Editing Great Game (section)

==First signs of possible India invasion==
[[File:British_Indian_Empire_1909_Imperial_Gazetteer_of_India.jpg|thumb|300x300px|1909 map of the [[British Indian Empire]], showing British India in two shades of pink and the [[princely states]] in yellow]]
At the start of the 19th century, the [[Indian subcontinent]] was ruled in part by independent [[princely state]]s and in part by the [[Company rule in India|company rule]] of the British [[East India Company]]. During the 19th century, a political and diplomatic confrontation developed between Britain and Russia over Afghanistan which would become known as The Great Game. Russia's foreign policy was driven by the perspective that Britain would develop and control commercial and military inroads into Central Asia, and Britain's foreign policy was based on expectations of Russia adding the "jewel in the crown", India, to the vast empire that Russia was building in Asia. This resulted in an atmosphere of distrust and the constant threat of war between the two empires.{{sfn|Ewans|2004|p=1}} If Russia were to gain control of the [[Emirate of Afghanistan]], it might then be used as a staging post for a Russian invasion of India, was the British line of thinking.{{sfn|Ewans|2004|p=1}}

[[Napoleon]] had proposed a joint Franco-Russian invasion of India to tsar [[Paul I of Russia]].<ref name= "hauner1990" /> Expecting a future action by the British against Russia and her allies in Europe, Paul decided in 1801 to make the first move towards where he believed the British Empire was weakest ([[Indian March of Paul]]). He wrote to the [[Ataman]] of the [[Don Cossacks]] Troops, Cavalry General [[Vasily Petrovich Orlov]], directing him to march to [[Orenburg]], conquer the Central Asian Khanates, and from there invade India.{{sfn|Ewans|2004|p=46}} Paul was assassinated in the same year, and the invasion was terminated.

Historian [[Peter Hopkirk]] wrote that Tsar Paul had not been able to obtain a detailed map of India until the Cossacks' departure from Orenburg. He quotes the Tsar as instructing Orlov: "My maps only go as far as Khiva and the River [[Oxus]]. Beyond these points it is your affair to gain information about the possessions of the English, and the condition of the native population subject to their rule".<ref name="Hopkirk">[[Hopkirk, Peter]]. ''[[The Great Game (Peter Hopkirk book)|The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia]].'' {{ISBN|1-56836-022-3}}. Page 17

</ref> The British public learned about the incident years later, but it firmly imprinted on the popular consciousness, contributing to feelings of mutual suspicion and distrust associated with the Great Game. [[Hugh Seton-Watson]] observed that "the grotesque plan had no military significance, but at least showed its author's state of mind".<ref>Seton-Watson, Hugh. ''The Russian Empire, 1801-1917.'' Oxford University Press, 1967. Page 67.</ref> Hopkirk remarked that "no serious thought or study has been given to this wild adventure".<ref name="Hopkirk" />

Napoleon tried to persuade Paul's son, Tsar [[Alexander I of Russia]], to invade India; however Alexander resisted. In 1807, Napoleon dispatched General [[Claude Matthieu, Count Gardane]] on a French military mission to Persia, with the intention of persuading Russia to invade India. In response, Britain sent its own diplomatic missions in 1808, with military advisers, to Persia and Afghanistan under the capable [[Mountstuart Elphinstone]], averting the possible French and Russian threat to India. However, Britain was left with concerns about being able to defend its colony on the subcontinent.<ref name="hauner1990" /> At the time, Russia also went to war with Qajar Iran and [[Russo-Persian War (1804–1813)|invaded the Persian Caucasus from 1804-1813]], adding to Britain's fears, while Russia was distracted mainly by the Napoleonic Wars.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Bournoutian |first=George |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4kswEAAAQBAJ |title=From the Kur to the Aras: A Military History of Russia's Move into the South Caucasus and the First Russo-Iranian War, 1801-1813 |date=2020-12-29 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-44516-1 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1810, British Lieutenant [[Henry Pottinger]] and Captain [[Charles Christie (officer)|Charles Christie]] undertook an expedition from [[Nushki]] ([[Balochistan]]) to [[Isfahan]] (Central Persia) disguised as Muslims. The expedition was funded by the East India Company and was to map and research the regions of "Beloochistan" (Balochistan) and Persia because of concerns about India being invaded by French forces from that direction.<ref name="ewans2004b" /> After the disastrous [[French invasion of Russia]] in 1812 and the collapse of the French army, the threat of a French invasion through Persia was removed.

The shah of Iran, [[Fath-Ali Shah Qajar]] would become part of diplomatic intrigues about India. He first received limited British support in 1801 that was canceled after Russia's invasion of Persia in 1804. Fath-Ali then lent a promise to Napoleon in 1807 to theoretically invade British India in exchange for French military assistance (Gardane's mission) which fell through despite the [[Treaty of Finckenstein]]. When France allied with Russia at [[Treaties of Tilsit|Tilsit]] in 1807, as Russia was still invading Iran, Fath-Ali Shah turned toward British diplomacy and alliance in 1809.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=FATḤ-ʿALĪ SHAH QĀJĀR |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/fath-ali-shah-qajar-2 |access-date=2023-03-08 |website=iranicaonline.org |language=en-US}}</ref> The shah was also able to use a rivalry between the [[East India Company]] and the [[British Foreign office|British Foreign Office]], to garner more British aid.<ref name=":4" /> In the 1809 preliminary Treaty of Tehran, Persia agreed to stop any European or foreign army passing to India, while the British agreed to send a mission to train sixteen thousand Persian soldiers and, if Qajar Persia was invaded by a European state, pay a £100,000 subsidy to Persia, while attempting to mediate if at peace with Persia's enemy.<ref name=":5" />{{Rp|page=167}} Nevertheless, Russia would end up defeating Iran a few years later, with Britain mediating the treaty.
[[File:Gulistan-Treaty.jpg|thumb|Map of Qajar Iran losses to Russian Empire in 1813 and 1828]]
The [[Russo-Persian Wars]] began to coalesce into a point of tension between the British and Russian empires, particularly following the [[Treaty of Gulistan|Treaty of Gulistan in 1813]], which gave the Russian Empire the theoretical right to intervene in Persia at any time, a humiliation of Persia.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> Fath-Ali Shah sought to counterbalance Russia by increasing the ties between the Qajars and Britain; the British offered military and financial assistance to the shah, supporting Iran as a buffer between Russia and India.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":3" /> The [[Russo-Persian War (1826–1828)|Russian invasion of Iran in 1826-1828]] led to a Russian victory, weakening Qajar Iran which retained only minimal influence and power. This fully placed Persia into another colonial contest between Russia and Britain.<ref name=":3" />