The Great Game
(A Synopsis)
Lord Curzon said “Whoever controls Central Asia, controls the world.” He then tried to control Afghanistan with his “On to the Oxus” policy which ended in ignominious defeat leading to the “Back to the Indus” retreat. The British never ventured into the wild wild west and Peshawar never really flew the Union Jack. The Mongols, and Alexander faced severe problems in Pakistan and Afghanistan. That is why Afghanistan and Pakistan are often called the graveyard of empires. Archives reflect a historical a historical perspective encapsulated by Rudyard Kipling and others. This was dubbed the Great Game by the British and Russian in the 19th century.
The Anglo-Russian Great Game 1813-1907
Catherine th Great had bequeathed her progeny to control the warm waters of the Arabian Sea. This was the reason the Tsars tried to make their way down to “Kolachi jo goth” (Karachi). The so-called classical “Great Game” was about Imperial Britain and Tzarist Russia attempting to control Central Asia. Russia was expanding into Central Asia at the time. Tsarist forays into Central Asia led to British concerns that Moscow would threaten te British Empire. The Union Jack attempted to bring the wild tribes of Pakistan and Afghanistan under British jurisdiction. London Afghanistan twice in an attempt to place British puppets in Kabul and other areas of the region. At the time there was no “Afghanistan”. The country was a construct of the Tsars and the British colonialists. They demarcated the borders and created a non-mans land–a buffer region between the British and Russian empires. Thus a non-entity called “Afghanistan” came into existence. For the past century, the entire world has been trying to make this entity a reality. All have failed. , the first famously ending in the complete destruction of the invading British army. The Great Game subsided a bit when ended when the the USSR came into existence –Britain ceased to exist as a world power and the Soviets were more interested in Europe than South Asia.
The Anglo-Soviet Great Game 1917-1941
The downsizing of the Ottoman Empire and the ascendancy off the USSR and Lenin’s and Stalin’s desire to extend the borders of mother Russia into unchartered territory created new tensions. Britain got embroiled in Afghanistan again. It fought a third Afghan war to settle the border between Afghanistan and the British Empire. The artifical state of Afghanistan, which had never existed in history came into being. It was sequestered on one side by the Durand Line and the other by the Amu Darya (fka Oxus). The principality of Kabul became an entity, and it brought other regions under its control. It failed miserably to create federal structures in the Hindu Kush. The advent of World War II too the rivalry to another level. Both Britain and Russia got tangled up in various webs during the Cold war.
The USSR-USA Great Game 1979-1989
There are many reasons for the invasion of Kabul by the USSR. It is said that Amin’s coup against King Zahir Shah was an attempt to change the status quo, and to realign Kabul with Washington. This was seen as a direct provocation by the progeny of Catherine the Great. To prevent the American take over of the territory between the Indus and the Oxus, the USSR sent troops in Afghanistan in 1979. Babrak Kamal supposedly rode to Moscow on a Russian tank. The Soviet troops arrived ostensibly on the request of the legal government in Kabul. The world didn’t see it that way. Pakistan was the first government to oppose the Russian expansionism, because it saw it as a direct threat to Islamabad. Delhi supported the Russian move. Moscow wanted to end the widespread tribal revolts against Kabul. For two years the Pakistanis were the only ones fighting the Russians. In 1981 the US and its allies began providing financial and military support to the Afghan freedom fighters–all routed through the ISI. Millions of Muslim kids were recruited by the CIA to fight for the US and destroy the USSR. One of those who came to fight for America was Osama Bin Laden. After the USSR withdrew out of the Hindu Kush, the US lost interest. As a parting thank you note, it delivered the Pressler Amendment to Islamabad–ten years of debilitating sanctions. Afghanistan descended into Civil War and Pakistan got the present of the Drug and Kalashnikov culture. As Imran Khan said, the American did their deed and left us to clean the mess. , leaving the mujahideen to fight it out among themselves. The Talibs were a US attempt to bring sanity to the Khyber and beyond.
American-Taliban Great Game 2001-2011
Ostensibly it was the 9/11 attack in New York that led the US to invade Afghanistan. Many claim that the Afghan invasion was planned way before September 2001. The US leveraged the Tajik led Northern Alliance to oust the Pakhtuns from power. The Taliban regime fell and was replaced by the present Afghan president, Hamid Karzai. As the Bush Administration got bogged down in Iraq and reduced its military presence the Talibs began to control most of Afghan territory. Bharat and America attempted to destabilize Pakistan using fake movements like the TTP which were constructs of RAW and the CIA. The US withdrawal from Afghanistan will begin in July 2011. The Abbotabad raid provided the US the victory needed which would precipitate a speedy withdrawal without the baggage of “Cut and Run” As Dr. Jamil has pointed out the “Great Game” has been going on for millenia.
ANCIENT PROTO-HISTORY GREAT GAME:
If we take the history back to abt 5000 yrs ago when none had heard about Jews, Greeks, Iran, Russia– Indus river was the boundary between a rich South Asia/Punjab and impoverished West. The Akkadian-Assyrian Arabs, and their Eastern enemy mostly under control of the Elamite (Dravidian’s linguistic cousins). The game was to control South Asian trade surpluses. The Assyrian Arabs had predominant control up to the Indus–they had one tribute paying Hindu king in Punjab-Indus valley–Jibra of Malluhva. Later in history Pre -Greek era, Cyrus/Darius had wrested control of Arab lands plus the area West of Indus. After that we see Sessanid Iran on the rise after a short Greek interlude.
Lesson from all these histories is transparent–locals (now Pakistan + Afghanistan) are the owners. Pakistan controls both sides of the Indus and being a regional power (5th largest army + Nuclear arms), has the responsibility for regional peace. The US and China cannot do a thing without Pakistan. India wants to only defend ” Hindu nationalism” and will be always shy of wars. Pakistan thus directly controls even India’s future being a part of great game.
One sees the critical importance of local players. and the lessons of history (as reviewd by you) supports the future. As it is clear from ancient most history. What has really changed ? India has lost its ancient importance ” farming surpluses” feeder of the west, due to industrial revolution since 1800. India is of no military significance to west or east.
The Latest Great Game:
The new Great Game is not about the control of resources–it is about the prevention of the rise of Muslim Asia.
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