperors|Three Emperors' League]] also aided Russia, by pressuring the Ottoman Empire to block the [[Bosporus]] from British naval access, compelling an Anglo-Russian negotiation regarding Afghanistan.<ref name=":03">{{Cite book|last=Jelavich|first=Barbara|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/796911|title=St. Petersburg and Moscow : Tsarist and Soviet foreign policy, 1814–1974|date=1974|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=0-253-35050-6|location=Bloomington|pages=200–201|oclc=796911|access-date=4 September 2021|archive-date=24 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124202702/https://www.worldcat.org/title/796911|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Protocol Between Great Britain and Russia 1885===
{{Further|Panjdeh Incident}}

{{Location map+ | Turkmenistan
| width   = 350|float=right
| caption = Panjdeh Incident (overlaid on a map of modern-day Turkmenistan)<br />[[File:dot-yellow.svg|10px]] = Hari-Rud river
  [[File:Blue-circle.png|10px]] =Murghab river
| AlternativeMap = Relief Map of Turkmenistan.png
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{{Location map~|Turkmenistan|lat=40.02|long=52.97|label=Krasno-<br />vodsk|position=top}}
{{Location map~|Turkmenistan|lat=37.93|long=58.37|label=Ash-<br />gabat|position=bottom}}
{{Location map~|Turkmenistan|lat=38.16|long=57.97|label=Geok<br />Tepe|position=top}}
{{Location map~ |Turkmenistan|lat=39.77|long=64.33|label=Bukhara|position=top}}
{{Location map~ |Turkmenistan|lat=41.38|long=60.22|label=Khiva|position=top}}

{{Location map~|Turkmenistan|lat=37.31|long=60.50|label=Tejend|position=top|mark=Dot-yellow.svg}}
{{Location map~|Turkmenistan|lat=36.32|long=61.13|label=Serakhs|position=left|mark=Dot-yellow.svg}}
{{Location map~|Turkmenistan|lat=35.97|long=61.13|label=PuliKhatun|position=left|mark=Dot-yellow.svg}}
{{Location map~|Turkmenistan|lat=35.57|long=61.35|label=Zulfikar|position=left|mark=Dot-yellow.svg}}

{{Location map~|Turkmenistan|lat=37.59|long=61.90|label=Merv|position=top|mark=Blue-circle.png}}
{{Location map~|Turkmenistan|lat=37.30|long=62.35|label=Yoloten|mark=Blue-circle.png}}
{{Location map~|Turkmenistan|lat=36.46|long=62.67|label=SaryYazy|position=right|mark=Blue-circle.png}}
{{Location map~|Turkmenistan|lat=36.04|long=62.757|label=Panjdeh|position=right|mark=Blue-circle.png|background=Salmon}}
{{Location map~|Turkmenistan|lat=35.64|long=63.31|label=BalaMurghab|position=right|mark=Blue-circle.png}}
{{Location map~|Turkmenistan|lat=35.00|long=62.34|label=to Herat|position=right|mark=Pfeil unten.svg}}
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On 10 September 1885, the Delimitation Protocol Between Great Britain and Russia was signed in London. The protocol defined the boundary from the Oxus to the Harirud and was later followed by 19 additional protocols providing further detail between 1885 and 1888.<ref name=geographer1983/> The Afghan Boundary Commission agreed that Russia would relinquish the farthest territory captured in their advance, but retain Panjdeh. The agreement delineated a permanent northern Afghan frontier at the Amu Darya, with the loss of a large amount of territory, especially around Panjdeh.<ref name=yate1887/><ref name=yate1888/>

This left the border east of Lake [[Zorkul]] in the [[Wakhan]] region to be defined. This territory was claimed by [[Qing Dynasty|China]], Russia and Afghanistan. In the 1880s, the Afghans had advanced north of the lake to the [[Alichur]] Pamir.<ref name=middleton2005/>{{rp|p13}} In 1891, Russia sent a military force to this area and its commander, Yanov, ordered the British Captain [[Francis Younghusband]] to leave [[Bozai Gumbaz]] in the [[Little Pamir]]. The Russians claimed that because they had annexed the [[Khanate of Kokand]] they had a claim over the Pamirs. Afghanistan claimed that the region never paid tribute to Kokand and was independent, so having annexed it the region was theirs. The British claimed that this was a breach of the Anglo-Russian Agreement of 1873. Unfortunately for Britain, the Indian government pointed out that Bozai Gumbaz was not included in the Agreement and so it was in an undefined zone. Bozai Gumbaz had not appeared on the Russian map as being in Wakhan. Additionally, the British became aware that Younghusband had mistakenly entered Russian territory near [[Karakul (Tajikistan)|Kara Kul]] and could have been arrested by the administrator there. Yanov offered a verbal apology if he had mistakenly entered the Wakhan territory, and the Russian government proposed a joint survey to agree on a border.{{sfn|Ewans|2012|pp=123–135}}

In 1892, the British sent [[Charles Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore]] to the Pamirs to investigate. Britain was concerned that Russia would take advantage of Chinese weakness in policing the area to gain territory.<ref name=middleton2005/>{{rp|p14}} Murray was engaged in some form of diplomacy or espionage but the matter is not clear,<ref>Robert Middleton, Huw Thomas, and Markus Hauser. ''Tajikistan and the High Pamirs'', Odyssey Books, p. 476</ref> and in 1893 reached agreement with Russia to demarcate the rest of the border, a process completed in 1895.<ref name=middleton2005/>{{rp|p14}}

===Agreement Between Great Britain and Afghanistan 1893===
{{Further|Hunza–Nagar Campaign}}

On 12 November 1893, the Agreement Between Great Britain and Afghanistan was signed in Kabul. The Agreement reconfirmed the 1873 Agreement, required Afghanistan to withdraw from the territory north of the Amu Darya that it had occupied in 1884, and called for delimitation of the boundary east of Lake Sari.<ref name=geographer1983/>

When [[Mortimer Durand]], Secretary for State of India was appointed administrator of the [[Gilgit Agency]] (now part of the [[Gilgit-Baltistan]] of [[Pakistan]]), he opened up the region by building roads, telegraph, and mail systems while maintaining a dialogue with the Mir of Gilgit. He intended to improve the road from Kashmir through the [[princely state]]s of [[Hunza (princely state)|Hunza]] and [[Nagar (princely state)|Nagar]] and up to the frontier with Russia. The Mirs of Nagar and Hunza saw this as a threat to their natural advantage of remoteness. In 1890, Durand reinforced Chalt Fort that was near the border due to the rumor that Nagar and Hunza fighters were about to attack it, and continued redeveloping the road up to the fort. In May 1891, Nagar and Hunza sent a warning to Durand not to continue work on the road to the fort and to vacate the fort, which was on the Gilgit side of the border, else they would regard it as an act of war. Durand reinforced the fort and accelerated the road construction to it, causing Nagar and Hunza to see this as an escalation and so they stopped mail from the British Resident in Chinese Turkmenistan through their territory. British India regarded this as a breach of their 1889 agreement with Hunza, and after an ultimatum was issued and ignored they initiated the Anglo-[[Brusho]] Campaign of 1891. Hunza and Nagar came under a British protectorate in 1893.<ref name=hussain2015/>

===Exchange of Notes Between Great Britain and Russia 1895===
[[File:Thomas Edward Gordon Lake Victoria, Great Pamir, May 2nd, 1874.png|thumb|A [[Watercolor painting|watercolor]] of [[Lake Zorkul]], Pamirs, by British Army officer [[Thomas Edward Gordon]] (1874).]]

On 11 March 1895, there was an Exchange of Notes Between Great Britain and Russia. The notes defined British and Russian spheres of influence east of Lake Sari-Qul by defining the northern boundary of the Wakhan Corridor east of the lake. This boundary was subsequently demarcated by a mixed commission.<ref name=geographer1983/> The Great Game is proposed to have ended on 10 September 1895 with the signing of the [[Pamir Mountains|Pamir]] Boundary Commission protocols,<ref name=gerard1897/> when the border between Afghanistan and the Russian empire was defined.<ref name=rowe2010/><ref name=gebb1983/>{{sfn|Morgan|1981|p=231}}<ref name=middleton2005/>{{rp|p14}} The Pamir Boundary Commission was conducted by Major-General Gerard who met with a Russian deputation under General Povalo-Shveikovsky in the remote Pamir region in 1895, who were charged with demarcating the boundary between Russian and British spheres of interest from Lake Victoria eastwards to the Chinese border.<ref>Gerard, Maj.-Gen. M. G. Report on the Proceedings of the Pamir Boundary Commission. Calcutta, Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India, 1897, 1st ed., Foolscap Folio (33 x 21cm), iv, 99pp</ref> The report of the Commission proved the absolute impracticality of any Russian invasion of India through the Pamir mountains.<ref name=davies1932/> The result was that Afghanistan became a buffer state between the two powers.

It was agreed that the [[Amu Darya]] river would form the border between Afghanistan and the Russian Empire. The agreements also resulted in the Russian Empire losing control of most Afghan territory it conquered, with the exception of [[Panjdeh]].<ref>[http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS026.pdf International Boundary Study of the Afghanistan-USSR Boundary (1983)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140817020033/http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS026.pdf |date=17 August 2014|access-date=2019-09-27 }} by the US [[Bureau of Intelligence and Research]]</ref> The [[Pamir Mountains]] were demarcated as a border line between the Russian Empire and Afghanistan as well.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Knowledge for Sustainable Development in the Tajik Pamir Mountains |last1=Breu |first1=Thomas |last2=Maselli |first2=Daniel |last3=Hurni |first3=Hans |date=2005 |journal=Mountain Research and Development |volume=25 |issue=2 |page=139 |doi=10.1659/0276-4741(2005)025[0139:KFSDIT]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=131608320 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The [[Taghdumbash Pamir|Taghdumbash]] would be the subject of a later Afghan-China agreement. To conclude their agreement, one peak was named Mount Concord.{{sfn|Morgan|1981|p=231}} In exchange for a British agreement to use the term ''[[Nicholas Range (Pamir Mountains)|Nicholas Range]]'' in honor of the Emperor [[Nicholas II of Russia]] on official maps, the Russians agreed to refer to [[Lake Zorkul]] as ''Lake Victoria'' in honour of [[Queen Victoria]] of the United Kingdom.<ref name=archive1>Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Kashmir, Chitral, Gilgit, Pamirs and North-West Frontier: Summary of Diary for August 1895. p.4. Public Record Office. Russia.Proceedings in Central Asia 1873–1898. F.O. 65/1507.</ref><ref name=gerard>"Enclosure No. 8. No. 179, dated Lake Victoria, the 28th July 1895 (Confidential). From Major-General M. G. Gerard, C. B. To the Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department." Record Office. Russia. Proceedings in Central Asia 1873–1898. PRO/FO 65/1506. pp. 336–337.</ref>

The Russians had gained all of the lands north of the Amu Darya which included the land claimed by the Khanate of Khiva, including the approaches to Herat, and all of the land claimed by the Khanate of Khoqand, including the Pamir plateau. To ensure a complete separation, this new Afghan state was given an odd eastern appendage known as the Wakhan Corridor. "In setting these boundaries, the final act of the tense game played out by the British and Russian governments came to a close."<ref name=rowe2010/>

=== Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 ===
[[File:Map Iran 1900-en.png|thumb|Influence zones in Iran following the [[Anglo-Russian Convention]] of 1907]]
In the [[Anglo-Russian Convention|Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907]], the Russian Empire and British Empire officially ended their rivalry to focus on opposing the [[German Empire]]. In the Convention of 1907, Russia recognized Afghanistan and southern Iran as part of the British sphere of influence, while Britain recognized Central Asia and northern Iran as part of the Russian sphere of influence. Both parties recognized Tibet as a neutral territory, except Russia had special privileges in negotiating with the Dalai Lama, and Britain had special privileges in Tibetan commercial deals.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web|last=|first=|title=ANGLO-RUSSIAN CONVENTION OF 1907|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/anglo-russian-convention-of-1907-an-agreement-relating-to-persia-afghanistan-and-tibet|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-22|website=Encyclopedia Iranica|language=en-US|archive-date=29 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429164549/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/anglo-russian-convention-of-1907-an-agreement-relating-to-persia-afghanistan-and-tibet}}</ref>

For a time, the British and Russian Empires moved together against potential German entrance into the Great Game, and against a constitutional movement in Iran that threatened to dispel the two-way sphere of influence.<ref name=":103"/> Russia had earlier established the [[Persian Cossack Brigade]] in 1879, a force which was led by Russian officers and served as a vehicle for Russian influence in Iran.<ref name=":92"/>

In 1908, the [[Persian Constitutional Revolution]] sought to establish a Western-oriented, democratic [[civil society]] in Iran, with an elected [[Majlis|Majilis]], a relatively free press and other reforms. Seeking to resolve financial problems of the Qajar dynasty such as heavy debts to Imperial Russia and Britain, the Majilis recruited the American financial expert, [[William Morgan Shuster|Morgan Schuster]], who later wrote the book ''The Strangling of Persia'' condemning Britain and Russia.<ref name=":103"/>

The [[Russian Empire involvement in the Persian Constitutional Revolution|Russian Empire intervened in the Persian Constitutional Revolution]] to support the Shah and abolish the constitution. The Cossacks [[1908 bombardment of the Majlis|bombarded the Majilis]] in June 1908 and occupied [[Tehran]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1099541849|title=Middle East conflicts from Ancient Egypt to the 21st century : an encyclopedia and document collection|date=2019|others=Spencer Tucker, Priscilla Mary Roberts|isbn=978-1-4408-5353-1|location=Santa Barbara, California|oclc=1099541849|access-date=24 October 2021|archive-date=14 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814065433/http://worldcat.org/oclc/1099541849|url-status=live}}</ref> Additional brigades of the Russian Army were also deployed to assist the Shah and [[Russian occupation of Tabriz|occupied Tabriz]] after April 1909.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=COSSACK BRIGADE |url=https://iranicaonline.org/ |access-date=2022-05-19 |website=Encyclopaedia Iranica |language=en-US |archive-date=6 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506212443/https://iranicaonline.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Nonetheless, the constitutionalists were able to retake the capital and were initially victorious with the [[Triumph of Tehran]] in July 1909, and dispelled [[Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar]], who was exiled and took refuge with the Russians. When a new ruler, [[Ahmad Shah Qajar]], took power he found it difficult to completely reverse the constitutional reforms, yet the Qajar state was weakened by the upheaval and the Qajar court dependent on foreign powers. Meanwhile, Britain and Russia aligned to oust Shuster from Iran by an ultimatum in 1911 which was unanimously rejected by the Majilis.<ref name=":103"/><ref name=":14">{{Cite book |last=Afary |first=Janet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fl_ZmZ7B5BEC&pg=PA331 |title=The Iranian Constitutional Revolution, 1906–1911: Grassroots Democracy, Social Democracy, & the Origins of Feminism |date=1996 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-10351-0 |pages=330–338 |language=en |access-date=22 May 2022 |archive-date=24 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124202711/https://books.google.com/books?id=Fl_ZmZ7B5BEC&pg=PA331 |url-status=live }}</ref> British and Russian officials coordinated as the Russian army, still present in Persia, invaded the capital again and suspended the parliament. The Tsar ordered the troops in Tabriz "to act harshly and quickly", while purges were ordered, leading to many executions of prominent revolutionaries. The British Ambassador, [[George Head Barclay]] reportedly disapproved of this "reign of terror", though would soon pressure Persian ministers to officialize the Anglo-Russian partition of Iran. By June 1914, Russia established near-total control over its northern zone, while Britain had established influence over [[Baloch people|Baluch]] and [[Bakhtiari people|Bakhtiari]] autonomous tribal leaders in the southeastern zone.<ref name=":14" /> Qajar Iran would become a battleground between Russian, Ottoman, and British forces in the [[Persian campaign (World War I)|Persian campaign of World War I]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Syed |first1=Muzaffar Husain |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eACqCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA221 |title=Concise History of Islam |last2=Akhtar |first2=Syed Saud |last3=Usmani |first3=B. D. |date=14 September 2011 |publisher=Vij Books India Pvt Ltd |isbn=978-93-82573-47-0 |pages=221 |language=en |access-date=22 May 2022 |archive-date=24 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124202728/https://books.google.com/books?id=eACqCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA221 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":14" />
[[File:Persia claims in Aral-Caspian region~Paris PC~1919.jpg|thumb|Persia claims in Central Asia at Versailles Peace Conference in 1918, after the World War]]