Editing Great Game (section)

=== East India Company ===
In 1782, [[George Forster (traveller)|George Forster]], a civil servant of the East India Company, undertook a journey that began in [[Calcutta]], Bengal and passed through [[Kashmir]], [[Afghanistan]], [[Herat]], [[Greater Khorasan|Khorassan]], [[Mazanderan]], crossed the [[Caspian Sea]] by ship, and then travelled to [[Baku]], [[Astrakhan]], Moscow, [[St Petersburg]] and then by ship to London. Forster's detailed description of the journey was published in 1798.<ref name="forster1798" />
[[File:Prison Sketches. Comprising portraits of the Cabul prisoners, and other subjects (BM 1970,0527.2.2).jpg|thumb|British military officer associated with the Great Game, Alexander Burnes (1805-1841)]]
[[William Moorcroft (explorer)|William Moorcroft]] was an explorer, doctor, veterinary surgeon, and Superintendent of the East India Company's horse stud. He had an interest in expanding trade in Central Asia, where he thought the Russian traders were already active. In 1820, Moorcroft, George Trebeck and George Guthrie left India for [[Bukhara]] to buy [[Turkoman horse]]s and reached Bukhara in 1825. However, all three died of fever on the return journey.<ref name="marshall2005" /> His travels were published in 1841. [[Charles Masson]], formerly of the East India Company, resided in [[Baluchistan]], Afghanistan and the Punjab between 1826 and 1838 and published his travels. <ref name="masson1842" /> In September 1829, Lieutenant [[Arthur Conolly]] of the East India Company travelled from St. Petersburg, Russia to the Caspian desert, to Kir (northern Iran), was detained in [[Astrabad]] (northern Iran) as a Russian spy, then travelled with a caravan of pilgrims to [[Meshed]], marched with the Afghan army from there to Herat, then traveled to Kandahar, to Quetta, then across the [[Thar desert|Indian desert]] to the British frontier in January 1831. He published his travels in 1834.<ref name="conolly1834" /> However, after 1830, Britain's commercial and diplomatic interest to the north-west would eventually become formidable. In 1831, Captain [[Alexander Burnes]] and Colonel [[Henry Pottinger]]'s surveys of the Indus river would prepare the way for a future assault on the Sind to clear a path towards Central Asia.<ref name="bayly1996" /> Burnes embarked on a dangerous 12-month journey beginning in 1831 into Afghanistan and through the [[Hindu Kush]] to Bukhara, returning in 1832. Burnes, a Christian travelling through a Muslim country was one of the first to study Afghanistan for British Intelligence and upon his return, he published his book, ''Travels To Bukhara'', which became an overnight success in 1834. Between 1832 and 1834, Britain attempted to negotiate trade agreements with [[Ranjit Singh]], ruler of the [[Sikh empire]], and the Amirs of [[Sindh]]. However, these attempts were unsuccessful.

====Afghanistan and Central Asia====
In 1835, [[Baron Auckland|Lord Auckland]] was appointed Governor-General, and replaced Bentinck who had pursued a non-intervention policy. The India Board instructed Auckland:<blockquote>to watch more closely than has hitherto been attempted the progress of events in Afghanistan, and to counteract the progress of Russian influence...The mode of dealing with this very important question, whether by dispatching a confidential agent to Dost Mohammed of Kabul merely to watch the progress of events, or to enter into relations with this Chief, either of a political or merely in the first instance of a commercial character, we confide in your discretion as well as the adoption of any other measures that may appear to you desirable to counteract Russian influence in that quarter, should you be satisfied...that the time has arrived at which it would be right for you to interfere decidedly in the affairs of Afghanistan. Such an interference would doubtless be requisite, either to prevent the extension of Persian dominion in that quarter or to raise a timely barrier against the impending encroachments of Russian influence.{{sfn|Ewans|2002|p=85}}</blockquote>In that year, Lieutenant [[John Wood (explorer)|John Wood]] of the Indian Navy commanded the first [[steamboat]] to paddle up the Indus River and surveyed the river as he went. In 1838, he led an expedition that found one of the River Oxus' sources in central Asia. He published his travels in 1872.<ref name="wood1872"/> In 1837, the Russian envoy [[Jan Prosper Witkiewicz|Captain Jan Vitkevitch]] visited Kabul, and the British believed that it was to facilitate some form of diplomatic or military presence in Afghanistan. While in Kabul, he dined with the British envoy, Captain Alexander Burnes, who reported negatively on Russia's intentions.<ref name="snedden2015" /> Russia feared British inroads on their commerce in Central Asia, as well as the influence that a Muslim power with British support might have on the other khanates.{{sfn|Ewans|2002|p=66}} In 1837, Russian troops occupied the island of [[Ashuradeh]] in the [[Gulf of Gorgan|Gorgan Bay]] of the southern Caspian Sea. However, from 1837 to 1857 the Russian Empire lent their support to the Shah.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rezun |first=Miron |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vceInEkXX74C |title=The Soviet Union and Iran : Soviet policy in Iran from the beginnings of the Pahlavi Dynasty until the Soviet invasion in 1941 |date=1981 |publisher=Sijthoff & Noordhoff International |isbn=90-286-2621-2 |location=Alphen aan den Rijn |pages=6–11 |oclc=7925812 |access-date=24 October 2021 |archive-date=24 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124202658/https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Soviet_Union_and_the_Iran/vceInEkXX74C?hl=en |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Great_Game_cartoon_from_1878.jpg|thumb|250x250px|Political cartoon depicting the Afghan [[Sher Ali Khan|Emir Sher Ali]] with his "friends" the [[Russian Bear]] and [[National symbols of England#Flora and fauna|British Lion]] (1878)]]
In 1838, Colonel [[Charles Stoddart]] of the East India Company arrived in the [[Emirate of Bukhara]] to arrange an alliance with [[Nasrullah Khan (Bukhara)|Nasrullah Khan]]. Nasrullah Khan had Stoddart imprisoned in a vermin-infested dungeon because he had not bowed nor brought gifts. In 1841, Captain [[Arthur Conolly]] arrived to try to secure Stoddart's release. He was also imprisoned and on 17 June 1842 both men were beheaded. On hearing of the execution of the two British officers, Emperor [[Nicholas I of Russia]] would no longer receive Bukhara's gifts or emissaries, and its ambassador was turned back at [[Orenburg]] with a message that the Emperor would no longer have anything to do with the Emir of Bukhara.<ref name="wolff1845" /> After its two representatives were executed in Bukhara, Britain actively discouraged officers from traveling in Turkestan.{{sfn|Yapp|2000|pages=190}}

During 1838, there were rumors in London of a coming Russian move towards Khiva. Additionally, Persia intended to annex Herat to make up for territory it had lost in the [[Russo-Persian War (1826–1828)]], however the allegiance of Herat to Afghanistan was crucial to the British strategy.{{sfn|Morgan|1981|pp=20–24}} The [[Siege of Herat (1838)|Siege of Herat]] began in November 1837, when the new Shah of Persia, Mohammed Mirza, arrived before Herat. His intention was to take Herat then move on to Kandahar. With him was the Russian Envoy Count Simonich, seconded Russian officers and a regiment of Russian deserters under the Polish general Berowski. [[Eldred Pottinger]], an officer of the Bengal Artillery, who had earlier entered Herat in disguise, stiffened the defences and despite the presence of Russian advisers the siege lasted eight months.{{sfn|Ewans|2002|p=51}} Britain threatened to take military action and Persia withdrew in September.

In October 1838, Auckland issued the ''Simla Manifesto'', a piece of propaganda designed to blacken the reputation of [[Dost Mohammad Khan (Emir of Afghanistan)]] and which claimed that Dost Mohammad:{{sfn|Ewans|2002|pp=61–62}}<blockquote>openly threatened...to call in every foreign aid that he could command...we could never hope that the tranquility of our neighborhood could be secured...the Governor-General confidently hopes that the Shah will speedily be replaced on his throne...the independence and integrity of Afghanistan restored, the British army will be withdrawn.{{sfn|Ewans|2002|pp=61–62}}</blockquote>